This is a lone Emperor Penguin that sat on a berg at the end of the runway for two days at Rothera. Emperor Penguins are rarely seen here maybe once or twice a year because there are no big colonies around here. They swim for miles and miles feeding but don’t necessarily stay together. The one that visited us is a juvenile which Danny the other boatman says you can tell by plummage so they aren’t drawn to the breeding colonies.

The first month I was in Antarctica I went out on a aerial photography flight as co pilot and took pictures of an Emperor Penguin colony on the east side of the peninsula from 2500 feet with my SLR. The pictures are being used by National Geographic – what is amazing is that you can see each individual penguin on my 10MB camera!

Emperor penguins are the largest of all the penguins. They stand almost 4 ft. (1.2 meters) tall and weigh 70 to 90 lbs. (30 to 40 kg.). They live and breed at the beginning of winter, on the fast ice all around the Antarctic continent. The total population is estimated to be about 200,000 breeding pairs. Emperor penguins can mate when they are 4 years old and can live to be 20 years of age.

Emperors live in the coldest climate on earth. Temperatures can drop as low as -140 degrees Fahrenheit (-60 degrees Celsius) on the Antarctic ice. After mating, the female lays one large egg. The egg is then immediately rolled to the top of the male’s feet. The egg is then incubated or kept warm on the male’s feet by a thick fold of skin that hangs from the belly of the male. The males manage to survive by standing huddled in groups for up to 9 weeks. During this time the female returns to the open sea to feed. During the time the male incubates the egg, he may lose about half his body weight because he does not eat.

The shape of their body helps them to survive. They have short wings that help them to dive up to 900 feet to catch larger fish. They can swim 10-15 kilometers an hour which lets them escape their main enemy, the leopard seal. They can stay warm because they have a thick layer of down under the outer feathers and a layer of blubber. The layer of downy feathers trap air that keeps the body heat in and cold air and water out. They also have large amounts of body oil that aids in keeping them dry in the water.