The beautiful King Penguins live and breathe on circumpolar islands located on the northern oceans off Antarctica. Their worldwide population is 2.5 million pairs and form huge breeding colonies. The colony at St. Andrew’s Bay on South Georgia Island (off the southeastern coast of Argentina) is home to over 100,000 birds.
They elegantly stand at 28 to 39 inches tall, weighing in at 21 to 40 pounds. Similar to their brothers, they are flightless and get around on land by alternating between a wobbling gate and sliding over the ice on their bellies propelled by their feet and flippers.
With an oily waterproof outer layer of feathers and three inner layers of down, they are well adapted to the extreme weather of the subantarctic. They build no nest, instead laying a single egg that they hold on their feet for the entire incubation period of about 55 days and are brooded by both parents in turn.
The King Penguin’s average swimming speed is 4 to 6 mph while foraging the sea for food of various species of small fish, squid, krill and lanternfish. They can dive to depths of 350 to 1000 feet, spending around five minutes submerged, during daylight hours, and less than 98 feet at night. And as always must be on the lookout for predatory seabirds, leopard and arctic fur seals and even Orca’s.
Their numbers are secure at present due to little settlement or human activity within their habitat. However, they are susceptible to the effects of ocean pollution and are affected by changes in ocean circulation caused by climate change.
Okay. Look closely. Did you spot Waldo amongst the penguins in the picture above?