Well huddling of course!

We all love a good cuddle - it warms us up and makes us feel good but what if it was your means of survival?. Emperor penguins live in the Antarctic where temperatures plummet to -30°C and further. That coupled with the fierce winds and wind chill factor and lack of food, how do they survive such freezing temperatures?

The huddling method of survival has been used by penguins for centuries. They huddle together closely to conserve energy and keep warm and provide shelter from the freezing weather, Antarctic temperatures and fierce cold winds. It’s quite a fantastic way to stay warm and provide shelter but they don’t just huddle - they move around, the penguins on the outside move toward the centre and they rotate regularly to ensure every penguin has their fair share of warmth. It doesn’t end there with these clever animals - it has since been discovered that there is another reason penguins move so frequently during the huddle process. We now know that the centre of the huddle can get so hot, that it can reach temperatures of approx 100°F and penguins need to move around to avoid overheating! So penguins work together to warm up or cool down - it is a co-ordinated effort to survive the freezing temperatures and keep their eggs warm.

Another interesting fact about penguins is that they rock backwards and with their toes pointed, to reduce their contact with the snow and thus ensuring that they have minimum contact with the snow avoiding losing more heat - maybe us humans should try this technique to stay warm during the winter! The emperor penguins are so impressive, they manage to keep their core body temperature at a fixed and balanced 38°C by using this and the huddle method and rarely touch each other in the process.

For all your cold storage data logging - why not check out our data logger range and make sure your products don’t freeze like the emperor penguins!

All data loggers are supplied with a UKAS traceable calibration certificate as standard. .