Every year countless guillemot chicks face a true test of courage.
They jump into the sea from a height of 40 meters to reach their parents.
Heligoland – On Germany's only offshore island, Helgoland, it's time for the big Lummensprung again.
The guillemot chicks leap up to 40 meters from the cliffs of Lummenfelsen.
This natural spectacle takes place regularly in June and also attracts many visitors.
Chicks fall 40 meters into the sea - normal for guillemot chicks on Heligoland
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Every year, guillemot chicks jump about 40 meters down from the Lummenfelsen to join their parents in the water.
© Marcus Brandt/dpa
The three-week-old chicks make the giant leap to get to their parents in the sea.
From there they can be supplied with food much better by them.
Depending on the starting point, the guillemot chicks do not always end up directly in the water, but sometimes on the ground.
This duck also landed in a new swimming pond.
Because the offspring cannot yet fly, the young animals try as best they can to glide down with their stubby wings.
When they land, whether in the sea or on the ground, nothing usually happens to them.
Due to their lush fat pad and light bone structure, they are well prepared for the jump and landing.
They can even master jumps of up to 150 meters.
Chicks fall 40 meters into the sea - and have to muster all the courage to do it
But even if it's not 150 meters on Heligoland, but 40 meters, the jump from a dizzy height requires quite a lot of courage.
However, it often takes a few days and lots of calls from mom and dad guillemots for the chicks to take heart and gather all their courage.
For any chicks that didn't make it straight into the water, help is waiting below.
Helpers collect the chicks and take them to the sea.
The chicks who were born by their mother ducks in a maternity clinic had it a little easier.
The young animals, which will make the leap of their lives this year, will return to the Lummenfelsen on Heligoland after about four years.
Then they have to encourage their own chicks to take the plunge - just like their parents.
Chicks fall 40 meters into the sea - their name comes from their waddling gait
According to the Jordsand Association, the guillemots get their name from their typically waddling gait.
They mainly stay in the water and only come to the cliffs of Helgoland to reproduce, which, by the way, are also the only breeding ground for the birds in Germany.
With their black plumage and white bellies, guillemots are reminiscent of penguins like the one that swallowed a dime, but they are not related to them.
They belong to the auks.
List of rubrics: © Marcus Brandt/dpa