What’s black and white and all over the place? Satellite survey finds DOUBLE the number of penguins scientists expected

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What’s black and white and all over the place? Satellite survey finds DOUBLE the number of penguins scientists expected

April 14th, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

By
Tamara Cohen

PUBLISHED:

15:56 EST, 13 April 2012

|

UPDATED:

21:12 EST, 13 April 2012

The first census of penguins at the South Pole has found nearly 600,000 – twice the number previously thought to be there.

Using state-of-the-art satellite imagery, scientists found 44 colonies of emperor penguins.

Seven colonies were previously unknown, and many of the known ones were bigger than expected.

An Emperor colony at Halley Bay pictured during a survey to get the first reliable census of the iconic birds

In the past, it was notoriously
difficult to estimate their numbers as they live in temperatures of -50c
(-58f), and some colonies are in the most remote parts of the Antarctic
sea ice.

The British Antarctic Survey hopes
that having an accurate number – thought to be 595,000 compared with
previous estimates of 270,000-350,000 – will help manage conservation
and track climate change.

The scientists hope having an accurate
measure of their number – now though to be 595,000 compared to previous
estimates of 270,000-350,000 – will help manage conservation efforts
and track the impact of climate change.

Emperors are the largest penguins, and
live in the coldest and most remote locations. Other Antarctic penguins
live further north. They have gold patches on their ears and tops of
their chests.

Living in large colonies, they are the
only penguin species to breed through the pitch-dark Antarctic winter
in brutal temperatures and winds of more than 120 miles an hour.

Counting emperor penguins in their icy
Antarctic habitat was not easy until researchers used new technology to
map the birds from space

Counting emperor penguins in their icy Antarctic habitat was not easy until researchers used new technology to map the birds from space

They mate in April and in around June,
the females lay a single egg and pass it to the male who will balance
it on their feet, under their ‘coat’ of skin and feather which keeps it
warm for the next two months.

The mothers then go out to sea to feed
and return in August – the height of the winter – when the chicks are
due to hatch. Males then trundle off for up to 50 miles to find food and
return to help rear the chick.

This mapping technique is said to be
an ‘enormous step forward’ as it allows counting of penguins safely,
cheaply and without disrupting their environment. It could be used to
measure other remote creatures.

Scientists are concerned that in some
regions of Antarctica, earlier springs are causing a loss of sea ice for
emperor penguins in the north of the continent, while the south is far
less affected.

Lead author and geographer Peter
Fretwell said of the three-year study: ‘We are delighted to be able to
locate and identify such a large number of emperor penguins. This is the
first comprehensive census of a species taken from space, and it is
non-invasive and far more accurate than attempts to count them on the
ground.

‘We expect to lose as many as half of
the penguins in the next 60 years, because they breed on the sea ice.
This will have knock on effects for killer whiles and leopard seals
which prey on them.

‘But we believe climate change is
going to be regional and uneven in its effects, with loss of sea ice in
the west of the continent where a lot of the emperors are, but gains in
more southerly area.

‘This will help us understand the impact on the penguins and where to focus efforts on research and conservation.’

The pictures, taken during the 2009 breeding season, are published today (Sat) in the journal PLoS ONE.