Happy feed! Amazing moment hundreds of penguins dive for plankton off Antarctica

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These are the wonderful scenes as a raft of penguins dive off Antarctica for plankton and are captured on film by a French expedition. 

The stunning photographs were taken by a team of French divers who followed the penguins beneath the waves as they fed. 

The pictures were taken by underwater photographer Alexandre Voyer, 37, during a French expedition to Antarctica organised by sailing enthusiast Gilles Rigaud.

These are the amazing scenes as hundreds of penguins dived beneath the surface of the ocean on the hunt for plankton 

French film maker Alexandre Voyer said he and his friends spotted the feeding penguins and decided to follow them into the water

The expedition team, who were on their way to Antarctica donned their wetsuits before diving into the frigid southern ocean

He said: 'It was so much fun - what was great was that they didn't really care or be afraid about us, they were eating plankton!

'We're used to seeing penguins but it's never been easy to dive with them.

'One day we were lucky enough to see a big group of them diving in the middle of the ocean.

'We immediately put our wetsuits and went for a dive with them.'

Mr Voyer now works in sound-editing for television commercials but grew up in French Polynesia and has always been fascinated by the sea.

Mr Voyer said it was the first time he ever saw such a large group of penguins eating together and was surprised they were eating plankton

Mr Voyer said the scenes he witnessed beneath the waves were like something out of a Star Wars movie 

My Voyer said they were concerned about possibly disturbing the penguins but they continued to feed despite their presence

He said: 'This was the first time we witnessed such a big group of penguins eating together.

'It was spectacular but we were also afraid of disturbing them and making them leave - but they didn't really care about us.

'They were so impressive - those birds look so clumsy on land but in the water they were so fast and acrobatic.

'They can dive hundreds of metres deep - it's absolutely incredible and it looks like something you'd see in a Star Wars film.

'These are wild animals and aren't used to seeing any humans so we have to approach them with a lot of respect.

'Freediving is a good way to do that but we've also got to be careful because they are big.'

Mr Voyer trains almost every day, either in his local swimming pool in Paris or freediving in the sea.

He said: 'You have to be in good shape to do this sort of thing - for the moment, I'm training with athletes in Paris pools.' 

Mr Voyer said he had to be in exceptional physical shape to be able to free dive along with the penguins practising nearly every day

The penguins left trails of bubbles behind them as they dived through the water on the hunt for plankton

The team followed the penguins to land, where they lost their grace and poise and instead waddled around in an awkward fashion

The penguins left a trail of prints as they walked across the snowy surface after their return from their feeding mission 

The expedition was organised by French sailing enthusiast Gilles Rigaud and filmed by Alexandre Voyer