 WE HAVE MANY THINGS TO LEARN FROM PENGUINS…
Does inventing a camera bring us one step away from animals and give us the right to
record their private life? Yes, it does! That is how we make documentaries. This endeavor
reveals clues about the lives of the animals. But that is not all - the footage captured
may remind us of what life is and of the many things we have forgotten in modern life. For
example, remembering the adventure of living just to propagate, feed and love. These
thoughts spring to mind after finally watching last year's Documentary Academy Award
winner March of the Penguins. This film was well worth the wait. Penguins have always been
my favorite animals. Once I read in a newspaper "penguins are better suited to city
life than cats and dogs, with their tuxedos and elegant looks." I love cats and dogs
on the street, but I would prefer to see penguins in the streets surrounded by buildings.
The penguins' adventure of walking hundreds of kilometers on little legs to find their
love, survive and have a chick is inspiring. The penguins survive the coldest weather,
with hunger, protecting themselves from wild animals, respecting each other and trying to
live in harmony. Not unlike people, penguins go to find a love for the season. Female
penguins meet with the males; they sing and look at each other and then pair off.
Sometimes the female penguins hit each other, to secure ties with the male penguins,
because just as in the human population, the male population is less than the female
population. This reminds me of people again. Without words penguins tell each other
something through their eyes, and they promise each other to be together and fight to live
for the season. I love their commitment and how they love. Do humans do the same in modern
life?
Many penguins cannot be so lucky, just as in human life. They may be separated from their
colony and lose the war of survival. The others, who find their mates, wait for their
chicks to hatch. Firstly, the fathers keep the eggs warm while the mothers go to the ocean
to find food, before their chicks hatch. They are like the mothers who go out shopping for
their babies, except natural life is more dangerous than the city life. Some of the female
penguins become lost on the journey to the ocean. When they return, the lucky chicks have
survived with their dads but others have died or not hatched at all. The mothers race to
the chicks hoping not to be late. It is interesting to compare the people who leave their
children on the streets begging with the penguins sacrificing for months to feed their
chicks. Now, it is time for male penguins to go to ocean, and feed because they have not
eaten for months and have used all of their energy to keep the eggs warm. This cycle
continues to keep their species alive. The penguins have endless energy to survive. It is
funny how we humans tend to give up on everything just because of small things.
As "civil destroyers," causing global warming, destroying whole species of
animals and races of people, and making war, I think there are many things we can learn
from the penguins.
Gülay Acar (COMD/IV)
howtoreachgulay@yahoo.com
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