Video: Watch as penguin chicks harass an elephant seal

Footage from BBC Earth posted to X on Dec. 2 shows a flock of emperor penguin chicks swarming an elephant seal. One nibbles on its tail, and the seal lets out a grunt of frustration. As it flops away, the penguin chicks flee.

A recent study published to Science discusses how chinstrap penguins parents in Antarctica manage to get enough sleep while protecting their chicks from predators. The study said, “The penguins nodded off more than 10,000 times a day, for only around 4 seconds at a time, but still managed to accumulate close to 11 hours of sleep.”

Niels Rattenborg, a co-author to the penguin study and sleep researcher at the German Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, said, “These penguins look like drowsy drivers, blinking their eyes open and shut, and they do it 24/7 for several weeks at a time,” per The Associated Press.

Penguins aren’t the only birds with abnormal sleeping habits, as mallard ducks “switch from sleeping with both eyes closed ... when safely flanked by other birds” to keeping one eye open when on the edge of the flock, the study added.

What are penguin chicks’ predators?

Chicks are eaten by skuas (seabirds) and giant petrels. Adult penguins are also hunted by leopard seals and killer whales when in the water. BioExpedition added that unnatural predators brought to Antarctica recently prey on penguin chicks or eggs. These new predators include snakes, weasels, cats, foxes and dogs.