Survival of the Smartest (Full Episode) | Secrets of the Penguins | Nat Geo Animals

Far beyond ice and snow, in strange and distant lands, a few intrepid penguins choose to live where we might think they don't belong. This just feels like such a ridiculous place to be looking for a penguin. Four different species of bandit penguins. Two years uncovering their secrets. No way, they're working as a team. Reveals these penguins might be the smartest of them all. That's one of the best things I've ever seen in nature. They're problem solvers, architects, teachers. Oh this is super cute, a little one trying to land. And as their world collides with ours, they take their intelligence to a whole new level. This mother has lessons to share, life hacks to pass to the next generation, how to live in the tropics. She's a Galapagos penguin, part of the bandit penguin family. Named for the stripe on their chest, they use their unique intelligence to live in a mysterious world on the equator. She's one of just 2,000 Galapagos penguins, the rarest penguins in the world. And at just 20 inches tall, among the smallest. Her neighbors are odd, but tolerant. And the 80 degree temperature, not a problem. Her featherless pink patches release heat. Her issue in this warming climate is getting enough food. One of the biggest challenges these penguins have got is that the currents are really unpredictable. So they've got to work really, really hard to find fish. National geographic explorer and cinematographer Bertie Gregory has heard they've devised hunting techniques not seen anywhere else. It's so interesting. And this penguin is spending so much of her time swimming along, looking around above her head. She's totally watching the pelicans. And as soon as she sees a pelican go down, she zooms over. Let's see what's going on here. This pelican's massive mouth's full of water and fish. And it's got to push that water out its mouth and hold on to the fish. And that's the point at which they're vulnerable. Penguin's going for it. No way. Stealing fish right out the beak of the pelican. And it's not just the mother who knows this trick. The penguins have totally got this figured out. A way to work smarter, not harder. What's magic is seeing lots of young penguins in with the older penguins. They can't hatch out their eggs knowing how to do this. They must have to learn it by watching the older penguins. And that's what the mother's four-month-old son has been doing. Oh, this is super cute. He's trying to learn. This pelican's taken off. Oh, it's going to dive right in front of it. He's like, I don't know what to do yet. This little penguin has got a lot of learning to do. It looks like he's full of attitude, so I reckon he's got it in him. But right now, his mother has another priority. She's heard something. Just off the coast, anchovies in the thousands. As oceans get warmer, an increasingly rare event, the pair can't afford to miss it. Birdie wants to see if the Galapagos penguins can make the most of the feast that's arrived. You can see up ahead, we've got a bunch of boobies and frigates, a bunch of birds, and that's always a good sign there's fish underwater. Okay, here's good, here's good. Mom doesn't get this opportunity very often. Her boy has never seen so many fish. Little fish are tricky to catch underwater. There's no time to waste, because the penguins' flying neighbors have the advantage. It's just chaos. Diving birds crashing in from above, and the two penguins look completely overwhelmed. They need backup, so mom calls out. New evidence suggests each sound has a specific meaning, and when penguins spot fish, the complexity of their call changes, making it easier for others to pinpoint the location. Team assembled. They deploy a coordinated form of hunting, usually only seen in highly intelligent mammals, like dolphins. One unit dives, blocking the bottom, driving the fish upwards. Others swim near the surface, herding them into a dense bait ball. The fish are disoriented and panicked, making them easy to pick off. When there was just two penguins, they were having to work really hard to catch fish. At the moment, the whole gang arrived, and there were 20-30 penguins. Suddenly, they were having a much easier time. The banded penguins are the only ones known to hunt this way. They catch almost twice as much food than when hunting on their own. The calorie equivalent of four pizzas each. I've read about this, but to actually see it play out underwater right there, the way they herd the ball together is so clever. But by corralling the fish, they've made it even easier for their rivals. Time for phase two. As part of the ball breaks off, the penguins see an opportunity. The bait ball is really shifting now. It's rushing for shallow water, heading into the mouth of the mangrove. The penguins are right behind him. They herd the fish into a channel just 10 inches deep, where they have the advantage. It's a crash course in outsmarting the competition. Just amazing to see them use the lava landscape as lots of big cracks that the penguins can drive fish into and single them out. Have a bunch of little penguins. I've seen penguins do some pretty amazing things, but that was definitely the top. By using their intelligence and passing life lessons down to the next generation, Galapagos penguins are holding on in a changing environment. The ancestors of these banded penguins followed currents to a different continent. They're African penguins, four inches bigger and a lot noisier than their Galapagos cousins. But they're also the most endangered. Those that remain are more reliant on their smarts than ever before. This gang, technically called a waddle, grew up together on this beach. He meant to do that, in that they're still young adults, but they already have responsibilities. Some live right here on the beachfront, digging nests to keep cool in the South African sun. But with less than half an acre of beach, it gets overcrowded. So the really clever ones choose a place with a little more style. Simonstown, a leafy suburb of Cape Town. 40 years ago, penguins saw its potential as a safe haven. Now, 2,000 live here. This guy's rewired his natural instincts for the city. Like his Galapagos cousins, he's smart enough to make his neighbors work for him. They make great pads and they keep predators away. But there are other dangers he's learned to deal with. He seems to have memorized when the rush hour hits, so he can time his journey to beat it. With eyesight evolved for deep sea diving, he can see in the dark, navigating the safest shortcuts. And if necessary, he can reroute in an instant, all the way to his front door. Home sweet home, where his partner and their one-week-old twins are waiting. But being a penguin in a human world can push their problem-solving skills to the limit. Up Africa's western coast, another African penguin colony is clinging on against the odds. This couple works hard for what they have. They've been together their entire adult life, and they're about to have a family. But raising chicks here in 90 degree heat isn't easy. When their ancestors lived here, it was covered in guano, bird poop, 120 feet deep. Penguins used to dig out furrows in it to protect their eggs from the sun. But when people discovered guano makes good fertilizer, it was taken on an industrial scale. Once 100,000 penguins nested here, now around 1,000 remain. Without the protection of guano, not only are eggs and chicks exposed to the relentless heat, but if parents get too hot, they have to abandon their nests. This father-to-be has spotted something that could save the day. Seaweed might help shade the nest almost as well as vintage poop. Suddenly, everyone wants a piece of it. But there's always one who sticks his beacon where it doesn't belong. One steals from these two. They're ready, and just in time was the easy part. Their challenge is to keep the egg at a constant temperature. But with a changing planet, they are increasingly hit by extreme heat waves. It will be 40 days before they know if they've succeeded. These penguins bring inventive solutions to modern problems. Others rely on ancient wisdom to survive. In the powerful waters off the west coast of Africa, this youngster has been separated from his hunting party. And being alone makes you an easy target on this desolate coast. Stretching over a thousand miles, barren, arid, and swarming with predators. No place for a penguin, but they've found a way to make this cave home. His elders all made it back to shore, but he's been spotted by a jackal. He's given away their secret hideout. But his ancestors chose this home for a reason. The turbulent entry takes some getting used to. But for jackals, it's out of the question. Outsmarted by a bird brain. These penguins, never filmed before, have been raising chicks right under the jackal's nose for decades. He can now focus on his real quest. Finding love. Single females are few and far between. Because like many penguins, African penguin couples stay together for life. But a tall nesting tower might just catch a lady's eye. Made from mud and, well, old bird poop, his tower has been passed down generations. His job is to build it up high as he can. It might keep their future eggs safe when the tide rushes in. Looks like his renovation might just have worked. Oh, she's keen. He celebrates in this ancient cathedral. With a song. This might be a unique dialect sung nowhere else on earth. Back on Halifax Island, it's been a rough six weeks for the seaweed king and queen. But they've made it. Their little son is born. His superfood diet of anchovies and sardines boosts not just his body, but his brain. He'll grow 30 times in size over the next two months. A teenager, he's smart enough to face the world on his own. Even if he doesn't realize it himself. His parents know he's got to go. The school of life awaits. He'll likely live up to 20 years. But for the first four, he'll travel hundreds of miles exploring. And above all, learning. And scientists believe this might be the secret to the banded penguin's success. You're still wearing your pajama. How are you today? National geographic explorer and penguin scientist, Papi Baboroglu has devoted his life to understanding the banded penguin's ways. Amigo, how are you? Your tuxedo is in pieces. These are the Magellanic penguins. The largest of all the banded penguins. This colony holds a special place in Papi's heart. Because he's witnessed its beginning. 15 years ago, Papi got a call. I was in my office one Monday and then he said, Hey Papi, can you come and check? We think we have penguins there. And we came here and when we saw the first nest, that was really unbelievable. The first nest was just in here. There were three nests here in the waterfront in these main bushes. Papi was even more surprised when he discovered who the newcomers were. They were all young individuals from other colonies. Some could have traveled hundreds of miles from southern Argentina. Imagine yourself selecting a place for the first time. The conditions are completely unknown. It's like colonizing Mars. When we came here for the first time, there were only these six pairs. Now we have over 4,000 pairs. And the key to this successful colony is these smart, adventurous youngsters. Banded penguins spend many years as juveniles, so they have time to explore different areas. And that's what they've been doing for millions of years. Like their ancient ancestors who left Antarctica, the young banded penguins' intelligence might help them outsmart a changing world as the next generation becomes the new guardians of the penguins' secrets.