How do they look so cute in the cold

penguins are one of everyone's favourite animal to see and interact with when they visit Antarctica and rightly so, as this is one of the only places in the world you can interact with 1,000's of them in their natural state. However, they are flightless and somewhat comedic and hilarious to watch as they stumble their way on ice and snow but in the water they are incredibly graceful.

To survive in such cold water conditions their feathers are a plenty with 100,000's of feathers covering their bodies and different types of feathers in order to keep them warm and dry. This brings me to a point, as they are not as cuddly and soft as one might think, as their outer feather layer is coated with a waterproof oil that they secrete from a gland above their tail and constantly apply to their feathers. However, from a distance as you watch these guys, they do seem every bit as soft and cuddly as one hopes, and constantly reminding people not to run up and hug one is actually part of my job.

Click image to view full size