春意盎然的月份给你呈现一部冬天的电影：零下58度的南极大陆，行进着这样一群企鹅，它们在冰天雪地里扑扇着翅膀，一摇一摆、一步一滑地走向70英里外寻找梦中情人……

The March of the Penguins²

The average temperature in Antarctica is 58 below zero. This might be cruel conditions to us humans, but it's home to the emperor penguins and has been for a millennia³.

Each March, these penguins hop⁴, slip, slide and quasi-fly 70 miles--yes, 70 miles--across icy terrain⁵, and even colder winds, in search of a mate. Some will make it. Some will simply succumb⁶ to the elements along the trek⁷.

And their painstaking⁸ journey is only the beginning. Once at their destination, the emperors proceed to court one another. Plenty of jockeying for suitors ensues, in a polar tango of sorts, which is followed by all the couples gathering⁹ and, well, snuggling. From a distance it looks like some preternatural sea of blackness.

Once the females give birth come June, everything revolves¹⁰ around tending to the egg. Oddly, the female goes back to find food while the male stays put, goes months without eating and simply ensures the safety of the egg. The only defense¹¹ the abandoned, starving males have against the harsh cold is huddling¹² together to try and keep warm.

After roughly two months, the babies are born. And there is nothing more humbling¹³ than seeing a newborn penguin¹ peering from underneath¹⁴ its parent's protective belly¹⁵. But it is equally heartbreaking to see them come out from their shelters too soon and suffer the consequences.

Soon the mother comes to save the day, feeding them, coddling them, admonishing¹⁶ them, and, ultimately, leaving them to eventually do what they just did on their own.

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