♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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but then the continent started to drift south. and by the time it was done drifting, the dense forest had all been replaced with a new ground cover, ice. as for the former inhabitants, they'd all died or moved on long ago. well, almost all of them. legend has it that one tribe stayed behind. >> perhaps they thought the change in weather was only temporary, or maybe they were just stubborn, but whatever their reasons, these stalwart souls refused to leave. for millions of years, they have made their home on the darkest, driest, windiest and coldest continent on earth, and they

have done so pretty much alone. so in some ways, this is a story of survival, a tale of life over death, but it's more than that, really. this is a story about love. like most love stories, it begins with an act of utter foolishness. the emperor pension rain is technically a bird, although one that makes his home in the sea. so if you're wondering what he's doing up here on the ice, well, that's part of our story. each year, at around the same time, he will leave the comfort of his ocean home and embark on a remarkable journey. he will travel a great distance, and though he is a bird, he won't fly.

though he lives in the sea, he won't swim. mostly, he will walk, but he won't walk alone. ♪ ♪ it is march, summer is over, and another long polar winter is about to begin. the birds have been feeding in the ocean waters for three months. now, their bellies full, it is time to find a mate. >> their breeding ground can be up to 70 miles away. to get there, they will walk day and night continuously. sometimes for a week. it is a long, dangerous and seemingly impossible journey, and some of them will not

survive it. nonetheless, when the last of the clan is finally clambered onto the ice, their long march will begin, just as it has for thousands of years. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

their destination is always the same. their path, however, is not. the ice on which the birds travel never stops shifting and changing. new road blocks will appear to baffle them every year.

we're not exactly sure how they find their way. perhaps they were assisted by the sun or the stars, or maybe having taken this march for thousands of generations, they are guided by some invisible compass within them. they never stay stumped for long. eventually, one of them will pick up the trail and the journey continues. ♪ ♪ >> when they get tired of walking, they give their feet a rest. they will use their bellies instead.

♪ ♪ >> theirs is usually a graceful parade, but not always.

♪ ♪ >> each day the temperature drops a little further, and the sun will set earlier. the weather becomes noticeably harsher, almost by the hour. by now, similar caravans are approaching from every direction and finally, often on the same day, even around the same time, they will arrive at the place where each and every one of them was born. ♪ ♪

>> here, they will mate in relative safety. they are now far from the water's edge where most

predators lurk and the large ice walls will offer some protection from the harshest winds but the real reason they have chosen this place lies beneath their feet. the ice is thicker here. it will stay solid until summer keeping their young from accidently falling through into the freezing ocean. and so, having arrived, they begin to pursue their journey's purpose, finding a mate. we don't really know what they are looking for in a partner. we only know that they are, in fact, looking. we also know when they have found what they are looking for. emperor penguins are monogomous, sort of. they mate with one partner per year, which means every new season all bets are off.

because there are fewer males than females here, hostilities among the ladies are inevitable. a taken male instantly becomes an unavailable male, so occasionally a female will attempt to interrupt a courtship. the men don't seem to mind. they just wait for the fight to end, and take the opportunity to preen. they are not that different from us, really. they pout. they bellow. they strut. and occasionally, they will engage in some contact sports.

♪ ♪

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within a few weeks, one way or the other, most of the animals have found the one they are looking for. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

for the next eight months, these two will participate in an ancient and complicated affair. there will be tenderness, there will be separation, there will be reunion, and if their partnership is successful, there will be new life. for now, they wait.

for the egg and for the brutal winter, which will do everything in its power to destroy that egg. ♪ ♪ >> by may, the light will nearly have disappeared from the sky, and the temperature continues to drop. and for those who begin their march too late or have fallen behind because of weakness or hunger, hope of survival is now remote.

the lone penguin has no chance against the winter's cold. he will simply fade away, absorbed by the great lightness all around him. ♪ female announcer: it's time to make room

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2200 flights to be canceled. these are travellers stuck in cleveland, ohio at the moment. the hardest-hit airport is chicago's o'hare. besides travel hazards, the storm brings dangerously cold air. it was a bone-chilling, look at that. 40 below in far northern minnesota on thursday. all told, the storm is affecting nearly 100 million people across 22 states. as we said, it is a monster. the snow is piling up. right now in boston that's where we find our fred pleitgen out in it for us.

hello, fred. >> reporter: hi, natalie. we're feeling more and more like we're part of the march of the penguins. this place is feeling more and more like the south pole. the temperatures are really plummeting here. the winds as you said are picking up and the snow is piling up. i want to show you how high it's actually gotten. it's probably gotten over 7 1/2, maybe 8 inches. the snow is really powdery. this is one of the things that's making it so difficult for the road cruise here. if you look around some of the cars you can see how the snowdrifts are starting to engulf these cars. a lot of these people will have to do a lot of shoveling in the morning. keep in mind it will keep snowing another seven or eight hours as hard as it is now if not even worse. so there is going to be a lot more snow piling up. it's very bad here in boston, actually even worse on the massachusetts coast where in some places about 18 inches of snow have already fallen. some places are expecting up to two feet of snow there. so certainly road crews around massachusetts are going to be working overtime tonight. the same is the case for pretty

much every state in the northeast, especially new york also getting hit very hard. there's a lot of emergencies in place in many places in new york as well. so certainly the conditions here seem to be getting worse by the hour. as you can see, the snow here is piling up, natalie. >> absolutely. most people hopefully inside not out marching in it like you and our crew. thank you so much, fred. stay warm if you can. we will continue to bring you updates on the storm. i'm natalie allen. for now we'll send you back to "march of the penguins." as winter descends, the tribe's only defense against the freezing cold is the group itself. it's almost as if they create

another organism all together. the huddled animals form a single moving mass, one designed for the soul purpose of sustaining warmth. winter's first storm is upon them. ♪ ♪ >> within a few weeks, days begin to pass with virtually no light at all. moons come and go, and the soon to be endless night, and finally, one day in early june, we remember why they came here. ♪

♪ >> as soon as the egg appears, it is instantly hidden from the cold. the tiny beating heart within the shell cannot survive much more than a moment's exposure to the freezing air. ♪ ♪ >> from now on, the couple has but a single goal, keeping their egg alive. the hungry mother must return at

once to the sea to eat, but before she leaves, she must entrust the egg to its father. some, young couples, perhaps are too impulsive or rushed, and within moments their affair comes to an end. they can only watch as the ice claims their egg and the life within it.

this couple's partnership is now over, the long march in vain. with no reason to stay, they will wander back to the sea. other couples have lost their egg, as well. as for the others, the partnership is about to change. with unending patience, the pair rehearses the steps they will need to transfer the egg from the mother to the father. they practice this clumsy ballet dozens of times, if need be.

and then with great care, they will dance it. ♪ ♪ >> and now begins one of nature's most incredible and endearing role reversals. it is the penguin male that will tend the couple's single egg while the mother feeds and gathers food to bring back for the newborn. it is the father who will shield the egg from the violent winds and cold. he will make a nest for the egg atop his own claws, keeping it safe and warm beneath a flap of

skin on his belly. and he will do this for more than two months. ♪ ♪ >> having passed the egg, the exhausted female must depart quickly. she must eat soon, or she will die. as the winter progresses, the father will be severely tested.

the mother will be tested, as well. her return trip to the sea is considerably more difficult than the original march to the nesting ground. it is colder now, and she will have lost almost a third of her body weight producing the egg. she is literally starving. of course, the fathers are nearly starving, too, but for them, a meal is far off in the distance. by the time their vigil atop the egg is over, the penguin fathers will have gone without food of any kind for 125 days and they will have endured one of the most violent and deadly winters on earth, all for the chick. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

[ male announcer ] this is the story

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as the fathers settle into their long wait at the breeding ground, the winter's second storm arrives. the temperature is now 80 degrees below zero, that's without taking into account the wind, which can blow 100 miles an hour. though they can be aggressive during the rest of the year, at this time, the males are totally docile, a united and cooperative team. they brace against the storm by merging their thousand bodies into a single mass. they will take turns, each of them getting to spend sometime near the center of the huddle where it's warmer.

as they move about, the fathers will balance their eggs like tight rope walks.

>> the exhausted mothers have marched 70 miles. they are now back where they started three months ago, but they aren't anywhere near the water's edge. new ice has formed along the shore, forcing them to walk several more miles before they reach the sea. food is actually only a few inches below them, but they have no way of getting to it here.

to survive, they must reach the new ice edge or find some other opening. sometimes this search will last for days. ♪ ♪

>> naturally, after their long walk, they are eager to get back in the water, sometimes a little too eager. ♪ ♪

>> they can hold their breath for over 15 minutes, and dive to a depth of 1700 feet. approaching the sea floor itself to feed on fish, krill and squid.

♪ >> they will also skim along the ice just below the ocean's surface searching for any fish that may have lodged there. while the mothers finally fill their empty bellies, the fathers cling to life on the surface trying to keep the eggs safe and warm. the wind will occasionally bring snow to quench the males' thirst. they have been without food for over three months. each day brings them closer to exhaustion and starvation.

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now it is dark almost all the time. and the mother of all blizzards is about to arrive. the fathers now make an extra effort to weld their bodies together and resist the winter's rage. above them, the southern lights dance virtually around the clock. for now there is almost only night.

the hungry mothers aren't the only ones overjoyed by their return to the sea. their predators unfortunately are happy to have them back as well. ♪ ♪ ♪

with the snap of its jaws, the leopard seal actually takes two lives, that of the trapped mother and that of her unborn chick who will never be fed. by july, the females know it is time to return to their nest. and so for the third time and so for the third time this year, the mothers take the long walk. only this time, they walk in the dark.

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and right now, we're offering our lowest prices of the season. save $300 to $800 on our newest innovations. it's the perfect time for you to try the sleep number bed. plus, take advantage of 18-month special financing on all sleep number beds. sale ends soon. discover the sleep number bed. costs about the same as an innerspring, but lasts twice as long. only at one of our 425 stores nationwide, where queen mattresses start at just $699.99. sleep number. comfort individualized.