Photographer Captures Two Widowed Penguins Comforting Each Other In Touching Moment

Penguins are known to be one of the most romantic species out there. To find their partner, they are willing to scour the depths of the ocean so that they can find the perfect pebble to gift it to their prospective mate. One wildlife photographer from Australia has captured photographs that show there is more to a penguin's love life than collecting pebbles. Recently, two widowed penguins - one with its arm around the other - were photographed perched atop a rock. It looked as though they're enjoying the brightly-lit Melbourne skyline.

This amazing picture, captured by Instagram user Tobias Baumgaertner, is simply breaking hearts all over the internet. The photo was taken back in 2019, but it was recently reshared on Twitter where it went viral. During times like this, the truly lucky ones are those that can be with the person/people they love most, Tobias wrote in the post. I captured this moment about a year ago. These two Fairy penguins poised upon a rock overlooking the Melbourne skyline were standing there for hours, flipper in flipper, watching the sparkling lights of the skyline and ocean.

The story gets interesting as he goes on to reveal the history behind the on-screen couple. A volunteer approached me and told me that the white one was an elderly lady who had lost her partner and apparently so did the younger male to the left. Their respective grief serving as the common factor, the two started meeting regularly to comfort each other and watch as the waves hit the pile of rocks and the light flits in and of focus. Since then they meet regularly comforting each other and standing together for hours watching the dancing lights of the nearby city, he continued.

Baumgaertner didn't just magically chance upon this moment. He had to wait for the opportune moment without even knowing that such a scene was even possible. He wrote: I spend 3 full nights with this penguin colony until I was able to get this picture. Between not being able or allowed to use any lights and the tiny penguins continuously moving, rubbing their flippers on each other’s backs and cleaning one another, it was really hard to get a shot but I got lucky during one beautiful moment. I hope you enjoy this moment as much as I did.

The photographer didn't stop with just one photo either, he shared another of the penguins' intimate moment last week, sharing some more information on them. Penguins Part 2. “... Love is the only game in which we win even when we lose, the photographer dubbed the picture. The way that these two lovebirds were caring for one another stood out from the entire colony. While all the other penguins were sleeping or running around, those two seemed to just stand there and enjoy every second they had together, holding each other in their flippers and talking about penguin stuff. Pain has brought them together.

I guess sometimes you find love when you least expect it. It’s a privilege to truly love someone, paradisiacal when they love you back. People were understandably moved by the pictures. User flyingchong commented on Instagram: I obviously see a lot of posts on the app, but I don’t remember the last time I was moved so much by one as I am from this. Simply beautiful. Another user, nokatt, appreciated the photographer's dedication while adding how hard it is to take such a picture. Such a beautiful story and amazing picture! I’ve been to the colony before and I can only imagine how difficult it was to capture this.