A heartwarming photograph of two widowed penguins enjoying the Melbourne skyline has won a 2020 photography award.
The photograph was taken at St Kilda Pier, Melbourne, by Tobias Baumgaertner, and it won the Community Choice Awards after it went viral on Instagram earlier this year.
It also won a prize at Oceanographic magazine's Ocean Photograph Awards 2020.
Earlier this year, these penguins had a lot of fun exploring an empty aquarium during lockdown:When the photograph made the shortlist of five photographs selected for the Community Choice Award, with the winner being chosen by a popular vote, Baumgaertner expressed his thanks to everyone who had supported his picture so far.
Baumgaertner wrote last month: "It has been an honor to be selected as one of the 5 Images and I cannot express my gratitude towards everyone who has supported me and my penguin image up to this point!
"THANKS A MILLION, you guys are the best!"
Taken in 2019, the photographer explained that he took the picture when he noticed that the two penguins appeared to be comforting each other after the loss of their respective partners.
He made the revelation when he posted the picture back in March when many people were experiencing lockdowns for the first time as a result of the ongoing pandemic.
"During times like this the truly lucky ones are those that can be with the person/people they love most," he wrote. "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.
"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."
Watch the widowed penguins interacting below:He continued: "I spent three 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."
Hopefully, now that almost two years have passed since the picture was taken, these two penguins have found love again (perhaps with each other).
