Emperor penguins are the largest of their entire species.: They have unique and collaborative survival strategies, such as grouping together to protect themselves from extreme cold and sharing the duty of care between males and females during the breeding season, as detailed. NatGeo.
These emperors face temperatures of up to 60 degrees below zero, and for much of the winter they are immersed in ice, during which time they reproduce. Recently, scientists from the Antarctica Survey informed Reuters that In the last year they had suffered complications in carrying out their procreation: a historic decline in the extent of Antarctic sea ice severely affected colonies, and The effect was significant as it implied failures of around 20% in its multiplication.
Sea ice acts as a critical platform for emperor penguins to lay their eggs. and raise their chicks, so its duration is important as it implies a fence over the frozen waters. The firmer it holds, the better, and the inverse of whether it cracks quickly. If the latter occurs, it forces the young penguins to enter the waters before they are ready, resulting in their death by freezing or drowning, as confirmed by the scientist. Peter Fretwell.
Reuters adds that Of the 66 existing colonies of the emperor penguin, 14 suffered an early breakup of the ice, resulting in the loss of thousands of creatures. One factor that is attributed to this particularity of the weak support of the ice is global warming, which accelerates natural processes that imply a conditioning on the number of these seabirds over time.
A positive aspect lies in the fact that, with the aforementioned survival capacity, the largest class of penguins has showno resistance to climate changesbased on information revealed by the satellite Sentinel-2 of the Copernicus Programme.
Emperor penguins stand out for its large dimensions compared to other families of this type of birds. If the approximate length of some of the other groups of penguins is between 43 and 53 centimeters, emperors can be up to almost three times as tall.: they exceed one meter in height and are located at 120 centimeters.
Oceanwide highlights that this advantage allows them to be those who can immerse themselves the mostcontemplating until 550 meters deep and at the same time boasting a long life: they live between 15 and 20 years.
The portal also informs that There are almost 600,000 emperor penguins.estimating a weight between 25 and 45 kilograms and a diet based on fish, crustaceans and mollusks.
The entire length of his appearance is white, except for his face and arms, which are completely black. At the upper limits between both colors they have certain yellow details, such as on their chest and chin.
The information provided by Oceanwide shows details about his ability and usual behavior, the following being some of the most iconic.
- Like bears with their hibernation season, Adults gain weight in the January-March period to be able to survive without eating in cycles that come ahead.
- They travel between 50 and 150 kilometers to give birth to their young.: This happens in April and then in May is when they reproduce.
- They are the only ones of their species capable of having their mating in the middle of winter.
- They return in December, to begin a new cycle.
- In their community, once mating has taken place They are recognized as a couple.
- The females lay the eggs and the males incubate them..
- Have their sexual maturity at three years of age.
- They head towards the sea to find food.
