Penguin Poop »
Posted By Eagle_Eye 5 months, 1 week ago in Science & TechnologyWASHINGTON (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.
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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Eagle_Eye
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cowboygrandpa5 months, 1 week ago
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E_E:
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When I am out hiking or camping I always check for scat. It is helpful to know what animals have been around.
Ya don't want to pitch your tent in an area where bears, or mountain lions frequent. That might get a little scary. LOL
Good article.-
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hefaa1Comment removed: Hard Banned
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Eagle_Eye5 months, 1 week ago
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An interesting fact though, wild animals never ever poop in their nest or den, we always leave the area so that no other animal knows we are there by the scent. Humans are the only animals to go in their nests.
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Most mammals will poop and pee in "water" so that other animals can't smell that they have been in the area. Birds just fly to another tree and shoot the shiz. -
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