Emperor penguins are the most accomplished divers among birds, making routine
dives of 5–12 minutes, with the longest recorded dive over 27 minutes. These
birds can also dive to depths of over 500 meters! Since air-breathing animals like
penguins must hold their breath while submerged, the duration of any given dive
depends on how much oxygen is in the bird’s body at the beginning of the dive, how
quickly that oxygen gets used, and the lowest level of oxygen the bird can tolerate.
The rate of oxygen depletion is primarily determined by the penguin’s heart rate.
Consequently, studies of heart rates during dives can help us understand how these
animals regulate their oxygen consumption in order to make such impressive dives.The researchers equipped emperor penguins with devices that record their heart rates during
dives. The dataset reports Dive Heart Rate (beats per minute), the Duration
(minutes) of dives, and other related variables.