Antarctica

Put on your hat, the Antarctic penguins are waiting for you!

Beware, polar climate! With a temperature of below 10 degrees, Antarctica is an area located at the entrance of the Marineland Côte d'Azur Animal Park that replicates the specific conditions that penguins need. There, you can watch around 40 King and Rockhopper Penguins at close quarters. While they move with grace and agility underwater, on land their gait is rather clumsy and endearing.

How can you tell them apart? The Southern Rockhopper Penguin gets its name from the fact that it moves in small jumps.  Its large black head has characteristic feathering giving it a startled look and its plumage is black on the back and white on the belly. This gregarious bird lives in large colonies and shares these with other seabird species. The King Penguin is more colourful with its orange spots and also taller, measuring 85 to 95 cm. Of the 18 species of penguins in the world, it is, in fact, the second largest, after the Emperor Penguin.

King Penguins only feed in the open sea, diving between 70 and 200 m deep and capturing their prey by chasing them at speeds of up to 12 km/h. Did you know that a large part of our colony was born in Marineland itself or that these polar creatures live on the Kerguelen and Crozet islands, i.e. in French territory?

Marineland's animal teams feed the penguin colony every day during educational presentations, so come and see them eat! But you are also welcome to visit Antarctica whenever you like and take advantage of the many educational panels to learn more about these funny birds so loved by children, as well as learning the difference in French between "manchots"... and "pingouins"! 