Scientists Find New Penguins Colonies in Antarctica
2024-01-29
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Scientists have found four groups of emperor penguins in Antarctica that they did not know about before.
2These groups, called "colonies," were found with new satellite images.
3Emperor penguins are the world's largest penguins, sea birds that cannot fly but that swim.
4They are consider "near threatened."
5This means the animals might have reduced numbers or live in fewer areas than before.
6The penguins raise their babies, called chicks, during the Antarctic winter on areas of frozen sea ice.
7If the ice breaks up before the chicks grow up, many of the chicks might die.
8Recently released research says that some of the penguins are moving away from their old colonies.
9Peter Fretwell is a researcher at the British Antarctic Survey, a government organization.
10He said that conditions at one colony had become more dangerous since 2016.
11As a result, the colony near Halley Bay seems to have moved about 30 kilometers east.
12He said, "Emperor penguins have taken it upon themselves to try to find more stable sea ice."
13Fretwell said that the four new colonies have likely existed for years, but scientists have just recently seen them.
14They are small colonies with less than 1000 pairs of penguins, Fretwell said.
15Scientists have identified 66 emperor penguin colonies and fewer than 300,000 breeding pairs.
16The four newly found colonies do not change population estimates for the birds very much.
17However, Fretwell said the fact that one of the colonies moved helps scientists to understand where the birds are going.
18Daniel Zitterbart is a penguin researcher at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the U.S. eastern state of Massachusetts.
19He was not involved in the study of the newly found penguins.
20But he said that it is unclear if the new groups broke away from the larger colonies.
21Zitterbart said that the places where the penguins reproduce are changing and that, as the world warms, more "penguins will be on the move."
22I'm Faith Pirlo.
1Scientists have found four groups of emperor penguins in Antarctica that they did not know about before. These groups, called "colonies," were found with new satellite images. 2Emperor penguins are the world's largest penguins, sea birds that cannot fly but that swim. They are consider "near threatened." This means the animals might have reduced numbers or live in fewer areas than before. 3The penguins raise their babies, called chicks, during the Antarctic winter on areas of frozen sea ice. If the ice breaks up before the chicks grow up, many of the chicks might die. 4Recently released research says that some of the penguins are moving away from their old colonies. 5Peter Fretwell is a researcher at the British Antarctic Survey, a government organization. He said that conditions at one colony had become more dangerous since 2016. As a result, the colony near Halley Bay seems to have moved about 30 kilometers east. 6He said, "Emperor penguins have taken it upon themselves to try to find more stable sea ice." 7Fretwell said that the four new colonies have likely existed for years, but scientists have just recently seen them. They are small colonies with less than 1000 pairs of penguins, Fretwell said. 8Scientists have identified 66 emperor penguin colonies and fewer than 300,000 breeding pairs. The four newly found colonies do not change population estimates for the birds very much. However, Fretwell said the fact that one of the colonies moved helps scientists to understand where the birds are going. 9Daniel Zitterbart is a penguin researcher at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the U.S. eastern state of Massachusetts. He was not involved in the study of the newly found penguins. But he said that it is unclear if the new groups broke away from the larger colonies. 10Zitterbart said that the places where the penguins reproduce are changing and that, as the world warms, more "penguins will be on the move." 11I'm Faith Pirlo. 12Christina Larson reported this story for the Associated Press. Faith Pirlo adapted it for VOA Learning English. 13_________________________________________________ 14Words in This Story 15colonies - n. groups of plants or animals living or growing in one place 16stable - adj. remain the same 17pair - n. two of something 18breed - v. to produce and raise young 19reproduce - v. to produce offspring by sexual reproduction 20We want to hear from you. 21Our comment policy is here.