gorillamom

I just heard on the news that Penguins are in decline in Antarctica. My son was just there and he said they didn't see 1 Penguine! He's delivering the scientist and their equiptment to Antarctica. He also said he hasn't seen any in New Zealand and they live there on the beaches year round. They are the "Blue" Penguine species. The one's in Antarctica are Empirer, I can't spell, Penguins. The ice is melting in the South Pole just like in the North.

__________________

The Clock of life is wound but once,
And no man has the power,
To tell just when the hands will stop
On what day or what hour.
Now is the only time we have,
So live it with a will,
Don't wait until tomorrow,
The hands may then be still.

The_Heretic

I guess that means start investing in Antarctica real estate.

__________________

John McCain: "He's in Iraq... with a few centuries to kill."

gorillamom

It's sad. My son was so upset not seeing any. They even flew low enough to not scare them if they were in the water and tried to look for them with a serious telephoto lens on the plane. Military plane, so you know it's killer equiptment.

__________________

The Clock of life is wound but once,
And no man has the power,
To tell just when the hands will stop
On what day or what hour.
Now is the only time we have,
So live it with a will,
Don't wait until tomorrow,
The hands may then be still.

Refuge51

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/glo...cle3033833.ece
Excerpt:The Emperor penguins which won the hearts of millions of children in the film Happy Feet have suffered a devastating population slump in the last 50 years, according to a report.

Many colonies have fallen in size by 50 per cent as the penguins have been squeezed by the effects of climate change and overfishing, the WWF said in its report, Antarctic Penguins and Climate Change.

The report is published today to conincide with its presentation to officials at the United Nations summit on climate change in Bali.

Emperor penguins are one of four species of penguin which breed on the Antarctic ice and are increasingly being driven from their traditional territories.

__________________
I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.
~George McGovern~

Refuge51

They are declining;
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/glo...cle3033833.ece
The Emperor penguins which won the hearts of millions of children in the film Happy Feet have suffered a devastating population slump in the last 50 years, according to a report.

Many colonies have fallen in size by 50 per cent as the penguins have been squeezed by the effects of climate change and overfishing, the WWF said in its report, Antarctic Penguins and Climate Change.

The report is published today to conincide with its presentation to officials at the United Nations summit on climate change in Bali.

Emperor penguins are one of four species of penguin which breed on the Antarctic ice and are increasingly being driven from their traditional territories.


Chinstraps, gentoos and Adelie penguins join the emperors on the ice each breeding season but they are all finding themselves pushed into a smaller area.

Sea ice on the western peninsula of Antarctic has retreated 40 per cent in the last three decades and is thought to be partly to blame for huge falls in the stocks of krill, a shrimp-like creature eaten by the penguins. Another factor is overfishing by humans.

The quantities of krill, which live under the ice where they feed on microscopic plant life, are estimated to have fallen 80 per cent in the last decade alone in part of the conbtinent’s western peninsula.

Warming in the Antarctic western peninsula is taking place about five times faster than other parts of the planet.

Nesting sites are destroyed by the the melting ice and the emperor penguins have suffered more thyan any other species in Antarctica.

Gentoos and chinstraps are being forced further south by the warming temperatures and this is putting extra pressure on the emperors and Adelie species.

All four species are, the WWF said, suffering under climate change and will continue to do so even the greenhouse gas emissions driving global warming is halted because carbon dioxide has an effect on the climate that can last decades.

Emperor colonies at Point Geologie on the western peninusula in Antarctica have halved in number in the last half century while chinstraps in the region have seen populations fall by two-thirds because of food shortages.

Gentoo penguins are increasingly dependent on krill because other fish stocks have fallen in size after being caught by trawlers.

Adelie penguins on the peninsula have fallen in number by 65 per cent in the last 25 years.

Emily Lewis-Brown, of WWF, said: “As the ice melts, these icons of the Antarctic will have to face an extremely tough battle to survive.

“One of the coldest environments in the world is actually seeing some of the fastest rates of global warming, and unless action is taken to reduce global CO2 emissions, the future of many Antarctic species looks bleak.” She added: “The UN climate change summit underway in Bali must agree a process now which results in comprehensive, ambitious, and fair global emission reduction targets.

“It’s vital that government’s agree upon a clear, shared vision to keep global warming to less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels.”

There are 17 species of penguin, all native to the southern hemisphere.

Emperors are the biggest species and the males remain with the egg on the ice during winter. They can survive blizzards, months of hunger and temperatures down to -49C.

__________________
I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.
~George McGovern~

The_Heretic

The future of penguins might well be in a fully and permanent aquatic life. I can't claim credit for that one, since an older documentary proposed that penguins would develop dolphin or even whale- like bodies opting to remains in the water. The only snag is the egg laying thing, which might give way to ovoviviporous or just just viviporous birthing of live young.

__________________

John McCain: "He's in Iraq... with a few centuries to kill."

gorillamom

All we can hope for is that they survive and do exactly as you predict, especially with the eggs laying turning into live birth. Or, they could develope their eggs to hatch underwater like fish. Now I'm wondering about sea turtles. I know in Florida they have a herpies virus that is threatening them. They probably got it from a damn human!

__________________

The Clock of life is wound but once,
And no man has the power,
To tell just when the hands will stop
On what day or what hour.
Now is the only time we have,
So live it with a will,
Don't wait until tomorrow,
The hands may then be still.

The_Heretic

Turtles or tortoises will survive in some form [they've outlasted dinosaurs, which has to count for something], but I think certain species might not. Leatherbacks, Riddley's and Green Turtles are on the brink with poaching and "accidental" fishing related deaths still going on.

__________________

John McCain: "He's in Iraq... with a few centuries to kill."

ciaobox2007

herpes is fatal?
oh, crap.

__________________
what's the ratio of schrute bucks to stanley nickels?

The_Heretic

It might affect turtles differently.

__________________

John McCain: "He's in Iraq... with a few centuries to kill."