There are many important dates in the year that we should all remember - but are any as important as Penguin Awareness Day ?
Yes, today is Penguin Awareness Day - we're sure you've had it marked on
your calendar for ages. Emperor penguins, Gentoo penguins, Macaroni
penguins, Chinstrap penguins - we love them all.
Learn more
and check out our quiz and amazing penguin facts below.
Think you know your stuff about penguins? See if you can tell which of these facts are true or false.
TOP TEN PENGUIN FACTS:
- There 18 different species of penguin in the world.
- Emperor penguins can swim up to 500m deep into the ocean and can stay underwater for up to 22 minutes.
- he Gentoo penguin is the fastest species of penguin - it can swim up to 22 miles per hour.
- Penguins use their black and white colouring as camouflage while fishing. It's black back makes it hard to spot in the ocean from above, while its white tummy can make it hard to be seen from below against the sun
- The name 'penguin' is thought to have come from pen gwyn, which means white head.
- Most penguins live in the Southern hemisphere, but one species lives on the Galápagos islands which can be found just inside the Northern hemisphere (though most of it is still in the Southern hemisphere).
- While penguins have wings they sadly cannot fly. However, penguins can propel themselves from the water into the air as if they're flying by using air bubbles to force themselves up very, very fast!
- The earliest known penguin fossil existed 61 million years ago - so penguins are older than humans!
- Once a year penguins lose ALL their feathers in one go - imagine losing your hair once a year? Don't worry - it always grows back two to three weeks later.
- Polar penguins can slide long distances on their bodies to travel fast on land - this is called 'tobogganing'.