Scientist spot a new emperor penguin colony in Antarctica by using satellite images

Scientists have recently discovered a new emperor penguin colony, using satellite images in one of the most remote and inaccessible regions in Antarctica, says a Guardian report.The colony around the coastline of Antarctica is estimated to be home to about 500 birds, which makes a total of 66 known emperor penguin colonies, half of which have been discovered by space satellites.

Dr Peter Fretwellof the British Antarctic Survey and the lead of the research, said, "This is an exciting discovery.[But] like many of the recently discovered sites, this colony is small and in a region badly affected by recent sea ice loss."

Emperor penguins are special because they are the only ones that breed on sea ice, rather than land They are located in regions that are very difficult to spot and study as they are remote, inaccessible and can witness temperatures as low as −60ºC.

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According to the British Antarctica Survey (BAS), for the past 15 years, scientists have been looking for new colonies using satellite imagery for brown ‘guano stains’ (penguin poo) on the ice.

The last colony that was spotted was at Verleger Point, in west Antarctica. It was discovered on the basis of images from the European Commission’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite mission and was later confirmed on high-resolution images from the Maxar WorldView-3 satellite.

During breeding, these penguins need the ice to last between April and September to give their chicks time to grow to make them particularly vulnerable to climate breakdown.

On this, Fretwell said, "If the ice breaks up before that, the chicks fall into the water and drown or freeze."

The current climate is posing an existential threat to these penguin colonies, as the sea ice is rapidly melting. Since 2015, there have been drastic changes in the sea ice in Antarctica.

Fretwell added, “Last year, we had the worst ever sea ice conditions in Antarctica and this year is even worse.We’re still working on what that means for the penguins, but it’s not good."

(With inputs from agencies)

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