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Comment by jncfhnb | Hacker News Reader

Very odd footage imo.

* most of the birds are falling in because they’re pushed, not because they’re jumping

* most of the birds are belly flopping hard rather than diving in with any sort of graceful entry

* most birds don’t appear to ever jump. I refuse to believe the camera wouldn’t have shown the whole population in the water if they had

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Years ago I heard a possibly apocryphal story -- that's at least halfway consistent with what's seen in this video -- about how a mass of penguins decide if they're in a safe place to go for a swim:

They gather near the edge of the ice and jostle each other until one bird falls in. Then they watch to see if it gets eaten by a predator. If not, the rest of them dive in and go for a swim...

> most of the birds are falling in because they’re pushed, not because they’re jumping

It's the same as every other bird? It surprised me that it isn't their parents pushing them.

The pushing starts when the ones a few rows back want a closer look... might not be deliberate or premeditated.

Like out of the nest? That doesn’t really track with the mass movement towards the cliff edge as a precursor.

I don't think there is any reason to think a belly flop would have the same effect on a penguin as it would on a human.

Surely there is one: gravity and water tension work the same for both.

Maybe it's some sort of weird social test like baby cowbirds.

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