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.

If you’re really quiet, tip toes and everything, you might catch a glimpse of this story in its natural habitat OUTDOORSmagic.com