What kind of bird can dive the deepest below sea level - about 500 meters underwater?

Question

What kind of bird can dive the deepest below sea level - about 500 meters underwater?

Answer 1

Penguin diving behavior and depth depends on the depth of the penguins' prey, which may vary with season and time of day (Muller-Schwarze 1984). As stated before, most penguins have very little need for dives of great depth or long duration, since their food is usually found in the shallower depths. However, King and Emperor penguins (about 12 kg and 30 kg respectively) have been known to dive to depths of 204 and 534 m for as long as 7.5 and 15.8 minutes. The ability to dive for long periods increases with body size; this accounts for the Emperor penguin, the largest of all penguins, having the record for deepest and longest dive (Handrich 1997). The Emperor's record dive has been set at 18 minutes, though usual dive time even for these large birds is around 3 minutes (Simpson 1976). Emperor penguins can change depth at a rate of 120 m/minute, though judging by the average length of their dives, the depth of most dives is probably not very great. It would be possible for them to perform on-average bounce dives of 180 m, but this would leave the birds very little time for pursuing prey, so most dives are probably much shallower than this (Stonehouse 1975).

Answer 2

Emperor Penguin

Answer 3

Emperor Penguin.  I know because that is what L said, and he/she planted the question.  "The Thinker" is the 11th bogus "asker" who mysteriously will always award L Best Answer.  Others are Beck, Najla Assila, Tucker, Sam Fisher, Ricardo, Your Dad, T. Iverson, Julia Star, Michael Bay, John Smith and Black Rider.

Please refer to "Best Answers 2" question asked today in Trivia.  Many subscribers are aware of this pest, who has miraculously amassed 5070 points in 9 days with a 92% Best Answer Percentage.

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