As a sea bird, the emperor penguin hunts exclusively in the sea. He eats fish, squid and krill. Emperor penguins hunt in groups. These groups swim right into the school of fish and quickly attack it in prey, pecking everything that appears before them. Small prey they eat right in the water, and with larger prey they have to swim to the surface to separate it.
On hunting, the emperor penguins travel long distances and reach speeds of up to 3-6 km / h and a depth of up to 35 meters. If necessary, they can hold under water for up to 15 minutes. The more light, the deeper they dive, since their main guide in hunting is vision, not hearing or echo sounder.
Colonies of emperor penguins are in natural shelters behind cliffs and large ice floes with mandatory availability of open water areas. The largest colonies number up to ten thousand individuals. Often the emperor penguins move on their belly, working their paws and wings. In order to warm up, the emperor penguins gather in dense groups, inside which the temperature can reach +35 degrees at an ambient temperature of -20 ° C. In this case, penguins constantly move from the edge of the group to the center and back, so that everyone is in equal conditions. About two months a year, the emperor penguins spend in the sea, the rest of the time is spent on the continuation of the genus.
