Penguin Walk returns to Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo Friday morning

Calgary's king penguins out for a walk. (Photo courtesy Calgary Zoo)

The penguins will be walking Friday.

The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo is preparing for the first official day of the 11^th annual Penguin Walk, which will take place, weather permitting, Friday the 13^th at 10:30 a.m. That will be the first but not the last, as the penguins are scheduled to do their royal walkabout on a daily basis through mid-March.

King penguins are known to walk long distances in the wild, in their search for open water, so the daily walks are something they figure to relish, the zoo said in a release, although they're free to opt out of the walk.

According to the zoo, most penguins choose to opt in, most every single day.

Visitors can watch up to 14 king penguins doing their daily walk, including Diana, Grace, Arthur, Solomon, Cleopatra, Josephine, Louis, Phillipe, Henri, Napoleon, George, Boudicca, Rupert and maybe even the newest king chick.

The walk starts at Penguin Plunge, travels down to the Discovery Trail Bridge, then heads back up to the penguin habitat over a 15-minute span of time.

The walk depends on the penguins' willingness to do it, as well as the weather. That means if temperatures drop below -25 C or rise above 5 C, or the winds are too unruly, the walk will be canceled – which the zoo will announce on its website and social media. The earliest a walk gets cancelled is 9 a.m. and the latest is 10 a.m.

Friday's forecast is for warm temperatures with a mix of sun and cloud. The forecast high is for 6 C although that's not likely to be the temperature at 10:30 a.m.