Almost airborne. Adelie penguin porpoising in shallow water.

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Adelie penguin porpoising in shallow water.

Penguins swimming in shallow water are very vulnable to attacks from Leopard seals. To walk in the shallow water at the beach is even more dangerous. They swim as fast as they can when they get close to land and often they try to jump the last meter or two onto the beach, where they are relatively safe from the Leopard seals.

Shingle Cove, Coronation Island, South Orkney Islands.

Adelie penguins are mid-sized, being 46 to 75 cm (18 to 30 in) in length and 3.9 to 5.8 kg (8.6 to 12.8 lbs) in weight.

Class: Aves
Order: Sphenisciformes
Family: Spheniscidae
Genus: Pygoscelis
Species: Pygoscelis adeliae

Keywords: flightless seabird bird single lone jump antarctic