Gentoo Penguin Research Paper

Freezing cold, 100 km per hour winds, -40C temperatures covered in snow and ice. What kind of animal would not only survive in, but thrive in that kind of environment. Penguins are one of the most known animal in the antarctic. There unique swimming abilities and survival skills are impeccable for there size.

Some may be small and some may be large but they all share similar traits with each other. The Gentoo penguins have a very small body structure compared to the Emperor Penguin. The Gentoo penguin only reach the height of 30 inches were as the Emperor can get up to 40 inches tall. Gentoo penguins are considered light weights Considering that they are only 12 pounds instead of weighing 88 pounds like the Emperor. The emperor penguin

Some seals have a tendency to be more aggressive towards people, specifically the leopard seals. Leopard seals have a tendency to be a frightening sight with their 10 foot long body frame and there massive weight of 750- 800 lbs, but compared to the elephant seal they are a light weight. Male elephant seals come to weigh about 4 tons while the females weigh about 1 ton. The elephant seal also out does them in length with the males being as long as 20 feet and the females being as long as 10 feet. There massive size and trunk-like noses set them apart from any other seal species. The leopard seals have impressively long teeth that help prevent their prey from escaping their mouth. Leopard seals have a dark grey on there back with a whitish cream color on their stomachs. The elephant seals have a light to dark grey skin colour with lighter patches on their necks. Although the leopard and elephant seals share similar colour features, you can easily distinguish between the two species. The elephant seals spends 80% of their life in water. The leopard seal is considered the most ferocious seal in the antarctic. The leopard seal is the only seal species who will prey on its own kind as well as penguins, fish, krill, and squid. Elephant seals on the other hand only prey on fish and squid. To kill the penguins they will grab their feet and hit them against the ice until they are dead. The leopard seal

The Polar Skuas, Snow Petrel, and the Albatross are incredibly light allowing them to take flight for long journeys of migration. The Snow Petrel weighs 1 pound, Polar Skuas weigh 4lbs, where as the Albatross weighs 18 lbs. Some say that the Polar Skuas look like immature Gulls. They are a light brown with a small amount of white on their feathers while albatross are the total opposite being white with minimal amount of light brown. The Snow Petrel have a wingspan of 1.5 feet and they have very thick plumage. Polar Skuas have a large menu that they will choose from, some of those items are fish, squid, carrion, and krill. They also find Adelie penguin eggs and chicks very appetizing. Albatross are a little picky on what they eat, they only like fish and squid. Polar Skuas usually live up to 11 years on the other hand an Albatross can live to about 50 years, but can live up to 80-85. The Snow Petrel have webbed feet that help them to swim swiftly and smoothly across large amounts of water looking for food. “Raptor of the South”, Albatross are known to be the most majestic of all the Antarctic birds with a total of 21 different breeds in the southern hemisphere. Albatross have a large head with a sharp hooked beak.The male Polar Skuas have a tendency to be smaller and lighter than female. For the migration the Polar Skuas will cross the equator and go into Alaska or the