Royal and imperial: polar explorers told interesting facts about penguins from the Antarctic. PHOTO
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April 25 is World Penguin Day, so Ukrainian polar explorers once again shared interesting facts about these birds. There are 3 types of penguins living in the area of ”Akademik Vernadskyi” station: subantarctic, antarctic and Adélie. However, in total, 5 species of penguins live in Antarctica, according to the National Antarctic Science Center. “What kind of penguins are these that don’t like the vicinity of “Vernadskyi”? We are talking about emperor and royal penguins. Meeting their representatives on our island is a great rarity, and therefore a great holiday for Ukrainian polar explorers,” the researchers say. For example, last year the biologists of the previous team, the 27th UAE, did not record a single sunset of these penguins for the whole year. But on the 24th, both royal and emperor penguins visited the UAE at the same time. Photos: Oksana Savenko, Ihor Dykiy, Andriy Zotov “This is a unique phenomenon, because the mentioned species prefer a completely different “temperature regime”. km from us)”, polar explorers share. And the royal ones are, on the contrary, heat-loving, and live on the Subantarctic islands (the nearest colony is about 2 thousand km away). Read also: Polar scientists showed which birds can be seen near the Vernadskyi station. PHOTO Interesting facts about “Nevernad” penguins Emperor penguins are the largest penguins on the planet among the current 18 species. Their height can reach 120 cm, and weight – 50 kg. For food (this is fish, krill, molluscs) they can dive to a depth of about half a kilometer. Emperor penguin Emperor penguins are the only bird species that reproduces in the Antarctic winter, and even in the depths of the continent – the nesting colony can be located 100 km from the coast. The female lays 1 egg and passes it to the male for incubation, and she herself goes to the ocean to feed for almost 2 months. “During this time, the father warms the egg on his paws, covering it with a special fold of skin on top. Before the baby hatches, the mother usually returns with a supply of food for him, and then the father goes hunting in the ocean,” polar explorers say. Currently, 66 emperor penguin colonies are known in Antarctica. Scientists noticed the last one in December 2022 thanks to pictures from space, in which bird droppings colored the ice very brightly. Royal penguins are the second largest penguins: their height is about a meter, and their weight is up to 18 kg. They are also considered the brightest penguins due to the orange coloring on their cheeks, neck and beak. Like emperor penguins, they do not build nests of stones, but incubate the egg on their paws, covering it with skin. This is done alternately by the male and the female. They also lay 1 egg. King penguin King penguins have a very long breeding cycle: 14-16 months pass from laying eggs to fledging chicks. All this time, the parents take care of the offspring, so the next laying is usually done later. “Babies from such a “late” clutch have little chance of survival, so often the “reproduction” of royal penguins is not successful every year. By the way, why did we decide to tell you about this? And because today is Penguin Day in the world! Now you know a little more about these wonderful creatures,” the polar explorers add. It will be recalled that earlier polar explorers showed the moment of the birth of a chick. Read also: Polar scientists on Vernadskyi showed growing baby penguins. PHOTO
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