Emperor penguins mass mourning after chicks die on Antarctic ice shelf

How these chicks died is a mystery but their parents' pain is not. Wildlife photographer Daniel J. Cox captured the extraordinary image of this mass mourning of adult penguins as they grieved the loss of their babies on the Riiser Larsen Ice Shelf in Antarctica.



"Part of my job is to accept that with the spectacular sights of nature also come the stark facts of life, and to see emperor penguins mourning in a human-like way over the death of their chicks is heart-wrenching," he said.

"They hunch over like they are in a state of grief and they wander around the frozen ice wastes attempting to locate their chicks.



"It is difficult to say how they died, but I was told by other scientists at the scene that it was not unheard of. Weather and starvation can cause this kind of sad event."