Penguin Cam / "Frozen Planet": Two New Best Things

image source: dsc.discovery.com

A couple weeks ago a coworker of mine - who is super awesome and knows me (and my love of animals) quite well - sent me a link to a Penguin Cam:  a live feed of the "Penguin Encounter" at Sea World San Diego.  I love it, and click over to it any time I need a momentary breather from whatever I'm working on.  There are two views to choose from:  Topside Penguin Cam and Underwater Penguin Cam.  I prefer Topside because of the sound feed - squeak!squak!socute! - and they are just so adorable waddling around!!...  But on the other hand, Underwater definitely has that calming/soothing aquarium effect.

To check it out for yourself click here:  http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/frozen-planet/penguin-cam/.  If you watch closely you might catch all five Antarctic species:  emporers, kings, Adelies, gentoos, and macaronis.

The Penguin Cam was set up to celebrate Discovery Channel's new series: "Frozen Planet" which began airing on Sunday evening with a 2-hour premiere.  I set the DVR but ended up watching it live and was enthralled (obviously).

The show takes place in the harshest climates on Earth, and the filmmakers do an excellent job of depicting what life is like for the species that live there.  Understandably, there are "predation" sequences - sometimes resulting in a kill, and sometimes not - which are difficult for me to watch no matter who is doing the hunting (I had a hard time watching the seal go after the penguin, but I had an even harder time watching the Orcas go after the seal).

Similar to "Planet Earth" (and from the same creators), "Frozen Planet" takes the viewer to places and scenes they would almost certainly never experience on their own.  The sheer logistics of "how did they get that shot" are astounding to me and I can't wait for "The Making of Frozen Planet" on April 8th.  And if you, like me, are really into behind-the-scenes stuff, check out this awesome Q&A from Entertainment Weekly with series producer Vanessa Berlowitz and director Chadden Hunter:  http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/03/17/frozen-planet-qa/.  An impressive statistic from the article:  During four years of production, the temperatures went as low as -58°F and the winds as high as 148 miles per hour. In total, the crew spent 2,356 days in the field, 840 hours trapped in blizzards, and 134 hours filming under the ice.

Holy wow.  I'm currently re-evaluating my "I need to go work on one of these series" mantra.  (Though if offered the chance I'd still jump on it in a heartbeat).

Take a look at these breathtaking stills from the show:

New episodes air Sundays at 8 pm on Discovery Channel.