Nutrition for Emperor Penguins

Nutritious Food Choices

• Emperor penguins eat during hunting sessions within ocean waters. They feast on squid and fish that they find in deeper waters, unlike smaller penguin species that cannot dive as far down. Emperor penguins also enjoy krill found in deep waters, as opposed to the smaller, surface krill. The penguin captures prey within its powerful bill and swallows it whole. The penguin's spiny tongue helps move the slippery prey back into the throat for swallowing. Additionally, emperor penguins must drink water, utilizing the sea water as a drinking source. Glands within the penguin's bill help desalinate the sea water.

Deep Diving

• Emperor penguins sustain their large bodies with larger squid and fish choices at deep depths. Typical penguin can only feed at depths of 50 to 60 feet, consuming small krill and fish. However, emperor penguins dive as deep as 700 feet. Deep diving provides a feeding area that is not as competitive with other penguin species. As a result, emperor penguins monopolize the depths for successful penguin species proliferation.

Food At Distances

• Emperor penguins swim long distances to attain needed nutrition. In fact, emperor penguins can swim between 102 and 903 miles in one hunting trip just to eat a specific food needed by their bodies. The emperor's large and strong body shape allows the species to swim farther distances, compared to smaller penguin species.

Fasting

• Nutrition is extremely important for developing a thick layer of fat, especially for male emperor penguins. A male stops eating for nine weeks while it cares for a new egg. The male incubates the egg by covering it with his feathers and skin, providing warmth until the egg hatches. The male does not eat again until the female returns with food for the baby. The male heads out to the ocean in search of food after the female feeds the baby. During the nine-week period, the male loses about a third of his entire body weight.

Penguin Evolution

• The deep diving depths, that emperor penguins feed within, are possible because of the penguin's oxygen retention capabilities. emperor penguins store oxygen in the lungs, blood, and in specialized muscle proteins called myoglobin. The stored oxygen allows emperors to stay underwater for almost 20 minutes.