#001
Emperor Penguins
The female lays her single egg in early May but almost immediately passes it to the male. He carefully balances it in a brood pouch just above its feet, which keeps it warm at a temperature that can differ by 80 degree Celsius from the temperature outside. The female then heads straight back to sea to feed up through the winter. She will not return for 65 days, leaving the male to survive the long nights of winter darkness. With temperatures down to -70 degree Celcius and winds of 160kph (100mph) the males huddle close together. The huddle is constantly shifting slowly round so that all the penguins take their fair share of the exposed positions. At the heart of the huddle, heat loss may reduced by 50 per cent.
It's not until mid-July that the females finally return from the open ocean. The sun has only just begun its journey south from the northern hemisphere, and the males still see only an hour or two of distant daylight each day. The sea ice is also still near its maximum extent, and the females have to walk 160km back over the ice to reach the colony. They must time their return perfectly. Once the chick has hatched, the male can only give it a single feed with a special meal he preserves all winter in his gullet. He can only maintain his chick for 10-15 days before his own near-starvation forces him to abandon it and head for open water. By the time he finally makes it back to sea, he will have fasted for 115 days - a record for any bird - and lost half his own body weight.
P.S. 處於暴寒險惡的環境，要兼顧養兒育女和自身飽飯真不容易。原書裡的皇帝企鵝集體marching的那一幕太滑稽了，發現有一隻的頭好像不見去，險些大笑！
<BBC Planet Earth> 2012.2.29 @ KL Library
The female lays her single egg in early May but almost immediately passes it to the male. He carefully balances it in a brood pouch just above its feet, which keeps it warm at a temperature that can differ by 80 degree Celsius from the temperature outside. The female then heads straight back to sea to feed up through the winter. She will not return for 65 days, leaving the male to survive the long nights of winter darkness. With temperatures down to -70 degree Celcius and winds of 160kph (100mph) the males huddle close together. The huddle is constantly shifting slowly round so that all the penguins take their fair share of the exposed positions. At the heart of the huddle, heat loss may reduced by 50 per cent.
It's not until mid-July that the females finally return from the open ocean. The sun has only just begun its journey south from the northern hemisphere, and the males still see only an hour or two of distant daylight each day. The sea ice is also still near its maximum extent, and the females have to walk 160km back over the ice to reach the colony. They must time their return perfectly. Once the chick has hatched, the male can only give it a single feed with a special meal he preserves all winter in his gullet. He can only maintain his chick for 10-15 days before his own near-starvation forces him to abandon it and head for open water. By the time he finally makes it back to sea, he will have fasted for 115 days - a record for any bird - and lost half his own body weight.
P.S. 處於暴寒險惡的環境，要兼顧養兒育女和自身飽飯真不容易。原書裡的皇帝企鵝集體marching的那一幕太滑稽了，發現有一隻的頭好像不見去，險些大笑！
<BBC Planet Earth> 2012.2.29 @ KL Library
