See how a clever Gentoo Penguin evades a group of Killer Whales.

Shortly after the one minute point in the video, the penguin makes its move! I like how the penguin seems to stare back at the whales.

The YouTube user who uploaded this video said:

The whales were just playing with it and training a younger member of the pod and that they could have taken it at anytime.

That’s true according to a paper on Antarctic Science published by Cambridge University (PDF link):

While it seems killer whales rarely, if ever, eat penguins, penguins may offer a sort of “training simulator” for young learning to help provide food for the pod.

The paper goes on to describe how the adult Killer Whales would actually herd the penguins and keep them within a circle for the younger whales. The penguins are rarely in any danger. I find it so fascinating how the adults teach their children the essential life skills that will allow them to survive.

Now I admit these Killer Whales are pretty smart, but penguins are smarter!

[One Lucky Penguin!] via [Laura's Birding Blog]