British researchers have discovered a previously unknown colony of emperor penguins in Antarctica using satellite images. The animals revealed traces of feces: the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) said that the brown spots on the ice were easy to see from space.
“While this is good news, this colony – like many of the recently discovered hatcheries – is small and located in a region severely affected by sea ice loss,” BAS researcher Peter Fretwell said, according to the British PA news agency.
Since the colonies often live in remote, inaccessible regions, sometimes with temperatures as cold as minus 60 degrees Celsius, they are difficult to research. According to the scientists, it has now been possible to use satellite images to track down half of the known colonies.
The discovery of the approximately 500-strong colony in western Antarctica brings the total number of known breeding sites of emperor penguins on the Antarctic coast to 66.
Emperor penguins are the largest penguin species, measuring around 1.20 meters in length. They need sea ice to breed.
Projections predicted that under current global warming scenarios, 80 percent of colonies would be all but extinct by the end of the century, the British Antarctic Survey warns. (dpa)
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