Stunning Video Shows Penguins Building Their Own ‘Snow Highways’ in the Antarctic Ice

Although the entire Antarctic continent is pervaded by a frozen silence, it becomes even more deafening as one ventures deep in the Andvord Bay off the coast of Graham Land. Here, at Neko Harbour, sheer silence hangs in the air, punctuated only by the trumpeting penguin rookeries, rumbles of breaking ice, and piercing shrieks of katabatic winds that slap the snowy slopes, often prompting ripples in the glacial lakes sitting below. Flanked by calving glaciers, rocky outcrops, a beach and remnants of an old Argentine hut, the harbour nowadays displays a queer sight. Etched into the snowy meadow, running across hillsides, there are long, deep trails, often dotted with footprints and highlighted by the stench of guano, the brown-colored penguin poop.

As it turns out, these trails are well-trodden paths and thoroughfares used by penguins to transit from the nests to the sea and back again. On World Penguin Day in April 2023, National Geographic (@NatGeo) shared footage of adorable Gentoo penguins building these “snow highways” in Neko Harbour. “It is, in a word, adorable,” Michael George (@MichaelGeorge), the National Geographic photographer who captured the footage, said. The background displayed rookeries of penguins, resembling a pattern of black and white dots, waddling across the expanse of snow. The jet black bodies of these penguins created a stunning contrast against the terrain of ice, sparkling white and electric blue. Their bright orange beaks added a pop of color.

“Even though penguins have lived with snow in Antarctica for thousands of years, they’re still surprisingly clumsy on it,” George explained as a cute penguin hopped across the rigged snow and dropped down flat on its white bonnet. “That’s why they build their own roads,” said the photographer. “See how the gentoo penguins of Antarctica build their very own snow highways to get around,” National Geographic wrote in the tweet.

George shared that he discovered these “penguin highways” during his recent visit to Antarctica in 2023. He arrived at the Neko Harbour onboard a cruise with his fellow travelers, capturing the various elements of this breathtaking icy beauty in the footage. “Neko is home to 250 breeding pairs of Gentoo penguins,” he explained, adding that this is his favorite penguin species as the “feathers around their eyes make it look like as if they’re wearing fancy makeup.”

For these Gentoo penguins, the “snow highways” are a simple solution to the problems, George said. “As the penguins travel between the colonies and down to the water to feed, they intentionally walk across the same area to tramp down the snow and make small pathways that keep them from tripping on it over and over. This packed snow becomes an easy-to-walk trail and once it’s established, you’ll find penguins walking in orderly lines. As more snow falls, the penguin highways get deeper and deeper until their heads are barely visible as they waddle down the trenches,” he explained as the footage showed penguins waddling in lines across paths carved in snow. “Nothing beats spending a few hours watching their charismatic waddle to and from the water,” George wrote in an Instagram post.

You can follow Michael George (@michaelgeorge) on Instagram for more stunning nature shots.