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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Composite of photographs from the Apollo 15 mission
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Bathing boxes at Brighton Beach, Australia
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Fog above the forest
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Protecting Alaska
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Fiesta at Siesta
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Waiānapanapa State Park, Maui, Hawaii
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Pining for spring
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World Environment Day
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The lights of Paris
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National Trails Day
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Where is this wintry road?
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Northern cardinal in winterberry bush
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Happy Syttende Mai!
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Gemsbok in Namibian sand dunes
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Arbor Day
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In Sicily, history is everywhere
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Reflecting on one of the world s strangest rivers
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Train crossing the Tadami River in Japan
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Aw shucks, It s Oyster Day
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The dancing trees of Sumba Island
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Why does this panda cub look so happy?
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World Reef Awareness Day
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It s only Wednesday
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D-Day remembered
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Earth seen from the International Space Station
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Nakupenda Beach Nature Reserve, Zanzibar, Tanzania
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Bohemian waxwings in Canada
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Mada’in Saleh archeological site in Saudi Arabia
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A bridge too Fawr
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Twas a night just like tonight