Photographer’s Shot Of Fuzzy Headless Blobs Confuses Everyone Who Sees It
Brian Bailey was on Half Moon Island photographing a chinstrap penguin colony and enjoying watching his slippery friends go about their daily lives. He hadn’t been to that spot in a month and was shocked to see how much some of the chicks had grown. They definitely looked a little different than they had before — and he spotted two of the chicks who looked very, very different.
“I was scanning the colony and saw this adult and her two chicks,” Bailey told The Dodo. “From my angle, they looked absolutely headless … and hilarious.”
Bailey did a double take when he first saw the seemingly headless chicks, confused as to what he might be looking at. After a minute, though, he realized exactly what was happening, and he couldn’t help but laugh.
“Went all the way to Antarctica … found these … things,” Bailey said.
“Penguins have a very peculiar way of sleeping at times,” Bailey said. “Sometimes they sleep with their head twisted behind them. Apparently, this is very comfortable for them … Many birds sleep with their heads twisted to their back. It’s just really odd looking when penguins do it.”
Bailey had somehow caught the chicks at just the right angle that it looked as if they didn’t have heads at all, and everyone who has seen the photos has been both confused and delighted.
“The shot has brought confusion, speculation, bewilderment and laughs,” Bailey said. “I had witnessed adults sleeping in [that] way, but these fuzzy chicks just looked so hilarious. People have likened them to the trendy and long-forgotten toy Furby, and the [Porgs] from Star Wars. I think the [Porgs] are very fitting.”
Bailey went back to the island to take adorable pictures of penguin chicks and ended up with hilarious shots of headless birds instead.