Stefan Christmann's Image

Stefan tracked this band of emperor penguins along the edge of the ice shelf for almost two weeks. ‘I knew they had to jump eventually,’ he says. Just before the first bird’s dynamic dive disturbed the tranquil reflection in the water, Stefan got his picture, taking advantage of the soft, flat light to convey the chill.

Every winter emperor penguins breed on the ice shelf, returning to the sea by sliding down ramps of snow and ice. Come spring, the ramps melt and the penguins must leap rather than slide into the ocean. Their life cycle is intertwined with the cycles of freezing and thawing ice, leaving them extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change.