Newly released footage from National Geographic has captured an extraordinary and never-before-seen moment: emperor penguin chicks making their very first swim by leaping off a towering ice cliff.

In the video, nearly 700 fluffy emperor penguin chicks gather at the edge of a frozen precipice in Atka Bay, Antarctica. Below them lies the open Southern Ocean — a daunting 50-foot (15-meter) drop. The chicks hesitate, peering over the edge, until one brave penguin finally takes the plunge. Moments later, the others begin to follow.

After hitting the icy water, the first chick quickly resurfaces and swims away, proving that instinct can sometimes be stronger than fear. What makes this event remarkable is that emperor penguin chicks typically enter the ocean from low sea ice just one or two feet high — not from a cliff the height of a five-story building.

The footage was filmed in January 2024 on the Ekström Ice Shelf by award-winning National Geographic cinematographer Bertie Gregory for the upcoming documentary series Secrets of the Penguins, executive produced by James Cameron. The scene was captured using a drone after Gregory noticed unusual lines of chicks moving toward an unfamiliar area.

“Normally they jump off very low ice,” Gregory explained. “But when I flew the drone over, I realized they were stacking up at the edge of a massive ice cliff.”

Gregory spent two months camping near the colony, which included around 10,000 penguins, waiting for moments like this. Scientists had previously known that such jumps were possible, but this marked the first time the behavior was ever recorded on film.

Despite the danger — with floating ice chunks below that Gregory compared to “falling onto concrete” — the chicks survived, resurfaced, and immediately began swimming. For them, it wasn’t just a leap of faith, but the beginning of life at sea.

Secrets of the Penguins is set to premiere on Earth Day 2025 on National Geographic and Disney+.