The past few weeks have been a rollercoaster of highs and lows for most of us.
Besides our constant battle with the deadly virus, we are also forced to stay home and are prohibited from seeing our loved ones and visiting our favorite places. But, no matter how extreme our current situation is, we always find ourselves clinging to a small glimmer of hope. Just like this photograph of two penguins watching the Melbourne skyline together.
While everyone on Twitterverse is admiring this touching moment captured by professional photographer Tobias Baumgaertner, the real story behind these two animals will make you cry happy tears. According to LADBible, Baumgaertner took the images last year while he was in St Kilda, an inner suburb in Melbourne, Australia.
On Instagram, the photographer wrote:
“During times like this, the truly lucky ones are those that can be with the person/people they love most. I captured this moment about a year ago. 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.”
Apart from spending three full nights with a penguin colony, Baumgaertner also shared that these two “lovebirds” just lost their respective partners.
“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. Since then they meet regularly comforting each other and standing together for hours watching the dancing lights of the nearby city. I spend 3 full nights with this penguin colony until I was able to get this picture.
Between not being able or allowed to use any lights and the tiny penguins continuously moving, rubbing their flippers on each other’s backs and cleaning one another, it was really hard to get a shot but I got lucky during one beautiful moment. I hope you enjoy this moment as much as I did,” he said.
Meanwhile, online users have been tweeting their fair share of sadness since the photo gained a whopping 155,000 likes. One person commented, “As a recent widower, I completely understand this. It is hard to understand until you live it,” to which another replied with, “That’s so lovely and sad at the same time. Amazing photo! Thank you.”
Just by looking at these penguins, we can truly say that love comes when you least expect it. And no, I’m not crying, you’re crying!
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