Penguins are birds. They have special water proof feathers for swimming. Short & small wings are best for swimming. Large wings are clumsy in the water. It's enemies are the leopard seals. Penguins eat fish and krill and squid. Some dive down very very deep to catch squid. The black and white feathers of a penguin helps hide the penguins from predators when swimming. The white looks like a chunk of ice floating around from underneath. Penguins get their water from the sea. They have a special glands in their nose to get rid of the salt. Then the penguins can drink it.

Penguins muscles that move the wings are very strong. They are the largest muscles in the penguins body. Emperor penguin babies sit on their fathers feet. If the baby falls off of his feet the chick will freeze to death. Penguins live in the South Pole, Africa, South America, New Zealand, and Australia. Penguins can swim faster then a dolphin it can swim 15 m.p.h. Penguins unlike flying birds have solid bones. The bodies of penguins are shaped like submarines. That helps them cut through the water. Emperor and Adelie penguins are the only penguins that go to cooler places in hot seasons.

Some penguins build nests. There are many different kinds of penguin nests. Some penguins that live in warmer places dig and use that. Some that live in colder places use rocks. Some penguins use twigs, moss or grass. The future of the penguins looks good. Nobody traps or hunts penguins. Nobody makes coasts of their skins.

All penguins species are protected by law. Scientist are finding out that penguins cannot escape from those things that people do. Nobody wants to hurt penguins but we are doing it anyway. The problem is the ocean. Penguins depend of the ocean for life. They get their food from it. They swim in it all day. As more and more people come people take the fish that the penguins need. In some places people have taken so much fish that there will not be enough. Pollution of the ocean is another problem. People are dumping so much chemicals into the ocean that some of these poisons are going into remote areas where penguins live. The birds are often poisoned trying to get oil off their feathers. We MUST take more care of the oceans to save the penguins.