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A colony of king penguins that have adapted to global warming by living among sand dunes nearly 200 miles from the sea has amazed scientists.

The incredible colony which is also close to human dwellings is shown here in a video of a king penguin holding its breath for seven minutes while on an underwater fish hunt as researchers track its every move through a waterproof camera.

Footage from the Inutil Bay, on the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, shared between Chile and Argentina, showed the flightless seabird skillfully diving beneath the water to catch its prey.

Darting through the water with incredible speed, the bird can be seen plunging to depths of 160 metres (524 feet) while holding its breath for an astonishing seven minutes before returning to its waddle.

The tried to say that food is plentiful but the one drawback to the penguin numbers expanding previously was predators including gray foxes, Andean jackals and minks that kept eating the baby chicks and locals were snatching them because they were so cute to keep as pets.

Klemens Puetz, a marine biologist with the Antarctic Research Trust (ART), who has dedicated years to studying the colony, shed light on the species remarkable ability to adapt to their unique environment, setting them apart from the rest.

The researcher hailed this as a clear sign of the world’s second-largest penguin species' impressive adaptability.

Although the exact reasons for the new colony's formation remain uncertain, it's believed to be a reaction to climate change, pushing these hardy birds to establish new territories.

The zoo added that thanks to a private initiative protecting the birds from being stolen as souvenirs and allowing visits only under strict conditions, the colony has now grown to over 200 individuals.

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