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This sight is dear to the heart.
Two little penguins sit on a rock and gaze through the darkness at the glittering sea of lights over the city of Melbourne, Australia. The male has put his fin protectively around the older female who is already graying.
▶ ︎With this shot, photographer Tobias Baumgartner won the Community Choice Award at the 2020 Ocean Photography Awards. But the story behind the photo is almost even more moving than the romantic shot itself.
They both lost their partners
Because the two penguins have much more in common than this photo together. Both have lost their partner. Since then, the grieving animals have been supporting each other. They meet regularly, they clean their feathers, they are there for each other.
Tobias Baumgartner learned about this from a volunteer who looks after the penguin colony at St. Kilda Beach. The photographer observed the animals for three days and three nights until he finally captured this quiet moment. The two penguins probably didn’t even notice. They stared at the horizon for hours, alone together.
