Factfile: 12 facts about gentoo penguins

:: Gentoo penguins are the third largest penguin species reaching 80cm and up to 8kg when fully grown.

:: They are listed as 'near threatened' on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's red list of threatened species.

:: It is estimated there are 387,000 breeding pairs.

:: The gentoo penguins are found on the islands around the Antarctic and Sub Antarctic and on the Antarctic Peninsula including the Falklands.

:: Gentoos spend most of their time preening to maintain the oily condition of their feathers.

:: They can breed from as young as 1 year old.

:: Gentoos tend to nest on flat, low-lying beaches gathering up to 1700 stones to build it.

:: They lay a clutch of two eggs at a time, usually two to four days apart.

:: During incubation the parents take turns to sit on the nest while the other collects food.

:: Adult penguins moult once a year.

:: While moulting the penguins cannot go to sea to find food and they look scruffy as all their feathers drop out.

:: Penguins are vulnerable to disturbance by tourism and oil spills, climate change and fishing.