Warning: A love triangle sparked that a bloody battle between penguins may be too painful for some humans to handle. Seriously, it’s really heartbreaking. And bloody.
The brutal battle captured by National Geographic is made even more difficult to endure by the dramatic commentary.
“This penguin has come home to find his wife with another penguin. He FLIPS OUT,” the narrator explains. “His strategy is simple: batter the homewrecker until he flees.”
If just the screen grab is upsetting you, don’t watch the video. We’ll explain the rest below.
Unlike most birds, which have hollow bones to make them light enough to fly, penguin flippers contain solid bones, according to NatGeo. The penguins use their flippers to batter each other with up to eight blows a second.
You can hear the males screeching as they fight.
“The love rivals call to the female to let her decide the victor. She chooses the homewrecker.” the narrator explains. “He follows them home. This fight isn’t over yet.”
The narrator points out that there is more at stake than just a broken heart, although that feels like a really big deal by this point if you have any emotions at all.
“He stands to lose more than his partner. An injured penguin is a prime target for hungry birds of prey,” the narrator says.
The “husband” calls to the “wife” but it seems her heart has gone cold.
“He makes one last plea to the female. But she’s got no time for losers. Defeated and humiliated, he’s left out in the cold.”
The narrator tries to leave the audience with a glimmer of hope for the rejected penguin.
“In a colony of nearly a quarter of a million, there are plenty more fish in the sea.”
However, many people who saw the video felt nothing but heartache.
