Longest dive underwater by a bird (duration)

Longest dive underwater by a bird (duration)
Who
Emperor penguin, Aptenodytes forsteri
What
32.2 minute(s)
Where
Antarctica ()

According to research published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series on 12 April 2018, which centred around the tagging of 20 emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) in the Ross Sea with satellite transmitters in March 2013, one penguin was recorded diving underwater for 32.2 minutes. The study was a collaboration between the National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (New Zealand), the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (both USA).


This exceeded the previous longest dive by a bird – 27.6 minutes, also by an emperor penguin – by almost five minutes.

Over the course of this research, data was obtained for over 96,000 dives with a mean dive duration of 4.6 ± 2.3 minutes); 17 of the dives exceeded the previous duration record of 27.6 minutes.

Emperor penguins also hold the record for the deepest dive by a bird: 534 metres (1,751 feet), recorded in Nov 1993.