Emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) can make repeated, lengthy dives with only minimal recovery periods, report Paul Ponganis at the University of California, San Diego, and his colleagues.
The authors attached recorders of depth, speed and acceleration to penguins diving at sea and at an experimental dive hole, and found that the birds often spent less than one minute at the surface between dives lasting for up to 10 minutes. These dives continue well beyond the point at which lactate — a metabolite produced when oxygen is in short supply — builds up in the blood. This suggests that dives beyond this 'aerobic dive limit' do not always require extended surface intervals.
The team also reports the longest dive ever recorded for a bird: 27 minutes and 36 seconds, after which the penguin rested for more than 8 hours before diving again.
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Penguins dive without delay. Nature 476, 374 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/476374d
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/476374d
