Penguins in the sun
Not all penguins live in Antarctica. Some sorts of penguins live where it is hot.
The hottest place where penguins live is the Galápagos Islands. The Galápagos Islands are hot all year round.
Photo from Pixabay is in the public domain.
Penguins live there all year round. They are called Galápagos penguins.
Photo from Pixabay is in the public domain.
The Galápagos Islands are off the coast of South America. They are near the top of South America.
The Galápagos Islands are in the circle on the map.
"Ecuador (orthographic projection)" by Addicted04 - Own work, This vector image was created with Inkscape. Aquarius.geomar.de
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Keeping cool
When we are too hot we sweat to cool our skin. Penguins cannot sweat like we can. They keep cool by swimming in the cool sea.
To keep cool on land, they must turn their white bellies to face the sun.
They must do this as their white feathers absorb less heat than their black feathers. Less heat is absorbed as white surfaces reflect more heat away than dark surfaces.
They must keep their eggs cool too. They lay their eggs in holes in rocks. These nesting sites give the eggs shade from the sun. |
A penguin chick in its nest
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Rare birds
The number of Galápagos penguins has kept getting smaller. There are now fewer than 2,000 Galápagos penguins. A reason for this is that for many years they have had fewer and fewer safe nesting sites.
Some once safe nesting sites now get flooded. Other nesting sites get taken by marine iguanas (say
muh-reen ig-w-ar-nuhs). These reptiles need to lay eggs too.
muh-reen ig-w-ar-nuhs). These reptiles need to lay eggs too.
A marine iguana can live on land and swim in the sea.
Photo by Benjamint444. Licensed under GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons.
Marine means living or found in the sea. We can say a coral reef is a marine habitat as the habitat is in the sea. |