Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Irn Zoo: Drink’s wacky penguin ad in Russia

 irn bru advert penguins on the russian subway
Up before beaks ... commuter is urged to try drink
The hilarious clip — viewed 950,000 times on YouTube — features a group in fancy-dress larking around on a train.

 irn bru advert penguins on the russian subway
Moscow fools ... woman gets lifted
One tries to chat up a busty blonde while his pals dance with commuters — even lifting up one giggling woman.

 irn bru advert penguins on the russian subway
Ad ... penguin promotes drink
The pack then huddle around a stony-faced passenger in Moscow who only smiles when presented with a can.

 irn bru advert penguins on the russian subway
Irn lady ... bird chats up blonde
The fizzy drink is Russia’s third biggest selling behind Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
Last night a spokesman said: “It’s great to see that Irn-Bru is helping people get through in Russia too.”


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Jacksonville woman travels the world pursuing her passion for penguins

'Penguin Peggy' has seen 17 species of the birds in their native habitats

Posted: April 30, 2013 - 10:43am  |  Updated: April 30, 2013 - 10:52am

Peggy Wilchek of Jacksonville, known as "Penguin Peggy," hangs out with some of the penguins on their "beach" in the enclosure at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. Wilchek travels all over the world to see penguins in their native habitat and volunteers at the zoo's Tuxedo Coast Penguin Exhibit.
Bob.Mack@jacksonville.com
Peggy Wilchek of Jacksonville, known as "Penguin Peggy," hangs out with some of the penguins on their "beach" in the enclosure at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. Wilchek travels all over the world to see penguins in their native habitat and volunteers at the zoo's Tuxedo Coast Penguin Exhibit.


Bob.Mack@jacksonville.com-Peggy Wilchek records what the penguins eat as senior bird keeper Mike Taylor tosses pieces of trout, capelin and silversides to them. 


Bob.Mack@jacksonville.com-Peggy Wilchek talks to three boys from Orange Park Elementary School who were on a field trip to the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens.
 

Bob.Mack@jacksonville.com-A log is kept on the feeding habits of each of the penguins in the exhibit, which enables zookeepers to monitor their health.

She’s known as “Penguin Peggy” to some, “The Penguin Lady” to others.
A young visitor to the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens even dubbed her a “penguin geek” after hearing her talk about the birds.

It’s not just her love of penguins that earned Peggy Wilchek the affectionate nicknames, but her encyclopedic knowledge of them as well.

And her travels. The Jacksonville resident, who does volunteer work at the zoo’s penguin exhibit, has seen all 18 species of penguins in their native habitats. It’s taken her from Antarctica to South Africa to New Zealand and other places around the globe.

“Five years and six trips,” Wilchek said, during a recent morning at the zoo. She called it her “dirty day,” because she spends part of the time scrubbing down and disinfecting the rooms where the zoo’s 11 penguins stay at night.

She also “plays secretary” to staff members such as Mike Taylor, senior bird keeper, by keeping track of the penguins’ fish intake as they’re fed. It’s part of the process of monitoring their overall health.
“When I heard the zoo was getting penguins three years ago, I was thrilled,” she said. She had been a volunteer at the zoo for a year by then.

Wilchek, 70 and a retired nurse, said penguins captured her heart in 2001 during her first trip to Antarctica. “They make me smile,” she said. “They make me laugh.”

Nothing compares to seeing them in their natural environment, she said. And even if Wilchek were content to go from zoo to zoo around the world, she wouldn’t be able to see all the species, since not all are on display in captivity. (Some, such as the Galapagos and Yellow-Eyed penguins, either aren’t adaptable or don’t do well in captivity, Gen Darnell, the zoo’s supervisor of birds, said.)

Magellanic penguins make up the zoo’s penguin population. The medium-size, South American penguin breeds in coastal Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands, which is where Wilchek first saw them in their native habitat.

Her favorites, however, are King penguins, “because they’re the most social,” followed by Royals, which are also quite social.

The pursuit of penguins has given Wilchek a new focus in her great love of travel.
Before going to Cape Town in 2002, for example, she contacted the South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds, which rescues and rehabilitates African penguins.

“I asked them what I could bring,” she said. “They said toothbrushes, newspapers and towels” to help with the cleanup of penguins injured in oil spills. Wilchek arrived with 100 toothbrushes, which are used to help remove the oil coating the birds.

Wilchek said her husband, John, is a “good sport” who accompanies her on penguin journeys. “He carries the luggage,” she joked.

Her license plate reads “Penguin 17.” She completed her “penguin quest” in 2006 when there were 17 designated species of penguins.

Since then, the Rockhopper, once treated as a single species, has been separated into two, the Northern and Southern — both of which she has seen. But she’s happy with the number on her tag, she said, and “I’m sticking to it.”

She loves sharing her knowledge of penguins with visitors at the zoo, where she typically spends about seven hours a day once a week as a volunteer. “It’s a dream job. I go home tired, but my heart feels good,” she said. “And I feel good that my work allows the keepers to get other things done.”
The first thing she’s likely to tell you is that most penguins don’t live where it’s cold.
“The No. 1 question I get from tours is, ‘How cold is the water?’ ”

What most people don’t realize, she said, is that all penguins live south of the equator, and “That’s why most can’t live where it’s cold. If you see a picture of a penguin and a polar bear together, you know it’s been Photoshopped.”

She found she couldn’t contain her enthusiasm during a trip to the Singapore Zoo in March. While visiting the penguin exhibit, she looked around to see if there were any zoo officials nearby before asking visitors, “Does anybody have any questions?”

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Comfy Shoes for Penguins?

Students design stylish, orthopedic footwear for sore Penguin feet 

Published April 24, 2013
 
Flickr/xrayspx
Happy Feet!
Millions of people suffer from sore feet--there’s hardly anything worse that can put a damper on a delightful day.

But humans are not the only ones prone to this miserable affliction. According to NBC News, the penguins at the John J. Shedd Aquarium, one of most famous aquatic facilities in the world, have foot pain from spending most of their time sunning on the rocks near their pool. "As our birds age and get older...they get sore feet like we do," said Lisa Takaki, Senior Director of Marine Mammals.

Since penguin anatomy precludes them from taking advantage of any Dr. Scholl’s sole soothers, the Shedd staff started thinking outside the box to find something that would alleviate their pain.
Fortunately for these flightless birds, the Shedd staff had a brilliant idea: contact the brainy freshman engineering majors at Northwestern University, who are participating in the school's "Design, Thinking and Communications" class.

The students were asked to create special penguin booties designed to distribute their weight. "My reaction was 'what? This is not engineering. This is arts and crafts!," one of the students remarked. Clarifying Shedd’s unique request into a better perspective, another student acknowledged that engineering consists of finding solutions to problems.

Shedd’s partnership with the students has been in existence for eight years. During this period, the students have solved many "fishy" situations that range from a creating a decompression chamber that helps sea horses eradicate air bubbles from under their skin, to a delivery system that administers medication to fish while they are undergoing surgical procedures.

While the students mainly thought engineering entailed designing buildings, they never dreamed that they would be helping fish and other aquatic animals. That said, they are proud of their accomplishments in helping Shedd provide treatment to their aquatic residents.  One student asked “How many people can say they worked on a fish anesthetic delivery system?" His answer; "I can tell you. It's about four!"

Being fashion-minded as well as ingenious, the students came up with a comforting foot contraption designed in stylish Northwestern Purple. Not too shabby, considering the penguins' footwear looks more like a band-aid!

To get an up close and personal experience with the Shedd’s penguins, watch this video.



 Who knew penguins get sore feet?

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Image of the Day

Royal Penguin by Robert Cave
Royal Penguin, a photo by Robert Cave on Flickr.

I said, it's windy out, mate!!!!

Zoo keepers become ‘parents’ for penguins

                                                               Tuesday 30 April 2013

Monday, April 29, 2013

Chile's Humboldt penguins under threat of extinction

Humboldt penguins remain at the zoo in Santiago, on April 4, 2013 (AFP, Martin Bernetti)
Humboldt penguins remain at the Pajaro Nino island, in Algarrobo seaside resort, west of Santiago, on March 6, 2013 (AFP/File, Claudio Santana)
ALGARROBO, Chile — Several dozen Humboldt penguins sun themselves along the coast of an islet in central Chile where the majestic birds coming here to nest once numbered in the thousands.

Humboldt penguins -- which nest only in parts of Chile and Peru -- over the years have become decimated by human encroachment, rat infestations and unforgiving weather currents carried by unusually warm El Nino ocean temperatures, naturalists said.

The Pajaro Nino islet, spread across a narrow channel of water from the popular resort area of Algarrobo, once drew about 2,000 of the birds during nesting season.

Today only about 500 of the birds come to this area some 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of Santiago.
"This area used to be completely filled with penguins and birds, but over time, their numbers have diminished," said Ruben Rojas, a local fisherman.

There are various varieties of penguins that inhabit Chile, but the largest colonies of Humboldt can be found in the northern part of the country. The birds are identifiable by the distinctive black bands across their chests.

Experts have expressed alarm over the rapidly vanishing penguins. The once plentiful species is classified in Chile as "vulnerable," while in Peru, the birds have been labeled "endangered."

Alejandro Simeone, director of the Department of Ecology and Biodiversity at Andres Bello University, told AFP that there are currently fewer than 50,000 Humboldt penguins left in Chile and Peru.

"A multitude of factors threaten a species that is highly diminished relative to what once existed," Simeone said.

The beginning of their demise dates back to 1978, when the island, which is also a nature sanctuary, was joined to the mainland by a cement fill-in -- a breakwater designed to protect the yachts of millionaire sailing enthusiasts.

It created in effect a 150-meter (500-foot) bridge connecting the mainland to the island, and local residents say they have seen the detrimental impact of its construction on animal and plant life.

Yachters have been accused of trying to rid the region of the birds, and video footage has surfaced showing some deliberately -- and illegally -- destroying penguin eggs to prevent new broods.

Rojas said the yachters don't like the excrement left behind by the birds. "They say it makes the island stink," he explained.

Prosecutors say they are investigating the alleged destruction of the penguins' eggs.

Part of the blame for the birds' gradual disappearance goes to fishermen's nets that ensnare hundreds of the birds each year.

A measure of blame also goes to the El Nino weather phenomenon and the warm water current it carries.
The frigid Humboldt current, which gives the penguin species its name, carries the birds' favorite foods, like anchovies and sardines.

El Nino currents, however, "warm the waters, making it hard for the penguins to find the fish that make up their usual diet," said Guillermo Cubillos of the Santiago National Zoo.

If the El Nino warming of the waters occurs during breeding season, many of the eggs or young die of cold and hunger, because their parents are delayed or even fail to return with food.

Rats also are seen as a major culprit. The cement breakwater that connects the islet to the mainland also has given free access to rodents, which feast on the vulnerable eggs and hatchlings of the nesting penguins.

A 2012 study found that almost half of all penguin eggs on the island were devoured, primarily by rodents, within the first 12 hours of breeding period.

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Image of the Day

Penguins by KarveDesign
Penguins, a photo by KarveDesign on Flickr.

The path home.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Image of the Day

  by frankiecesca
, a photo by frankiecesca on Flickr.

Humboldt penguins

Many get a sneak peek at KC Zoo’s penguin exhibit, minus the penguins

By LEE HILL KAVANAUGH

The Kansas City Star
The cold, spitting rain didn’t stop the large crowd swathed in ponchos and huddled under umbrellas Saturday morning at the Kansas City Zoo.


Friends of the Zoo members had flocked in for a sneak peek at the $15 million penguin exhibit that’s scheduled to open in late October — even though on Saturday the exhibit was just a big roofless hole with precast slabs of concrete walls and crunchy gravel pathways.

But by mid-morning more than 2,000 visitors were imagining the exhibit and its possibilities, with a little help from zoo docents.

That garage-sized opening in a wall above the vistors’ heads? The spot reserved for the “Penguintron,” a huge television screen that will preview what is waiting inside.

The focal point of the building-to-come will be the glass-walled home housing the superstars –– some 35 members of penguin cold-weather species — belly-sliding down icy ramps, zipping through underwater caves and waddling together beneath a wintery-looking sky.

An additional 15 warmer-weather penguin breeds will have their own condo area to frolic in (and hopefully mate in). Rising high on both sides of the exhibit hall will be a floor-to-ceiling live watery display of reef coral and another tower containing effervescent blobs of slow-motion animals called “moon jellies.” (Most people know them as jellyfish, a docent said.)

On Saturday docents walked through the crowd showing posters of the penguin breeds that will be displayed. Another docent was warming up the crowd with penguin jokes that always began, “So these two penguins waddle into a bar …”

But the zoo employee probably closest to the coming brood was wearing an African bush hat, safari pants, hiking boots and a constant grin: biologist Sean Putney, the director of living collections, who admits a passion for all things penguin.

“Penguins are amazing,” he said. “People never get tired of watching penguins.” (Or it seems, even imagining they’re watching penguins.)

He takes great delight telling the public about the four breeds coming to Kansas City: Humboldt, king, gentoo and rockhopper, “who are the rock stars of the bird world,” he said, “because their yellow swoop of feathers on their heads that look like they’re punked out.

“I have no doubt that this will be one of the most popular exhibits here, and maybe the best in the country.”

The penguin exhibit will feature spaces for sleepovers for families and scouts, wedding dinners, bar mitzvahs and corporate board meetings.

At least one other zoo employee was awed Saturday — from a distance — by the number of people who came to catch this imaginary bird’s-eye view.

Sipping coffee under an awning while trying to stay dry, zoo director Randy Wisthoff seemed ready to do his own “Happy Feet” dance.

“I made a promise in 2004 that we would bring penguins to Kansas City,” he said. “This project, and the enthusiasm from so many people, it feels good.”

Wisthoff credited the voters in Jackson and Clay counties who passed a sales tax increase. The zoo has raised $4 million in private donations, and taxes have brought in another $11 million.

“All the construction underground, like water lines, sewers, electrical lines, that’s all done,” Wisthoff said. “We’re right on track for it to open by Oct. 21st.”

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Images of the Day



 
These handsome chinstrap penguins photographed by Lucia Maugham and sent in by Joe D.

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Saturday, April 27, 2013

Chester Zoo's Penguin Chicks Named After TV Icons

April 21, 2013

Chester Zoo keeper Karen Neech checks on penguin chicks Davros and Dalek

A clutch of four Humboldt Penguin chicks hatched at the United Kingdom’s Chester Zoo have been named after characters from the British science fiction TV show Doctor Who, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. 
The first of the chicks, which hatched on April 17, was named Doctor.  The next three chicks are named Tardis, Davros and Dalek.

Chester Zoo keeper Karen Neech checks on penguin chicks Davros and Dalek (2)

Doctor a newly hatched penguin chick at Chester Zoo is weighed to check on its development

Penguins-13
Photo Credit: Chester Zoo

Zoo keepers are providing intense daily care to the four chicks, including daily weigh-ins to make sure the chicks are getting enough food from their parents.  Keeper Karen Neech said, “With extra mouths to feed a lot more food is required, so it’s a busy time for both us and the adult Penguins.  We provide the parents with fish and they then turn it into a high-protein soup, which they then regurgitate to feed to the chicks.” 

Humboldt Penguins are native to the coastal areas of Peru and Chile and are named for the chilly Humboldt ocean current in which they swim. They are listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. 

Penguins-14

Penguins-12

The new arrivals mean the zoo now has a colony of more than 40 Humboldt Penguins.  Each pair lays two eggs and will incubate them for 40 days up to hatching. Both parents are then involved in rearing the young.

At around eight weeks the chicks will leave the nest and learn how to swim in the zoo’s ‘baby pool’ before joining their parents in the main pool.

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World Penguin Day: Historic penguin photos


  • In the spirit of World Penguin Day (yes, that is a real thing):In 1913, the world saw the first professional photographs of penguins in Antarctica, taken by H.G. Pointing of the fated Terra Nova expedition. Captain Robert F. Scott and his team of British explorers lost a race against the Norwegians to the South Pole, but spend the next two years documenting their findings in Antarctica before every last member of the crew perished, only to be found by a search party 8 months later.In 1913 the search party returned with photographs and journals from the Terra Nova, you can see them here. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / Popperfoto
    In the spirit of World Penguin Day (yes, that is a real thing):

    In 1913, the world saw the first professional photographs of penguins in Antarctica, taken by H.G. Pointing of the fated Terra Nova expedition.

    Captain Robert F. Scott and his team of British explorers lost a race against the Norwegians to the South Pole, but spend the next two years documenting their findings in Antarctica before every last member of the crew perished, only to be found by a search party 8 months later.

    In 1913 the search party returned with photographs and journals from the Terra Nova, you can see them here.
    Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova 
     
     An Adelie penguin guarding eggs in its nest while standing next to two cans of Lyle's syrup on the ground. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / Popperfoto
    An Adelie penguin guarding eggs in its nest while standing next to two cans of Lyle's syrup on the ground. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova 
     
    The Terra Nova berthed at Glacier Tongue. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / Popperfoto
    The Terra Nova berthed at Glacier Tongue. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova 
     
    Full length portrait of photographer Herbert Ponting wearing warm clothing with his cinematograph. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / Popperfoto
    Full length portrait of photographer Herbert Ponting wearing warm clothing with his cinematograph. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova 
     
    Penguins resting on the ice in front of a large iceberg. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / Popperfoto
    Penguins resting on the ice in front of a large iceberg. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova 
     
    Photographer Herbert Ponting is attacked by an angry penguin on the penguinry at Cape Royds Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / Popperfoto
    Photographer Herbert Ponting is attacked by an angry penguin on the penguinry at Cape Royds Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova 
     Adelie penguins resting on the ice with Mount Erebus and open water near the grotto iceberg in the background. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / Popperfoto
    Adelie penguins resting on the ice with Mount Erebus and open water near the grotto iceberg in the background. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova 
     
    A close up view of the eggs of an Emperor penguin. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / Popperfoto
    A close up view of the eggs of an Emperor penguin. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova 
     Captain Scott's Antarctic Expedition 1911 - 1912, 3rd January, 1911. A view of Mount Terror taken in the evening. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / Popperfoto
    Captain Scott's Antarctic Expedition 1911 - 1912, 3rd January, 1911. A view of Mount Terror taken in the evening. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova 
      Thousands of penguins on the rocks of the penguinry at Cape Royds. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / Popperfoto
    Thousands of penguins on the rocks of the penguinry at Cape Royds. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova 
     
    Penguins standing at the ice edge under a gloomy sky at the time of the midnight sun. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / Popperfoto
    Penguins standing at the ice edge under a gloomy sky at the time of the midnight sun. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova 
     
    A group of young penguins at Cape Royds. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / Popperfoto
    A group of young penguins at Cape Royds. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova 
     
    Penguins and an ice berg at Cape Royds. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / Popperfoto
    Penguins and an ice berg at Cape Royds. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova 
     
    Beautiful ice reflections in the water with the Terra Nova ship in the background. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / Popperfoto
    Beautiful ice reflections in the water with the Terra Nova ship in the background. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova 
     Penguins standing on the ice in front of Mount Erebus. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / Popperfoto
    Penguins standing on the ice in front of Mount Erebus. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova 
     
     Tracks in the snow of an Adelie penguin crossing the path of a sledge track. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / Popperfoto
    Tracks in the snow of an Adelie penguin crossing the path of a sledge track. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova 
     
    Photographer Herbert Ponting amongst a group of penguins on the penguinry at Cape Royds. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / Popperfoto
    Photographer Herbert Ponting amongst a group of penguins on the penguinry at Cape Royds. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova 
     
     Expedition team members Clissold and Anton inspecting an Emperor penguin. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / Popperfoto
    Expedition team members Clissold and Anton inspecting an Emperor penguin. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova 
     
    A group of Adelie penguins on the sea ice. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / Popperfoto
    A group of Adelie penguins on the sea ice. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova 
     
    An Adelie penguin with baby chicks by the nest. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / Popperfoto
    An Adelie penguin with baby chicks by the nest. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova 
     
     An Adelie penguin lying on his nest, made from a mound of stones. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / Popperfoto
    An Adelie penguin lying on his nest, made from a mound of stones. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova 
     
     Photographer Herbert Ponting is attacked by an angry penguin on the penguinry at Cape Royds. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / Popperfoto
    Photographer Herbert Ponting is attacked by an angry penguin on the penguinry at Cape Royds. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova 
     
    Geologist Thomas Griffith Taylor (1880 - 1963) and meteorologist Charles Wright (1887 - 1975) in the entrance to an ice grotto during Captain Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic, 5th January 1911. The 'Terra Nova' is in the background. Photo: Scott Polar Research Institute, , H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / 2009 Getty Images
    Geologist Thomas Griffith Taylor (1880 - 1963) and meteorologist Charles Wright (1887 - 1975) in the entrance to an ice grotto during Captain Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic, 5th January 1911. The 'Terra Nova' is in the background. Photo: Scott Polar Research Institute, , H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova
    Royds. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova 
     
     Expedition team member Clissold inspecting an Emperor penguin. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / Popperfoto
    Expedition team member Clissold inspecting an Emperor penguin. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova 
     Lieutenant Evans guiding Bernard Day's motor tractor, laden with food and supplies, past the bergs on their Southern journey. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova / Popperfoto
    Lieutenant Evans guiding Bernard Day's motor tractor, laden with food and supplies, past the bergs on their Southern journey. Photo: Popperfoto, H.G. Pointing/Terra Nova
     
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11 facts about penguins

By Georgia Mierswa


Happy World Penguin Day! And what better way to celebrate than by looking at photos of penguins waddling, swimming, diving, and generally looking adorable. Penguin facts are lifted from the Oxford Index’s overview page entry on penguins (on the seabird, not the 1950s R&B group).

Penguins!
Ice cased Adelie penguins after a blizzard at Cape Denison / photograph by Frank Hurley
Adelie penguins moulting. First Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914. From the collections of the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

There are seventeen species of this flightless seabird.

African Penguin at Artis Zoo, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Photo by Arjan Haverkamp. Creative Commons License. via Wikimedia Commons.

They belong to the family Spheniscidae, which are almost exclusive to the southern hemisphere.
Untitled
Danco Island, Antarctic Peninsular. Photo by USEPA Environmental-Protection-Agency. Public domain.

Penguin wings are developed into powerful flippers for swimming.

King Penguin photographed in Asahiyama Zoo. Photo by saname777. Creative Commons License. via Wikimedia Commons.

The legs are far back in the body so on land they walk upright.


Since they no longer fly, there are no restrictions on their weight, so their bodies are invested with blubber.

King Penguin at Edinburgh Zoo, Scotland. Photo by Dave Morris, 2005. Creative Commons License. via Wikimedia Commons.

This insulates them in the water, but means they tend to overheat on land, so the warm tropics are a barrier to their spread into the northern hemisphere.


The largest, the emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri), stands over a metre high and weighs more than 40 kilograms (98 lb).

Emperor Penguin, Atka Bay, Weddell Sea, Antarctica. Photo by Hannes Grobe/AWI, 2004. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0. via Wikimedia Commons.

Emperors have a unique life history. They breed in rookeries of up to 50,000 pairs on the Antarctic ice shelf.
The World Factbook - Antarctica
A Chinstrap penguin rookery. CIA World Factbook. Public domain.

The young are left in large crèches to overwinter hundreds of kilometres from the ice edge.
Adelie Penguin2
Adelie penguins. Photo by Chadica (cyfer13), 2005. Creative Commons License. via Wikimedia Commons.

They can dive to depths of 265 metres (870 ft).
Antarctic (js) 15
Antarctic. Photo by Jerzy Strzelecki. Creative Commons License. via Wikimedia Commons.

Underwater they swim at speeds of 9–11 kilometres an hour (6–7 mph).
Pygoscelis papua -Edinburgh Zoo, Scotland -swimming-8a
A Gentoo Penguin swimming underwater at Edinburgh Zoo, Scotland. Photo by Debs from England, 2010. Creative Commons License. via Wikimedia Commons

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