It’s Penguin Awareness Day Jan 20, 2019

In honor of Penguin Awareness Day, we’re featuring the big daddy of the penguin world–the emperor penguin. At about 4 feet tall and weighing up to 100 pounds, it’s both the tallest and heaviest penguin species. The emperor is found only in Antarctica, where it endures wind chills colder than -75 degrees F and blizzard winds of more than 120 mph. It survives these harsh weather conditions by storing lots of fat underneath four layers of feathers. But the emperor penguin truly rules underwater, where it spends roughly half of its life. Studies show that an emperor can dive more than 1,700 feet below the surface, holding its breath more than 15 minutes at a time. It goes to such great depths in search of food, often for its babies back on shore.

© Paul Nicklen/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

Jan 20, 2018Yellow-eyed penguins, Moeraki, New Zealand
Jan 20, 2020A march toward a dream
Jan 20, 2021Penguins can t fly!
Jan 20, 2022Penguin Awareness Day
Jan 20, 2023Penguin Awareness Day
Jan 20, 2024Penguin Awareness Day
Jan 20, 2025Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Jan 20, 2026Penguin Awareness Day

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Jul 12, 2023Nakupenda Beach Nature Reserve, Zanzibar, Tanzania
Apr 25, 2022World Penguin Day
Jun 15, 2023Nature Photography Day
Jul 24, 2020Trunks stick together
Oct 21, 2023International Archaeology Day
Jan 3, 2026J.R.R. Tolkien Day
Mar 6, 2020Hello, harbinger of spring
Mar 29, 2021Rising up from the black sand like rock gods
Jun 30, 2020We re gonna need a bigger birdhouse
Oct 3, 2025Glen Brittle, Isle of Skye, Scotland
Jul 30, 2023Palouse farmland, Washington state
Jul 31, 2021Fashion models of the avian world
Feb 26, 2024Grand Canyon National Park turns 105
Jan 20, 2025Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Aug 26, 2020Spotted Lake emerges
Dec 29, 2020Where the glow of the holidays lingers
Jan 22, 2018Bird’s-eye view of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California
Feb 13, 2026Third Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge connecting Laos and Thailand
Feb 9, 2022Ceremony Hall at Sweden s Icehotel
Jul 2, 2023Its Halfway Day!
Apr 1, 2022April Fools Day
Dec 8, 2021Petrified Forest National Park
Sep 1, 2022Wildlife crossing, Wierden, Netherlands
Dec 11, 2023International Mountain Day
Mar 17, 2025Happy St. Patricks Day!
Apr 6, 2019Make way for robots
Oct 16, 2021Unearthing a queen s lost tale
Aug 19, 2024National Aviation Day
Sep 22, 2020Happy Hobbit Day
Sep 3, 2020Tall, taller, tallest