Hands up everyone who has seen the film 'March of the Penguins'. Don't we learn something about birth and childcare that is achingly obvious, and yet erased from our collective consciousness? That Emperor penguins, like humans, are capable of great love, of great sacrifice, and great solidarity?
But penguin solidarity - unlike rich, western human solidarity - extends to childcare. While mother penguins trek back to the sea from their birthing place, and stuff themselves before making the great trek back to share the food, father penguins form a collective shield with their bodies, protecting their babies who are nesting between their feet and their fur, from the wicked winds of the far south.
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