Adélie penguins diving off an iceberg in Antarctica

© Mike Hill/Getty Image

One giant leap for penguins

These Adélie penguins are jumping for joy because it's World Penguin Day. Or maybe they're just looking for a snack as they dive off this iceberg. Adélies live on Antarctica and nearby islands all year long, but in the fall and winter they spend most of their time near the coast. They can dive as deep as 175 metres or travel as much as 300 kilometres to find krill, fish, and squid.

The smallest penguin in the Antarctic, Adélies are one of only two penguin species (the other is the Emperor penguin) that live exclusively on the Antarctic continent. Huge colonies of Adélies were once spread throughout the Antarctic Peninsula and the coastline of the continent, but as climate change took hold, populations declined in some areas. Fortunately, a robust colony of some 1.5 million Adélie penguins was found on the Antarctic Peninsula's Danger Islands.