There is no better day to share my first official blog post than on Earth Day! I hope you took the time to step back and appreciate this beautiful planet we are fortunate enough to live on.
Do penguins have an organ that converts seawater into freshwater?
In fifth grade my all-time favorite animal was a penguin. When the Webkinz penguin was released I was the first in line at the local Hallmark and, of course, I named mine Mumble. To this day I still have not seen Happy Feet, but for some reason I had the nerve to name my stuffed animal after the main character.
Besides being adorable as chicks and adults, penguins have many amazing adaptations that help them thrive in their salt water habitat. A penguin’s diet mainly relies on fish and when they feed, they take in large amounts of salt water. This salt water passes through their supraorbital gland, filtering out the salt and excreting it on the bird’s beak. To get rid of this excess salt, a penguin will sneeze to shake off the mineral.
So to review: do penguins have an organ that converts seawater into freshwater?
Kind of.
- Seawater is not converted into salt water. The salt is simply (or not that simply) filtered out of the water.
- It’s a gland, not an organ that does the filtering.
Science Your Aunt Shares 