An adult king penguin stands amid a swirling sea of thousands, its belly full of krill, searching for its chick on South Georgia Island. What sounds like a parent’s nightmare is routine for these remarkable birds. Using unique vocal calls—much like human names—king penguins can pinpoint their partner or chick’s voice among the deafening chorus of hundreds of thousands.

South Georgia, a remote, mountainous island in the South Atlantic, hosts enormous colonies of king, macaroni, gentoo, and chinstrap penguins. During the austral summer, king penguins alone form around half a million breeding pairs. The colony stretches for miles, creating one of the planet’s most breathtaking wildlife spectacles.