What you should learn today about the life of penguins

Antarctica, the southernmost part of the planet, one of the most extreme environments, where the cold is constant and the winds seem never-ending, penguin communities thrive thanks to extremely sophisticated social and behavioral strategies. The image above shows a typical penguin colony in full reproductive activity and reveals not only the beauty of these birds but also the complexity of their social organization. 

The main question for any wild animal is reproductive success, that is, the ability to produce viable offspring that can perpetuate the species. For penguins, this means facing immense challenges: from finding a faithful partner to protecting the chicks from predators and adverse weather conditions. Remember the strongest winds. Very strong indeed. In the photo below you can imagine how difficult it was to endure at certain moments.

Caption: Antarctica, 2000, The young conservative biologist (I'll explain this another time) Rafael Moura, in a mix of emotions: scientific excitement versus hardcore cold. The expedition took place between the years 2009 and 2014 (Photo: Rafa Moura/Personal archive).

Living on the Edge

By forming reproductive colonies, penguins maximize their chances of success. The union among colony members is fundamental, and the couple's commitment is remarkable. Many penguins pair for life — a rare trait in the animal kingdom — and together they take turns incubating the eggs and feeding the chicks.

The choice of the colony's location is not random. Penguins prefer areas close to food sources, like krill, which is abundant in icy seas. But this proximity comes at a price: the environment is arid, with little vegetation and exposed to intense winds, snow, and predators. To survive, penguins have developed dense feathers and a thick layer of fat to withstand the cold, along with highly cooperative behavior.

Caption: Krill represents the base of the Antarctic food chain and is the main food resource for many penguin species. The availability of this microscopic crustacean directly influences reproductive timing, colony size, and success in raising chicks (Photo: Rafa Moura/Personal archive).

At the beginning of the breeding season, the dynamics are well-defined. Each pair usually takes care of two chicks. While one parent goes on long journeys searching for food in the icy sea, the other stays in the nest, warm and protecting the chicks from natural predators like skuas — opportunistic birds that attack unprotected eggs and chicks — and seals, which can attack both adults and young at the edges. 

Caption: Skuas are predatory birds specialized in attacking nests, seeking eggs and chicks as food sources. These birds have developed hunting strategies similar to falcons, representing a constant aerial threat (Photo: Rafa Moura/Personal archive).

Caption: Seals pose a danger to both adult and young penguins during feeding activities at sea (Photo: Rafa Moura/Personal archive).

This division of tasks is essential. The penguin remaining in the nest must always be vigilant, facing snowstorms and temperatures that can drop drastically. Meanwhile, the one going to sea faces the risks of hunting, swimming long distances to bring the necessary food for the chicks' growth.

As the chicks grow, the colony’s dynamics transform. The young become more active, begin exploring around the nest, and consequently are more exposed to dangers. At this point, the collective instinct intensifies: protecting the chicks becomes a group mission, not just an individual task. 

Now let's go back to the first image. The penguins' collective response to predators reveals a sophisticated social organization in multiple layers - something we, humans, should pay attention to.

It's nature's advanced mathematics.
The beauty of collectivity. Pure technology.

The "Nursery": In the center of the colony, a protected area develops where the youngest chicks are kept safe. This central zone functions as a collective nursery, where high population density offers protection through the principle of "safety in numbers".

Specialized Care: In an intermediate zone, some parents still provide direct care to chicks requiring special attention, whether due to age, physical condition, or other specific factors.

Alert and Protection System: On the colony's periphery, an active defense system is established with different functional specializations:

• Visual Sentinels: Strategically positioned individuals to monitor the environment and detect threats

• Acoustic Communication System: Penguins specialized in emitting alert vocalizations to strange entities

• Active Coordinators: Individuals who appear to perform leadership roles, guiding and organizing collective responses

• Food Providers: Groups specialized in hunting expeditions, staying further away from the colony

One of the most fascinating aspects observed in mature colonies is the apparent transcendence of individual parental bonds. There comes a time when penguins seem to no longer specifically recognize their own chicks, working collectively for the reproductive success of the entire community. The survival of each depends on the perfect functioning of this social system. Roles change as needs change: those on the front line may begin to care for the chicks and vice-versa. This strategy offers significant evolutionary advantages, such as:

• Risk Dilution (shared responsibility reduces the impact of individual loss);

• Energy Efficiency (allows optimization in the distribution of resources and energy);

• Maximization of Survival (increases the overall chances of the colony's reproductive success);

• Adaptive Flexibility (enables a more efficient response to environmental changes)

Variables easily applicable in economics - and in the current regenerative cut.

The penguins' community life is a powerful lesson that individual success is tied to the collective. Survival, care for the young, and protection against predators result from impeccable social organization. In the midst of extreme cold and constant risks, penguins show that unity, collaboration, and adaptability are the greatest tools to ensure the continuation of life.

Unlike these birds, which depend deeply on the collective and maintain a direct relationship with the natural environment, humans, in current times, have increasingly detached from nature. We, like the penguins, are part of an ecosystem, and collective well-being depends on natural resources. We need to reconnect with how natural cycles function and the dynamics that sustain life on the planet.

Antarctica and animal life can teach profound lessons to humans - much more than dramatically narrating the climatic impacts of the Anthropocene in recent decades. As a society, we need to balance risks and benefits, understanding the need to share collective responsibilities, protect species by caring for the young. Now is the time to reconnect with nature. And the carbon economy might be a pathway.

*Rafael Moura is a biologist, co-founder of yangplanet, a member of the Climate Forum, and writes at carbono.global every Thursday.