Emperor penguins are the only birds in the world to live entirely in Antarctica. They are the only birds to breed in the Antarctic winter. They are the only birds in the world that may never set foot on land during their lives. The Snow Hill colony, for example, is on sea ice some distance from the actual island. No explanations can effectively exhaust the awe that these birds inspire.
Then, there is their diving ability. They can dive up to 1,800 feet and stay down for twenty-two minutes. To do this, before diving, they increase their heart rate from their normal rate of 100 beats per minute (bpm) to 200, for oxygen loading. During a dive, the rate drops to 20 bpm, to conserve oxygen.
