World Penguin Day

April 25th is World Penguin Day. I have been a fan of penguins for as long as I can remember. There is just something about those cute birds that just pull you in. Their tuxedo-like appearance, the waddle, and their sliding/diving antics. My dream is to someday photograph these amazing birds in their natural habitat. 

Penguins natural habitat is in the southern hemisphere, stretching from the Galapagos to Antartica. They spend up to 75% of their life in water. They look for their food in the water and actually catch it in their beak and swallow whole as they swim! 

Did you know the penguin’s unique appearance is called countershading and it keeps them safe in the water? It’s not for those fancy dinners they attend.

Each penguin has a unique call they use to find their mate and chicks. Most penguins are monogamous during mating season while some are for life. The main reason they may choose a new mate is if their previous mate doesn’t return to the nesting area. The king and emperor penguins lay one egg each mating season while all other types lay two. 

Penguins aren’t endangered but we still need to raise awareness with world penguin day because the Adelie penguin populations are falling in areas where climate change is established. Adelie penguins depend on sea ice for their food, krill, with the warming Antarctic and ocean their feeding grounds are being affected. Krill depend on sea ice and the sea ice has reduced by 60% in the last 30 years. Adelie penguins are important because they eat krill and small fish while they are the food for larger mammals like leopard seals and killer whales. 

Enjoy a fun little video about the cranky chinstrap penguins.

My dream job/favorite Antartic photographer’s website. Someday I hope to be half the photographer he is.