Rockhopper Penguins Make Landfall | Nature on PBS

The Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic, the breeding grounds of the rockhopper, our second remarkable penguin. Rockhopper Cam will record the rockhopper's arrival using a camera concealed in its eye. It's joined by an aquatic version that can film both above and below the water. Its camera eye captures the penguin's homecoming. After five months at sea, these rockhoppers are returning to build new nests where they themselves were born. They appear at the same time each year, having travelled 650 kilometres from their fishing grounds off Argentina to be here. The real challenge begins when they reach the shallows. They must somehow make it ashore. It won't be easy. These are some of the roughest waters in the world. The first to appear are all males. 7,000 will arrive in small landing parties over the next five days. Rockhoppers are spirited characters, tough, irrepressible, with a reputation of never giving up. It's just as well. As soon as they're ashore, the waves reclaim them. The heavy swells toss them like flotsam, but they won't be deterred. Success at last, but victory is brief.