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Asked by eye56 to Austin, Kirsty, Nicola, Nike, Sarah on 19 Jun 2012.
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Kirsty Ross answered on 19 Jun 2012:
Penguins can’t fly through the air as their wings and feathers have become adapted over time to living in the water. They have a thick layer of fat under the skin to keep them warm in the Antarctic waters while they feed on fish. Their feathers and wings help them to ‘fly’ through the water at great speed. Their wings have evolved to become more like paddles, while their feathers are very waterproof to keep the cold water away from their skin. Their bodies have also adapted to life in water by becoming more streamlined, and they are probably too heavy to fly even if they wanted to!
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Austin Elliott answered on 19 Jun 2012:
What Kirsty said! It’s all in the adaptation. I don’t know which bird is the fastest flyer, but I’d bet something like a swallow (adapted for swift flight) can’t swim very fast, or probably not at all.
Penguins are supposed to be able to swim at c. 5 mph for many miles – and this is probably faster than a human swims 100 metres in the Olympics. Over a short distance a Penguin can go a lot faster than that, too. Penguins are about as ‘hydrodynamic’ as it is possible to be, every bit as well adapted to swimming as something like a dolphin.
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