Adorable moment Antarctic penguins lose friend captured on film by researchers

Researchers in Antarctica have captured on film the adorable moment a pair of penguins lose their friend on the ice.

The trio were walking across an area of the frozen continent, when one of them appears to slip down a shaft.

Unbeknown to its companions, they continue before frantically searching around for the missing bird.

The footage was filmed by the Australian Antarctic Programme, a mission funded by the Canberra government with the aim to undertake science programs and research projects to contribute to an understanding of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.

Several countries have bases near the southern pole, where it is so cold life struggles to thrive.

The United Kingdom funds a mission on the continent, which is 61.5 times the size of the nation, according to the British Antarctic Survey.

Last year, a mountaineer from the north east of England left home for a new life on the continent.

Kit Adams will run a post office in Port Lockroy; a windswept and snow-clad island the size of a football pitch off the continent’s peninsula which stretches northwards towards South America.

The island was originally set up in a secret British military operation and later converted into a museum and post office.

It is home to around 2,000 gentoo penguins and hosts tourists off cruise ships during the southern hemisphere’s summer months.