Water entry impact dynamics of diving birds.

Some seabirds (such as northern gannets and brown boobies) can dive from heights as high as 30 m reaching speeds of up to 24 m s as they impact the water surface. The physical geometry of plunge diving birds, particularly of the beak, allows them to limit high impact forces compared to non-diving birds. Numerically simulated data for one species (northern gannet) provides some insight into the impact forces experienced during diving, however, no reliable experimental data with real bird geometries exist for comparison purposes.