People often laugh when they see penguins walking. They look very funny waddling from side to side on their short little legs. However Adelie penguins are able to walk 200 kilometers across the Antarctic sea ice to the place where they lay their eggs.
Penguins are such good swimmers that early explorers thought they were fish.
They use their flippers to ‘fly’ through the water like other birds use their wings to fly through the air. Emperor penguins, the biggest penguins, can go as fast as 50 kilometers an hour. If an Andelie penguin is swimming quickly, it can jump 2 meters out of the water. They do this when they are being chased by leopard seals, which like to eat them.
Emperor penguins can hold their breath underwater for twenty minutes. This means they can dive very deep to hunt for food. The deepest dive scientists know about is 565 metres. That’s over half a kilometer
When the male emperor penguins are looking after eggs, they join together in tight groups. In the middle of the group it might be 38C, while on the outside of the group it might be -35C. When the penguins on the outside get too cold, they move slowly to the inside and others take their place on the outside.