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

[wind] [Narrator] Far beyond ice and snow... ...in strange and distant lands, a few intrepid penguins... [wave crashing] ...choose to live... ....where we might think they don't belong. -It just feels like such a ridiculous place to be looking for a penguin. [Narrator] Four different species of banded penguins. -Okay, here's good, here's good. [Narrator] Two years uncovering their secrets... -No way. They're working as a team. [Narrator] ...Reveals these penguins might be the smartest of them all. -That's one of the best things I've ever seen in nature. [Narrator] They're problem solvers... ...architects... ...teachers. -Oh, this is super cute. A little one trying to learn. [Narrator] And as their world collides with ours, they take their intelligence to a whole new level. [♪ theme music playing] [♪ gentle music playing] [Narrator] This mother has lessons to share. Life hacks to pass to the next generation, how to live in the tropics. She's a Galápagos penguin, part of the banded penguin family. Named for the stripe on their chest. They use their unique intelligence to live in a mysterious world on the equator. [penguin footsteps approaching] She's one of just 2,000 Galápagos penguins, the rarest penguins in the world, and at just 20 inches tall, among the smallest. [snort] 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. [Narrator] National Geographic explorer and cinematographer Bertie Gregory has heard they've devised hunting techniques not seen anywhere else. [♪ playful music playing] [Bertie Gregory] It is so interesting. And this penguin is spending so much of her time swimming along, looking round 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. [♪ whimsical music playing] This pelican's massive mouth's full of water and fish, it's got to push that water out of its mouth and hold onto 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. [Narrator] And it's not just the mother who knows this trick. [Bertie Gregory] The penguins have totally got this figured out, you know, 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. [Narrator] And that's what the mother's four-month-old son has been doing. [Bertie Gregory] Oh, this is super cute, he's trying to learn. This pelican has taken off, oh, it's gonna dive right in front of it. [distant splash] [Bertie laughs] He's like, "I don't know what to do yet." [splash] This little penguin has got a lot of learning to do. Well, it looks like he's full of attitude, so I reckon he's got it in him. [Narrator] But right now, his mother has another priority... ...she's heard something. [water vibrating] Just off the coast... ...anchovies.... ...in the thousands. As oceans get warmer, an increasingly rare event. The pair can't afford to miss it. [♪ inquisitive music playing] [Narrator] Bertie wants to see if the Galápagos penguins can make the most of the feast that's arrived. We can see up ahead. We got a bunch of boobies and frigates, a bunch of birds, and that's always a good sign that this fish underwater. Okay, here's good, here's good. [Narrator] Mom doesn't get this opportunity very often. Her boy has never seen so many fish. Little fish are tricky to catch underwater, and there's no time to waste because the penguin's flying neighbors have the advantage. It's just chaos, diving birds crashing in from above, and the two penguins look completely overwhelmed. [Narrator] They need backup. So, Mom calls out... [penguin call] ...for help. [distant penguin call] 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 their 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 panic, making them easy to pick off. [Bertie Gregory] When there was just two penguins, they were having to work really hard to catch fish, but the moment the whole gang arrived and there were 20, 30 penguins, suddenly, they were having a much easier time. [Narrator] 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 heard the ball together is so clever. [Narrator] 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. [♪ dramatic music playing] [Bertie Gregory] 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. [Narrator] They herd the fish into a channel just ten inches deep, where they It's a crash course in outsmarting the competition. [Bertie Gregory] It's just amazing to see them use the lava landscape, has lots of big cracks that the penguins can drive fish into and single them out. Clever bunch of little penguins. I've seen penguins do some pretty amazing things, but that was definitely the top. [Narrator] By using their intelligence and passing life lessons down to Galápagos penguins are holding on in a changing environment. [♪ upbeat music playing] [Narrator] 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 Galápagos cousins. But they're also the most endangered. Those that remain are more reliant on their smarts than ever before. [♪ uplifting music playing] [penguin calls] This gang, technically called a waddle, grew up together on this beach. He meant to do that. And that. At five, 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 Galápagos cousins, he's smart enough to make his neighbors work for him. They make great paths... 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. [bus horn] And if necessary, he can reroute in an instant. All the way to his front door. Home sweet home, where his partner... [baby penguins chirping] ...and their one-week-old twins are waiting. [baby penguin wails] But being a penguin in a human world can push their problem-solving skills to the limit. [Narrator] 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 burrows in it to protect their eggs from the sun, but when people discover guano makes good fertilizer, it was taken on an industrial scale. Once 100,0000 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 beak in where it doesn't belong. [squawking and thudding] [growls loudly] No one steals from these two. They're ready, and just in time. That 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. [Narrator] 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. [♪ suspenseful music playing] Stretching over 1,000 miles... ...barren, arid and swarming with predators. No place for a penguin, but they 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. [waves crashing] 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. Ooh, she's keen. [♪ inspirational music playing] He celebrates in this ancient cathedral with a song. This might be a unique dialect sung nowhere else on earth. [distant penguin calls] [Narrator] 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. [baby penguin squawking] His super food 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. Now 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. -Hola, Amigo. You're still wearing your pajamas. Hola, Chica. Como estas? How are you today? [Narrator] National Geographic explorer and penguin scientist Poppy Borboroglu has devoted his life to understanding the banded penguins' ways. [Dr. Pablo Garcia Borboroglu] Amigo, how are you? Your tuxedo is in pieces. [Narrator] These are the Magellanic penguins, the largest of all the banded penguins. This colony holds a special place in Poppy's heart because he's witnessed its beginning. 15 years ago, Poppy got a call. -I was in my office one Monday and then they said, "Hey, Poppy, 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 nests were just in here, there were three nests here in the waterfront in these main bushes. [Narrator] Poppy was even more surprised when he discovered who the newcomers were. They were all young individuals from other colonies. [Narrator] Some could have travelled 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 the six pairs, now we have over 4,000 pairs. [Narrator] 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. [Narrator] 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 penguin's secrets.