In a paper released on March 2nd in the journal Scientific Reports, the scientists announced the discovery of a previously unknown “supercolony” of more than 1,500,000 Adélie Penguins in the Danger Islands, a chain of remote, rocky islands off of the Antarctic Peninsula’s northern tip. 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. 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. "Not only do the Danger Islands hold the largest population of Adélie penguins on the Antarctic Peninsula, they also appear to have not suffered the population declines found along the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula that are associated with recent climate change," said Michael Polito, an assistant professor at Louisiana State University, who is also the co-author of the study, according to a Live Science report that cited EurekAlert. The researchers want the Danger Islands to receive some kind of consideration for special protection because of the large number of penguins found there. And now that the colony’s secret is out (admittedly a human-centric point of view), the scientists would like to see the mega-colony’s habitat designated as a protected marine area. Scientists have linked the plunging numbers to a reduction in sea ice and warming sea temperatures, which have severely impacted krill populations, the penguin's main source of food.As Lynch tells Hotz that the Adélie penguins population has been stable on the Danger Islands since the 1950s, as evidenced by aerial photos of the region from 1957.According to Hotz,why they've been spared the struggles of other populations, Brandon Specktor writes for Live Science As Specktor reports, the international Commission for the Conservation of the Antarctic Marine Living Resources is considering a proposal to recognize the Danger Islands as a marine protected area, or MPA, where human activity is limited for conservation purposes.This new study provides evidence that conservation efforts are needed, Rod Downie, head of polar programs at conservation organization World Wildlife Fund, tells The Independent 's Josh Gabbatiss.
Scientists discover a large colony of more than 750,000 pairs of Adélie penguins on the Danger Islands in Antarctica.