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December 17, 2004

Antarctic penguins starve behind massive iceberg

In "Japan Today," Friday, December 17, 2004 at 15:52 JST.

it looks like penguin chicks are in trouble. Apparently thousands of penguin chicks are threatened with starvation because their mothers can't get food to them behind a portion of what is said to be the largest-ever iceberg on record that is blocking Antarctica's McMurdo Sound.

The iceberg is called B15A and measures 2,500 square kilometers. It is so big it has blocked wind and water currents that break up ice floes in McMurdo Sound during the Antarctic summer.

(click on image to enlarge)

Because of the iceberg's position, female penguins from two colonies in Antarctica have too far to travel to reach water where their staple food source of fish and krill occurs.

"50,000 breeding pairs of Adelie penguins at Cape Bird and 3,000 breeding pairs at Cape Royds are the ones that will be affected by the iceberg's position," said Peter Wilson from Landcare Research Center in Auckland, New Zealand, who has studied penguins in Antarctica for 25 years. Continue reading in "Japan Today."

For some great images of penguins, there is a photo collection at Libby Eglin's site...
For some great images of icebergs, go here...

Posted by Hyscience at December 17, 2004 10:39 AM

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