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Great Penguins
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Emperor Photo Gallery
The largest of all penguin species with a length of up to 47 inches and their weight ranges from 48.5 pounds when hatching to 88.2 pounds when arriving at the colony. They have a black head, chin, and throat with broad yellow ear patches on the sides of the head. Circumpolar; largely restricted to cold waters of Antarctic Zone within the limits of pack-ice. Main breeding areas are: Cape Washington - 20,000 to 25,000 pairs,Victoria Land - 21,700, Halley Bay - 14,300 to 31,400, and Atka Bay - 16,000. The Ross Sea sector contains ~80,000 pairs, over half the total population. They remain in Antarctica permanently, breeding on the sea ice in some of the coldest conditions on the planet. Recent (2004) satellite images from LIMA (Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica) have located 38 emperor penguin colonies. Of the 38 colonies, 10 are new, six have been repositioned and 6 colonies previously thought to exist were not found or disappeared. These six colonies were originally recorded north of 70 degree South, which suggests the emperor penguins maybe at risk from climate change.They eat fish and crustaceans. There are an estimated 200,000 pairs, and the population is stable. There is little human influence except in the Ross Sea sector where the breeding population has decreased in part due to human influence. There are no known subspecies. They do not build nests or defend a fixed territory, using their warm bodies to incubate and raise their chicks. To stay warm themselves the adults rotate position in the huddle to make certain everyone gets a turn at being on the cold edge. They are the only Antarctic bird that breeds in the winter. They are the only penguin that has to deal with extreme cold. They have the longest molting period of all penguins lasting an average of 34 days. Like other penguins the Emperor has a thick layer of insulating feathers which are designed to keep them warm in water. Heat loss in water is much greater than in air. In addition to this, the Emperor has the largest body mass of all penguins, which further reduces relative surface area and heat loss. They are also able to control blood flow to their extremities, reducing the amount of blood that gets cold. Unlike other penguins they and the king penguin lay only one egg. Immediately after the egg is laid, the female leaves the nest for 2 months During the Antarctic winter, when the period of darkness may last more than 20 hours, the huddling (social) male emperor penguins incubating eggs may spend most of a 24-hour period sleeping. Breeding success is around 60%. Emperor chicks may experience a 90% survival rate during the first year of life, quite high for most penguins. Petrels are the main predators at some colonies. They can dive to a maximum of 1755 feet, remain submerged for up to 21 minutes. Most dives are about 70 feet and the dives last 2 to 8 minutes. Between dives, they comb their feathers to trap air in them, which helps to keep them warm in the cold water. They swim under water at speeds from 6.7 mph to 9.3 mph. Unlike other penguins they do not porpoise. The maximum walking speed is 1.7 mph.
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Emperor Photo Gallery 1
Emperor Photo Gallery 2
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