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No One Had Ever Seen This Colony of 9,000 Penguins Until Last Month — Here Are the First Pictures

Jan. 11, 2013 12:53pm Liz Klimas

Researchers studying NASA satellite images from its Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica discovered a new, large colony penguins in Antarctica, but what they spotted first wasn’t the tuxedo-like birds themselves — it was evidence of their feces.

This initial discovery occurred in 2009, but it wasn’t until last month that researchers made their first in person contact with the Emperor penguins. According to Arcticstation.org, even though satellite images picked up on fecal staining of ice, suggesting the colony, they were unconfirmed until the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica team visited in December 2012.

New Penguin Colony Discovered in Antarctica Photographed for the First Time

(Photo: International Polar Foundation/Alain Hubert)

“Since we started operating along Princess Ragnhild Coast we have encountered so many emperors penguins that I was convinced that a colony must be installed somewhere in the east,” expedition leader Alain Hubert said according to Antarcticstation.org, which noted that the colony is of about 9,000 penguins.

“I knew from last year’s satellite study that there could potentially be an emperor colony east of Derwael ice rise. Because we were operating not far from this the satellite location, I decided to force the way and try to access to this remote and unknown place. The surprise was even more than all I could have expected or dreamed about: I realised while counting the penguins that this was a very populated colony.”

“It was almost midnight when we succeeded in finding a way down to the ice through crevasses and approached the first of five groups of more than a thousand individuals, three quarters of which were chicks. This was [an] unforgettable moment!”

(Photo: International Polar Foundation/Alain Hubert)

If you are curious about the study that first indicated the colony might exist based on evidence of their fecal matter, here’s more from the abstract describing the methodology:

Faecal staining at these colony locations shows on Landsat imagery as brown patches, the only staining of this colour on sea ice. This staining can therefore be used as an analogue for colony locations. The whole continental coastline has been analysed, and each possible signal has been identified visually and checked by spectral analysis. In areas where LIMA data are unsuitable, freely available Landsat imagery has been supplemented.

Using this method, at the time 10 new colonies of Emperor penguins were found.

See more of the first pictures of the penguin colony here.

(H/T: io9)

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Comments (25)

RushEcho2
Posted on January 13, 2013 at 10:36am
Thanks for a great article. I’ve added this link to discussion within Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Emperor_Penguin . . . Join in if you can.

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dustynbob
Posted on January 12, 2013 at 2:41pm
bet of the 9000+ penguins there was not one homosexual couple raising a family; maybe the prngins from Denmark and NY should be returned to teh wild so they can get on with real life

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tckid17
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 6:05pm
It’s gotta be a Tea Party Rally. Where else can you meet lots of realy cool people?

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- Chuck Stein
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 8:48pm
  Can’t be tea party — tea party leaves a spot cleaner than before the tea party showed up. Much more like an OWS site in this case.
  
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thegreatcarnac
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 3:31pm
That wasn’t penguins. That was pictures of a bunch of democrats lining up to vote for the 3rd time last Novermber.

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- Chuck Stein
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 5:39pm
  Good one. Fecal matter, votes for Obama: six of one, half a dozen of the other.
  
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Eastinfection
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 1:47pm
Penguin Omelet

1/2 lb ground penguin meat
3 eggs, separated
2 1/2 tablespoons milk
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 large tomato, peeled and diced
1 green onion, sliced
1/4 teaspoon cold Guiness Stout
1/8 teaspoon, dillweed

Beat eggs in a bowl until well-mixed. Add in milk, salt and pepper, stirring stiffly. Place skillet in oven pre-heated to 300°F. Coat bottom of skillet with butter. Pour mix into skillet and bake until puffy and light brown. While baking, dice tomato, onion and penguin together, and add with Guiness into sour cream. When omelet is ready, pour penguin mix into omelet. Fold omelet and remove from oven. Pour remainder of penguin mix over top of omelet. Serve, and enjoy!

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- Landon410
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 1:54pm
  penguin eggs?
  
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- Eastinfection
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 2:31pm
  Chicken eggs are tastier. You can use penguin eggs but i’d recommend straining off some of the egg-white first because their yolk-to-white ratio is heavy in the white department & will leave your omelet a little bland-tasting.
  
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Mudd
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 1:37pm
How is this possible, there’s not enough room in the arctic for polar bears but 9000 + crafty penquins have managed to survive without detection and without the help of environmentalists?

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- shorelineliz
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 1:57pm
  It’s because polar bears are winners and penguins are losers. Polar Bears are also celebrities. It’s a fact. They are on every can of coke. I saw them. They are famous. Only the famous get to win and survive. Everyone else can suck dirt!
  
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- barber2
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 1:58pm
  Mudd: Huh ? They do not inhabit the same polar areas .
  
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- myrwo6
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 7:53pm
  Probably not. Antarctic on the other hand, I think so.
  
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- kenpodoc
  Posted on January 12, 2013 at 12:51pm
  I agree with your logic, Mudd, but respectfully, your facts are wrong: Penguins are from the antarctic (South Pole), whereas polar bears live in the arctic (North Pole). And no, neither appears to be a culprit of anthropogenic global warming because the real evidence is still out on that. The radical environmentalists (such as Al-Gorezeera, and the Climate Research Unit in Anglia, England) have largely fudged the data, report only ONE side of the issue, throw out the scientific method, violently over-talk and villanize any of their dissenters, and generally push the agenda of man-made global warming without a scientific dialogue.
  
  We are however, IMHO, bad stewards of the earth God gave us! We need to take better care of such a wonderful gift. But taking care of it shouldn’t include Carbon-Credits (early foothold for a single world currency??), sham lawsuits, and re-distribution of wealth.
  
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GhostOfJefferson
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 1:17pm
Help me out here.

The nation is going down the tubes, and Tuesday may determine whether there is civil conflict or not in the nation.

The site is throwing 404′s out the wazoo, and I can’t even view a page past page 1 on any given thread.

And we’re looking at penguins.

Can we have an update on Bat Boy next please? Is he still in the Marine Corps?

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- jhrusky
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 1:22pm
  Some of us enjoy the beautiful wildlife that we don’t get to see every day. How many different ways can you frame the current battles of the 2nd amendment that are ongoing? It’s nice to have a complete variety on reporting.
  
  BTW, Batboy is alive and well and requesting anonymity for the time being.
  
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- GhostOfJefferson
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 1:29pm
  Thank you for the Bat Boy update. I was worried that he would undergo a medical discharge.
  
  Was referencing more than the 2nd Amendment, but I guess when I pointed directly towards Tuesday, that clearly was mis-communicated by me.
  
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Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 1:16pm
Amazing.

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naughtycal
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 1:04pm
The were inline to see Happy feet 3D

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RJJinGadsden
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 1:03pm
The Blaze, Argh, how about fixing your site!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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KingCanon
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 1:02pm
9044 is my count.
Just saying…

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trolltrainer
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 1:02pm
Penguin burgers for everyone!

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banjarmon
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 12:59pm
Every time is see BHO on the TV or on my puter, I think of Bull fecal matter!

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G man
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 12:57pm
You see a lot of faecal staining in DC.

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- urrybr
  Posted on January 13, 2013 at 7:34pm
  That’s about all you see. Our politicians are spreading their fecal matter everywhere. Penguins have an excuse, they don’t have hands with opposable thumbs, to clean-up after themselves. Our politicians, on the other hand have no excuse for the mess they’re making.
  
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