Two widowed penguins comforting each other wins photography contest.
A photograph of two penguins has won a photography contest. In a year that has produced many poignant and heartbreaking images, the photograph of the two penguins received an outpouring of love on social media.
German photographer Tobias Baumgaertner took the award winning photo that shows a pair of penguins appearing to comfort one another in Australia. "These two fairy penguins poised upon a rock overlooking the Melbourne skyline were standing there for hours, flipper in flipper, watching the sparkling lights of the skyline and ocean," the German photographer wrote on Instagram.
"A volunteer approached me and told me that the white one was an elderly lady who had lost her partner and apparently so did the younger male to the left," Baumgaertner wrote.
"Since then [the penguins] meet regularly, comforting each other and standing together for hours watching the dancing lights of the nearby city."
Fairy penguins are the world's smallest species of penguins, found on the coastlines of southern Australia and New Zealand.
More penguin stories:
A Penguin's Story: This is one of the most heart-warming true tales you're ever likely to read.
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