Are You Sure Penguins Are Flightless?

Watch this penguin catch air

Photos by Stefan Christmann

January 1, 2025

An emperor penguin in Atka Bay in Antarctica is mid-"flight" with a tunnel of water trailing it before it lands on a chunk of ice where other penguins have gathered.

Photo by Stefan Christmann

Antarctica’s emperor penguins are famously flightless. So how do they “fly” out of the water like this? First the penguins compress their feathers to trap air bubbles beneath their plumage. Then they propel themselves, releasing the bubbles to create a slick coat that reduces friction, and shoot out—like a torpedo—onto the ice.

Stefan Christmann is a nature photographer and filmmaker from Germany. He was an expedition photographer and camera assistant for the BBC Natural History Unit and part of the team that planned and produced the Emperor Penguins episode for BBC Dynasties (narrated by Sir David Attenborough), which aired globally in 2018. Learn more at https://nature-in-focus.de/about/.