May 2025 Issue
Secrets of the penguins
What ‘trash heap’ penguins can teach us about survival
For more than 60 million years, penguins of all kinds—including the opportunistic Magellanic penguin—have been driven by an evolutionary urge to reach beyond their boundaries. Today, many are surfacing in the most unlikely places.
The world’s rarest penguins don’t avoid heat—they embrace it
These birds have evolved to withstand the equatorial sun and shelter in volcanic rocks along a subtropical coastline. After 50 years, biologist Dee Boersma continues to learn new things about the species.
How Antarctica’s penguins became nature’s daredevils
From diving off cliffs to starving for months, emperor penguins are continuing to surprise scientists with their ability to adapt to one of the world’s most extreme environments.
SECRETS OF THE PENGUINS changes everything we ever believed to be true. From the emperor penguins’ revelatory bonds of friendship to the gritty resolve of gentoos and rockhoppers and the astonishing ingenuity of the migrant penguins that reached deserts and far beyond, their incredible traditions and societies echo ours in ways we never dreamt possible — until now. For over two years, BAFTA and Emmy® Award-winning wildlife cinematographer Bertie Gregory has collaborated with world-leading scientists, using cutting-edge camera technology and unique access to capture three world-first episodes that resonate with our lives like never before. The three-part series is executive produced by National Geographic Explorer-at-Large and Academy Award-winning filmmaker James Cameron and narrated by Blake Lively.
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