Two Emperor penguins grabbed a sneaky selfie when they unexpectedly stumbled upon an polar explorer’s unmanned camera. The pair of flightless birds have now become viral stars.
The footage was captured by Antarctic researcher Eddie Gault. The Australian left his camera on the ice while hiking around the Auster Rookery near his country’s Mawson research facility at the edge of the Antarctic plateau. When he returned, Gault found the camera upturned and soon discovered the locals had been making use of his equipment.
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A video of the close encounter shows a pair of crafty Emperor penguins sneak up to the camera and flip the lens skyward – all the better for snapping a selfie. The birds then inspect the device before appearing to consult one another about its origins. The Australian Antarctic Division published the video to its Twitter feed on Thursday.
#Penguin#selfie offers bird’s eye view of life in Antarctica! Curious Emperors have been captured on film at the Auster Rookery near Australia’s Mawson research station by expeditioner 📷 Eddie Gault pic.twitter.com/MYle5Fshc7
— Antarctic Division (@AusAntarctic) March 8, 2018
Twitter users were tickled by the video, with some comparing the pair to a hip-hop duo. Others likened their apparent bewilderment to a grandparent getting a smartphone for the first time.
At the end of the video it looks like:
“What is that thing?”
“I don’t know! Do you know?”
“No! Hey! Anybody know what this is over here? Anybody? Who knows what this is? No one? No, nope, nuh-uh!”🐧🐧📷😉😊
— Laurie Faris (@FarisLaurie) March 8, 2018
Grandparents after getting a smart phone…
— 🍳δδ੩ કક੦ ९੨ऽऽ¡d (@PissedEgg) March 8, 2018
The Auster Rookery is one of 40 breeding grounds for thousands of penguins on the icy continent. Australia’s Antarctic Division is Australia’s first continental station and the longest continuously operating station south of the Antarctic Circle.
READ MORE: Elderly Penguin dies next to beloved anime cardboard cutout in Japanese zoo (IMAGES)
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