Emperor Penguin

Introduction

Emperor's are the largest and tallest o

f all penguins. An avg. bird is about 45 inches tall. They live in the frigid Antarctic region and the surrounding water. These flightless birds live in a region where the wind chills can reach up to -60°C! They are carnivores and feed on fish, squid, and krill. At sea these penguins can dive to 1,850 feet, deeper than any other bird and stay underwater for

more than 20 minutes. They are distinguished from other penguins by having bright yellow patches around the neck (in adults). Their wings are stiffened and flattened into flippers and their bodies are streamlined helping them to swim efficiently. They huddle together in colonies to escape wind and conserve warmth. Individuals take turns moving

to the group's protected and relatively toasty interior. Once a penguin has warmed a bit it

will move to the perimeter of the group so that others can enjoy the protection from the icy elements.

Diet

The Emperor Penguin's diet consists mainly of fish, crustaceans [the family of crabs, lobsters, krill, crayfish, shrimp, barnacles etc.] and cephalopods [ The family of squids, octopuses etc. ] Fish are usually the most important food source, and the antartic silverfish makes up the bulk of the bird's diet. Other prey include the glacial squid, the hooked squid and the Antarctic Krill. The Emperor Penguin searches for prey in the open water of the southern ocean, in either ice-free areas of open water or tidal cracks in pack ice.One of its feeding strategies is to dive to around 50 m , where it can easily spot sub-ice fish like the bald notothen swimming against the bottom surface of the se

a-ice; it swims up to the bottom of the ice and catches the fish. It then dives aga

in and repeats the sequence about half a dozen times before surfacing to breathe.

Predators

The Emperor Penguin's predators include birds and aquatic mammals; the southern giant petrel is the main avian predator, responsible for up to 34% of chick deaths in many colonies. The south polar skua mainly scavenges for dead chicks, as the live chicks are too large to be attacked by the time of its arrival in the colony. The primary aquatic predators are both mammals: the Leopard Seal, which takes some adult birds, as well as juveniles soon after they enter the water and the Orca, which takes adult birds.

If one of a breeding pair dies or is killed during the breeding season, the surviving parent must abandon its egg or young and go back to the sea to feed. ................................:(

Adaptation to cold

The Emperor Penguin breeds in the coldest environment of any bird species; air temperatures may reach −40 °C, and wind speeds may reach 144 km/h . Water temperature is a frigid −1.8 °C , which is much lower than the Emperor Penguin's average body temperature of 39 °C . The species has adapted in several ways to counteract heat loss. Feathers provide 80–90% of its insulation, and it has a layer of sub-dermal fat which may be up to 3 cm thick before breeding. This resultant blubber layer impedes the mobility of the Emperor on land compared to its less well fat-insulated cousin, the Magellanic Penguin. Its stiff feathers are short, spear-shaped, and densely packed over the entire skin surface. With around 100 feathers covering one square inch, it has the highest feather density of any bird species. An extra layer of insulation is formed by separate shafts of downy filaments between feathers and skin. Muscles allow the feathers to be held erect on land, reducing heat loss by trapping a layer of air next to the skin. Conversely, the plumage is flattened in water, thus waterproofing the skin and the downy underlayer. Preening is vital in facilitating insulation and in keeping the plumage oily and water-repellent.

Conservation

Emperor Penguin is listed as a species of "least concern" by the IUCN. Along with nine other species of penguin, it is currently under consideration for inclusion under the US Endangered Species Act. The primary reasons for this are declining food availability due to the effects of climate change and industrial fisheries on the crustacean (krill, shrimp etc.) and fish populations. Other reasons for their potential placement on this list include disease, habitat destruction, and disturbance at breeding colonies by humans. Of particular concern is the impact of tourism.THIS IS THE LIMIT ............. every animal i search about gives me evidences dat they r happily feeded on........................... even penguins ....................WTF!!!!!

Breeding

Emperor penguins spend the long winter on the open ice—and even breed during this harsh season. Females lay a single egg and then promptly leave it behind.Male emperors keep the newly laid eggs warm, but they do not sit on them, as many other birds do. Males stand and protect their eggs from the cold by balancing them on their feet and covering t

hem with feathered skin known as a brood pouch. During this two-month period of babysitting the males eat nothing and are at the mercy of the Antarctic.

When female penguins return to the breeding site, they bring a belly full of food which they regurgitate for the newly hatched chicks. Meanwhile, their duty done, male emperors take to the sea in search of food for themselves.Mothers care for their young chicks and protect them with the warmth of their own brood pouches. Outside of this warm cocoon, a chick could die in just a few minutes. In December, Antarctic summer, the pack ice begins to break up and open water appears near the breeding site, just as young emperor penguins are ready to swim and fish on their own.

Fast Facts

Type:

Bird

Biological Nam

e : Aptenodytes forsteri

Diet:

Carnivore

Average life span in the wild:

15 to 20 years

Size:

45 in (115 cm)

Weight:

Up to 88 lbs (40 kg)

Group name:

Colony

Oil Spill in Mexico .......Life In Danger !!!

The ripple effects of last week's offshore drilling rig explosion widened as crude oil continued to spill in the Gulf of Mexico at a rate of about a thousand barrels a day and oil company officials said it would take at least two to four weeks to get it under control.

The Deepwater Horizon, owned by Transocean and leased to BP, caught fire April 20 after an explosion and sank. Eleven oil rig workers are missing and presumed dead. The rig, with a platform bigger than a football field and insured for $560 million, was one of the most modern and was drilling in 5,000 feet of water.

But other environmentalists warned of damage. "Oil spills are extremely harmful to marine life when they occur and often for years or even decades later," said Jacqueline Savitz, a marine scientist and climate campaign director at Oceana, an environmental group. She said spills could coat sea birds and limit their flying ability and damage fisheries by injuring marine organism's systems

related to respiration, vision and reproduction.

Savitz said that the Gulf of Mexico is host to four species of endangered sea turtles and bluefin tuna, snapper and grouper. "Each of these can be affected," she said. "Turtles have to come to the surface to breathe and can be coated with oil or may swallow it." And, she added, the Gulf is one of only two nurseries for bluefin tuna, more than 90 percent of which return to their place of birth to spawn.

The oil slick could become the nation's worst environmental disaster in decades, threatening hundreds of species of fish, birds and other wildlife along the Gulf Coast, one of the world's richest seafood grounds, teeming with shrimp, oysters and other marine life. Thicker oil was in waters south and east of the Mississippi delta about five miles offshore.