Scientists Found More Than a Million Rare Penguins in Antarctica

A previously unknown “supercolony” of more than 1.5 million penguins has been discovered by scientists in the Danger Islands, a chain of nine islands located off the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Professors from Stony Brook University in New York say they discovered the enormous colony of Adélie Penguins, which live on the Antarctic continent, when they noticed the penguins’ feces, or guano, in NASA satellite imagery of the islands. Before the discovery, experts believed that the total population of Adélie Penguins was on the decline.

How about some good news for a change … & video of cute penguins?!?!Newly-discovered 'supercolony' of Adelie #penguinshttps://t.co/rxIGhLksHXfunded by @RayDalio @AluciaProd pic.twitter.com/1EZ1U2ZrOj
— WHOI Media Relations (@WHOImedia) March 2, 2018

Check out the newly discovered Adelie #Penguins in #Antarctica from the skies! Video: https://t.co/fESdgX6gF0#drones #science pic.twitter.com/o1744EuPsS
— WHOI Media Relations (@WHOImedia) March 2, 2018

After heading to the remote island in December 2015 to investigate, the professors, along with a seabird ecologist from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts and other experts, said they found hundreds of thousands of birds nesting in the rocky soil.

The team proceeded to count the number of birds by hand and used a modified commercial quadcopter drone to take images of the entire island fro...

Source: TIME: Science - March 2, 2018 Category: Science Authors: Kate Samuelson Tags: Uncategorized animals onetime Source Type: news