Newsstand - British Navy To Test Toppling Penguins Theory

The British Royal Navy will be helping scientists from the British Antarctic Survey in an attempt to solve the 'toppling penguins' syndrome in the South Atlantic this winter.

Two Lynx helicopters from HMS Endurance will fly over the penguin colonies on the island of South Georgia in the Falklands from different angles and at different heights to test their reaction.

The research has been prompted by fears that the penguins' breeding patterns may be disrupted by overflights.
http://news.airwise.com/stories/2000/11/973163472.html

I spent New Year's Eve this year surrounded by millions of penguins in Antarctica. They are the cutest little things around. WHY are these military cretins tormenting them???

Ridiculous. Leave them in peace.

Royal Navy and RAF pilots have reported the sight of toppling penguins since the Falklands War in 1982.

The birds are said to be so fascinated by the sight of planes and helicopters that they keep gazing up at them until they fall over.

BBC science correspondent Christine McGourty said: "It is something scientists say has been a long-standing joke in that part of the world for some time.

"The idea that when a helicopter or plane flies overhead, the whole colony look up, follow the line of flight with the head and then all tip over.