CNF

4/25/25

Observed the world over on April 25th, World Penguin Day recognizes one of the unique birds on the planet.  There are 18 species of penguins, and all their natural habitats are in the Southern hemisphere.

Did you know the Emperor Penguin is the biggest of the 18 penguin species and largest of all birds? There are estimated to be (2017) approximately 595,000 adult Emperors today, and from birth, they spend their entire life around the Antarctic ice. These wondrous critters also incubate their eggs like other birds; only they can do so in temperatures nearing -50 degrees Celsius – that’s cold!

Emperor Penguins are the tallest… about 4 feet tall. The smallest, Little Blue, stands about 16 inches. And Penguins are excellent swimmers with the fastest penguin swimmer getting up to about 22 mph.

HOW TO OBSERVE #WorldPenguinDay

Use #WorldPenguinDay to share on social media.

National Penguin Day began in 1972 when Gerry Wallace wrote the event on his wife’s (Aleta’s) calendar in Alamogordo, California. They later brought the celebration to the Naval Weapons Center in Ridgecrest, California where the Penguin Patrol made the news. April 25th is also the date that the Adelie penguins begin their migration northward toward Antartica.

You can drop in on the Gentoos and Macaroni penguins any time with the Tennessee Aquarium’s  Penguins’ Rock cam CLICK here.