Visit the World's Southernmost Adélie Penguin Colony 360° I NOVA I PBS

Exploring the Beauty of the South Pole with Penguins

But why? 🐧 Who are the ones like this penguin? 🙌 . . . The “Nihilist Penguin” refers to a moment from Werner Herzog’s documentary Encounters at the End of the World. It shows a lone Adélie penguin that suddenly abandons its colony and walks inland toward the Antarctic mountains — away from food, water, and survival. While others follow instinct toward the sea, this penguin chooses a different, fatal path. Herzog describes it not simply as confusion, but as a disturbing glimpse of nature’s indi