In honor of Penguin Awareness Day, we’re featuring the big daddy of the penguin world–the emperor penguin. At about 4 feet tall and weighing up to 100 pounds, it’s both the tallest and heaviest penguin species. The emperor is found only in Antarctica, where it endures wind chills colder than -75 degrees F and blizzard winds of more than 120 mph. It survives these harsh weather conditions by storing lots of fat underneath four layers of feathers. But the emperor penguin truly rules underwater, where it spends roughly half of its life. Studies show that an emperor can dive more than 1,700 feet below the surface, holding its breath more than 15 minutes at a time. It goes to such great depths in search of food, often for its babies back on shore.
It’s Penguin Awareness Day
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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Bear cubs roughhouse on Siblings Day
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A grotesque scene
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A glimpse of the Blue Forest
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A notorious advocate for women
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It’s Canada’s national day
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Diwali
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Yabba-Dabba-Doo!
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The most Instagrammable bird?
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Bobbing for crab apples
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International Day of Mangrove Conservation
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Observing a squirrelly day
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Women s suffrage at 100
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Mapping courage in the Seventh Ward
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Black History Month
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It s World Bee Day
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World Lizard Day
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What s cuter than nuzzling rhinos?
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On the Route of the Waterfalls
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Mada in Saleh, Saudi Arabia
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Wander the ancient medina
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Nazar amulets, Goreme National Park, Cappadocia, Turkey
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Travel Sunday: Flamenco in Granada, Andalusia, Spain
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Happy Hobbit Day
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Old Town of Rovinj, Croatia
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Languid life on the Lakes
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The party’s just starting
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A day to celebrate the sun
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Honoring those who served
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Red-necked grebes during breeding season
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A universe underground