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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Red-necked grebes during breeding season
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Native American Heritage Month
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Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel in Arkansas
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‘You should see the one that got away!’
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Badlands National Park turns 44
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Celebrating Flag Day
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Lake Louise, Banff National Park, Alberta
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Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
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Earth seen from the International Space Station
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Waiting for the perfect shot
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Mountain goats at Glacier National Park in Montana
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Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch on the institution s 175th anniversary
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Halfway Day
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A day of death and rebirth
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A Latino art exhibition in Denver
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On this shore, history was made
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Falling for the Canadian Rockies
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Of moose and Maine
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Bringing the moon to Earth
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Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica
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A yearly sign that spring has sprung
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International Polar Bear Day
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Winnie-the-Pooh Day
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Sibiu Christmas market, Romania
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Black History Month
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A river runs through it
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The wild heart of Tasmania
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Johnston Canyon in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada
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Salt of the earth
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Marine Day, Japan