Why Penguins Really Fall Over

In the wake of news that scientists are to study the tendency of South Atlantic penguins to fall over backwards in the face of passing aircraft, OUTDOORSmagic has conducted its own highly accurate simulations.

In real life the penguins are thought to view planes and helicopters as predators and their presence - first noticed during the Falklands conflict - makes them shake their heads, flap their flippers and lean over to watch the passing planes until they reach the point where they topple over.

Since we had neither planes or real penguins we used an inflatable plastic penguin as a stand-in for the real birds and a yukka houseplant to double for a helicopter. As the pictures below show, the results are quite remarkable:

As the yukka approaches, the penguin is mesmerised by its spinning leaves seeing it as a dangerous predator and stares in its direction

The yukka begins to rise into the air, its rotors spinning furiously. The penguin topples over backwards.

In the course of these tests we amassed huge amounts of scientific data, from which we have deduced that both yukkas and inflatable penguins generate powerful electromagnetic fields of differing polaritites. If a yukka flies too close to a penguin, the forces involved repel the bird in much the same way that Manchester United act on opposing fans, with the result that the penguin topples over backwards. We reckon something very similar may be happening in the South Atlantic.

For a more absurd take on this very serious issue, take a look at this story in the Guardian newspaper.