Why You Want To Be Tough Like A Penguin

Hi Friend! With it still being winter I wanted to highlight Penguins. I want to share all about these cute animals where they live, some interesting facts, what threats they face, and how we can help!

Penguins are flightless birds that are typically found in the southern hemisphere. There are 18 species and all but one species, Galapagos Penguin, live in the southern hemisphere near the antarctic. As you may have noticed penguins vary in size from small, 15 inches, to tall, about 3.5 feet. Although penguins are flightless they are incredible in the water! Their webbed feet allow them to swim excellently as well as their torpedo-shaped body is perfect for diving. When diving and swimming they are holding their breaths many times for up to 20 minutes to catch fish, squid, or krill. While penguins look graceful in the water on land is a different story. They tend to waddle on land and will slide on their bellies on snow to move faster. If you have seen the movie happy feet, then you’ve seen the scene of the dad penguins protecting the egg while the mother is off to get food. The males will protect the egg at all costs including not eating. Many penguins will just lay one egg, therefore it is important to take care of it as it is their only offspring. Baby chicks, once hatched are vulnerable in the winter months many not surviving if it is their first chick. Those that do tend to huddle together creating a warm space to find off the cold harsh winds. Baby penguin chicks are the cutest! Google it you will thank me later.

While I love talking about how cute penguins are it is also important to talk about what threats they are facing. Penguins have natural threats from predators such as sea lions, killer whales, leopard seals, fur seals, and even sharks. Penguin chicks and eggs face threats from foxes, feral dogs, feral cats, and predatory birds. There are climate-related threats especially with the warming and the ice melting that they rely on. Retreating ice that doesn’t come back in the winter is habitat loss for them. They also face human threats like overfishing, hunting, and pollution. Humans will overfish limiting food for them. At time penguins will be caught in nets as well which lead to drowning. There are ways we can help.

A simple way to help is to share these issues with others. A simple conversation could change someone’s perspective. Another way is by supporting organizations such as WWF that work to protect penguins and other species. Signing petitions and supporting a policy that keeps these animals in mind is also a great way to help. Making sure that your senators and congressional leaders know about this could bring about big change. Your call to action is to share this blog post with one other person.