Antarctica is a very extreme and harsh environment although is very rich in animal life, such as Emperor penguins who are the most populated of all penguins in all of Antarctica! In fact there are over 200,000 breeding pairs! Emperor penguins live in the far south of Antarctica on the sea and the ice. They are 1.5m (3.8ft) tall and 30km (66lb) heavy! Emperor penguins are also the biggest of all penguins.
Emperor penguins are the most “classic” penguins type of penguin people think of when they here the word penguin. They are really popular!
Some Emperor penguins never set foot on land and therefore known as the only bird that hasn’t set foot on land! That is freaky!
Emperor penguins weren’t discovered until 1902 (in the early 20thcentury). When Emperor penguins were first discovered the people thought there was to be some kind of missing link.
Emperor penguins eat fish, krill and squid but while they are underwater they will have to watch out for the things that they are preyed on such as Killer Whales, Leopard Seals and the Giant Petrel. The most dangerous to them is the Leopard Seal that can eat15 Emperor penguins in 1 day! Though they can only catch the very sick or the very weak. Healthy Emperor penguins can usually out swim a Leopard Seal.
Hen Emperor penguins dive they are longer and deeper than any other penguins. Emperor penguins can dive up to a depth of 550m (1400ft) and can hold their breath for up to 22mins. Diving abilities on Emperor penguins have been widely studied and are…. 1. An increased ability to store oxygen into the body. 2. The increased risk to put up with low levels of oxygen into the body. 3. The ability to put up with the pressure.
Emperor penguins have to put up with the low levels of oxygen that would cause a human to pass out! The pressure that Emperor penguins have when they are diving would cause a human to have a massive cramp! This wouldn’t even hurt an Emperor penguin!
An Emperor penguins normal heart beat is about 60_70 BPM , this goes up to 180_200 BPM before they dive, as they load up with oxygen, then as they hit the water immediately drops down to 100 BPM and slowly goes down to 20 BPM during most of their dive as they use their oxygen up quickly. Then when they hit the surface once more it goes back up to 200 BPM.
Emperor penguins breeding season is during April-December. The female penguin lays the egg in May-June. Then the male penguin takes over the egg, no nest is built for the egg because the male penguin carries the egg around in its legs. When the egg is warm enough the female penguin goes out to sea and doesn’t return until July! Then the male penguin sits with the egg. They also don’t eat during this time but just sits with the egg to protect it until the female penguin returns. Eventually the female penguin returns to the ice. This usually happens when the egg happens when the egg hatches but sometimes this happens before the mother penguin returns, if this is the case the male penguin must feed the chick with its “milk.”
The pair then goes off and takes care of the baby penguin but if the pair loses their chick the chick would have a survival time of 2mins.
The chicks huddle together in “crèches” while their parents are then able to go out and collect food for their young ones.
Chick survival has a lot to do with how the ice breaks up and how easy it is for the parents to reach the sea. If the ice stays closed then the mother will be able to reach the ice easier and the chick will have a better chance of survival. The colonies begin to spread out as the ice breaks up, the chicks are then able to feed themselves, leaving the adults to malt their feathers (a time where they don’t enter the water) and so are not able to feed.
Despite the way this seams, the breeding strategy of the Emperor penguin does make sense. With this breeding strategy the Emperor penguin chick becomes independent during the height of the summer food supply and so are able to survive better.
Emperor penguins raise a chick each year using this strategy, though the rigorous conditions of the life in the Deep South means that only 19% of chicks will survive their 1st year! Unlike the King penguin who has an 80% of survival on their 1st year!
The Emperor penguins are the biggest penguins. They are twice the size as the 2nd biggest penguin the King.
Emperor penguins are very special indeed and are also very interesting. But the most important thing is that they are very special to Antarctica so we should take care of them before they become extinct!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Human Impact
Antarctica
Most tortoises are Australia’s different creature, Antarctica is part of a different part of the world.
Most humans see dead fish on the beaches, humans help the animals if one of them are hurt, the humanity helps humans see Wales and lots of animals die on the shore.
The climate plush is going down more plush or ice, people see the ice and when the ice melts to/into the salt water will go into the fresh water and will make fresh water.
If the Wales go onto the shore the humans will put the Wales back into the water, Wales and Sharks die each year from being on the shore.
If the bad chemicals go onto the beaches penguins or other animals die so part of the climate is put into the bins and they are in Australia’s climate.
Most tortoises are Australia’s different creature, Antarctica is part of a different part of the world.
Most humans see dead fish on the beaches, humans help the animals if one of them are hurt, the humanity helps humans see Wales and lots of animals die on the shore.
The climate plush is going down more plush or ice, people see the ice and when the ice melts to/into the salt water will go into the fresh water and will make fresh water.
If the Wales go onto the shore the humans will put the Wales back into the water, Wales and Sharks die each year from being on the shore.
If the bad chemicals go onto the beaches penguins or other animals die so part of the climate is put into the bins and they are in Australia’s climate.
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