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Scientists Follow Poop to Find Penguins

BY SETH BORENSTEIN
,
AP
posted: 159 DAYS 21 HOURS AGO
comments: 114
Text SizeAAA
WASHINGTON (June 1) - Scientists looking for lost penguins stumbled upon an effective method: Follow their poop from space.
In remote Antarctica, about one-and-a-half times bigger than the United States, researchers have been unable to figure out just where colonies of emperor penguins live and if their population is in peril.
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It's harder still because emperor penguins, featured in the film "March of the Penguins," breed on sea ice, which scientists say will shrink significantly in the future because of global warming.
Because the large penguins stay on the same ice for months, their poop stains make them stand out from space.
Scientists at the British Antarctic Survey found this out by accident when they were looking at satellite images of their bases. A reddish-brown streak on the colorless ice was right where they knew a colony was, said survey mapping scientist Peter Fretwell.
The stain was penguin poo — particularly smelly stuff — and it gave researchers an idea to search for brown stains to find penguins. They found the same telltale trail, usually dark enough to spot from space, all over the continent, said Fretwell by telephone from England.
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Animals in the News
Chanel, a white dachshund who held the Guinness world record for oldest dog, died Aug. 28 at age 21. Earlier this year, her owners said she was in good health, with the exception of sunglasses she had to wear for cataracts.
Meredith Daniels, Newsday / MCT
Meredith Daniels, Newsday / MCT
Using satellite data, the scientists found 10 new colonies of penguins, six colonies that had moved from previously mapped positions to new spots and another six that seemed to have disappeared. Overall, 38 colonies were spotted from above, according to Fretwell's paper, "Penguins From Space" in the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography.
"It's a very important result scientifically, even though it's a lighthearted method," Fretwell said Monday.
Even though Antarctic sea ice hasn't melted so far, scientists predict it to shrink by one-third by the end of the century, potentially threatening the birds, Fretwell said.
The research is "incredibly useful," because the only time to see emperors are during breeding in winter when weather makes it nearly impossible to get to the colonies, said longtime penguin researcher William Fraser, who wasn't involved in the study.
Fraser noted that salty penguin guano "over time will corrode your boots," adding that he has lost nearly a dozen pairs to poop in 35 years of penguin research.
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Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2009-06-01 19:02:02

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jesusvotesrepub

11:47 AMJun 09 2009

about the photo that has nothing to do with this story as usual with aol "A Cambodian woman and a boy sleep next to a street in Phnom Penh on Tuesday. About 30 percent of the Cambodian population lives in poverty.".........as patrick bateman says in american pyscho "why dont you get a g-ddamn job"

AVG RATING:
(3)

GGT0nap

02:37 AMJun 09 2009

GTGTG

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(1)

Wildwudy

03:13 PMJun 08 2009

Sixeyess4dinner 10:51 PMJun 08 2009 Wildwudy 10:42 PMJun 08 2009 AOL needs to get some better science topics on here. This topic is pure crap.@@@@@@ I disagree, AOL is an ideal excreta media of which to perform fecal critiques.................. ######### Wow! Who could possibly contest that rationale?

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(1)

Wildwudy

03:11 PMJun 08 2009

DnCarm6 sixeyes -- He could have said ca-ca or, doody. Penguin pie or just plain old crap. Emperor excrement would suffice. Bird turds? Chocolate ice? I still want to know why they can see the poo from space, but not the penguins themselves! ######## So the poop trail is, say, 300 ft wide and 6,000 ft long. That's 1,800,000 square feet of poo coloered ice versus 1 square foot of penquin. It should be clear why one can see the poop from space and not a penquin.

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(1)

Wildwudy

03:01 PMJun 08 2009

Wildwudy AOL needs to get some better science topics on here. This topic is pure crap. ####### WELL! Based on the crappy nr of stars (3 1/2) my post received, one would think no one appreciated my crappy attempt at humor.

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(1)

jesusvotesrepub

09:28 AMJun 08 2009

so far this study has cost taxpayers and by that i mean hard working republicans over 47,000,000 dollars, money that could of been used to feed the poor. tax and spend libs are killing us

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(5)

Orbitxal1

02:04 AMJun 08 2009

Strange as it might seem the study of animal waste or scat reveals a lot about nature. By following their droppings animal migration patterns can be studied. By studying the actual droppings the animals diet can be revealed.

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(3)

Wildwudy

10:42 PMJun 08 2009

AOL needs to get some better science topics on here. This topic is pure crap.

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(2)

Woody Woodworth

01:40 PMJun 07 2009

JGreen3947 "God sure makes cool stuff.........with amazing grace." ####### So you think God's poop is cool? Makes poop with amazing grace? I can just see the delicately graceful way he makes poop.

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(2)

Woody Woodworth

01:35 PMJun 07 2009

Jerseygirlbout "There is enough Canadian Geese poop here in Jersey Id like to get off my lawn..any takers??" ############## Actually, they are not called "Canadian Geese", but rather "Canada Geese", named after John Canada. (Learned that bit a trivia a few years ago.) Look it up in Google.

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Scientists looking for lost penguins stumbled upon an effective method: Follow their poop from space.