Scientists have made asurprising discoveryof a mega - colony of penguin in Antarctica , thanks to NASA satellite in space .
Published in the journalScientific Reports , the squad described how they used mental imagery from NASA ’s orbiting Landsat satellites to find bandage of guano – penguin poo – at the northern wind of the Antarctic Peninsula on an archipelago call the Danger Islands .
They then used drones to survey the domain , and in the cognitive process found a Brobdingnagian settlement of about 1.5 million Adélie penguin , one of the largest ever seen . This could tell us more about penguin populations in the region , and the effects of change temperature and sea sparkler .
“ [ T]he sheer sizing of what we were look at conduct our breath away , " Dr Heather Lynch from Stony Brook University in New York , one of the study ’s lead writer , toldBBC News .
" We think , ' Wow ! If what we ’re see is true , these are going to be some of the largest Adélie penguin colonies in the world , and it ’s going to be well deserving our while sending in an expedition to count them properly . ' "
The squad travelled to the region in December 2015 , fund by the Wood Hole Oceanographic Institution ( WHOI ) , havingfirst found evidencefor animals there in 2014 by scouring Landsat data with an algorithm . They then used a modified quadcopter drone to take images of the Danger Islands from above , discovering the supercolony in the process .
The Danger Islands get their name from British explorer James Ross in 1842 . He name them so because , consort to theUS Geological Survey(USGS ) , they come out suddenly among cloggy fragments of water ice and “ were almost completely hide until the ship was nearly upon them . ”
Interestingly , the routine of Adélie penguin found on the east side of Antarctica is different to the west side – where this find was made . This could be due to greater ocean ice in the orbit , more available food , or other gene .
It ’s hop this discovery will give more support to create protected sphere near the Antarctic , such as Antarctic Specially Protected Areas ( ASPAs ) or Marine Protected Areas ( MPAs ) .
“ Given the large number of Adélie penguins breeding in the Danger Islands , and the likelihood that the northerly Weddell Sea will persist suitable for Adélie penguins longer than the rest of the Antarctic Peninsula realm , we suggest the Danger Islands should be powerfully considered for further protection , ” the squad write in their paper .
