Emperor Penguins and Their Journey

They live in the Antarctic seas. Their home is an iceberg and the ocean. The temperature is usually 38 below on a sunny day. Almost all the inhalations died long ago. The penguins decided to stay for whatever reason. Each year around the same time, the birds take a journey. The breeding ground can be up to 20 miles away. This happens around March. Once they have all entered upon the ice from the sea with full bellies, the journey begins. The ice shifts so their path is not always the same. When they get tired, they give their feet a rest and use their bellies to travel. This is usually a parade that goes gracefully but not always. They will arrive at a place where each one was eventually born. When the emperor penguin finds the one he wants, he sings, and engages in contacts sports.

Within a few weeks, most of them would have found the one that he wants. For the ones that fall behind in the journey, survival is slim. In early June the eggs are laid the mother returns to the sea to feed, but leaves the egg with the father. It will last more than 2 months. Some are unfortunate and bring the egg during transition from female to male. They depart from each other and go separate ways. The female must rat room or she would lose third of the weight producing the egg. It's much colder now than the journey to the nesting ground.

The temperature is now eighty degrees below zero. The penguins huddle together to keep warm. It is warmer in the center of the huddle, so they rotate so each can get a chance at more warmth. The winds are very strong with the second winter. The mother has traveled more 70 miles. This is where the journey began. They have to search for an opening to the sea through the ice. This search may take days. Once they find that opening, they feed. They can dive up to 1700 feet and fed off of fish and squid. They can hold their breath for very long periods of time.

The father tries hard to survive the winter breeze. Some of the ill fathers will fall asleep and disappear. It's dark all the time now and they continue to huddle to keep warm. Predators are lurking around for the returned females. The leopard seal is one of them. The mothers have fed and now must take the long walk back. It's dark this time. By and by, the darkness disappears. The babies are born by now. They wait for the mother to arrive with the food that lodges in her belly to feed the young. The father has some milky substance in the back of his throat to feed the baby as a last resort until the mother comes. It will last a day or two, but for some it will be too late. The baby will not survive.

Finally, the mothers return with their full belies. They find each other through song. Once they unite, the mother can see their young for the first time. Finally, they are together. The father passes the young to the mother. The father and young sing to each other so that they will recognize each other when her returns. The fathers have lost over half their weight. Some will not survive the journey back to the sea.

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.

The mothers will now care for their own babies and keep them warm under their fatty pouches. The babies could die in a few minutes if outside of the pouch. When December comes which is the summer for them, the ice will break and open water near their nesting ground. The babies will then be ready to swim on their own and find food.

souce: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/emperor-penguin.html