Giant icebergs, unprecedented ice conditions threaten Antarctic penguin colonies.

0 Comments | M2 Presswire, December, 2001

M2 PRESSWIRE-27 December 2001-US NSF: Giant icebergs, unprecedented ice conditions threaten Antarctic penguin colonies (C)1994-2001 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD RDATE:26122001 Enormous grounded icebergs and an unprecedented amount of sea ice in Antarctica's Ross Sea have nearly isolated one of the continent's most populous Adelie penguin colonies, making it difficult for the birds to return from their feeding grounds in the open sea, according to researchers funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The numbers of Adelie penguins at Cape Crozier, about 130,000 breeding pairs in most years, "are at the low side" of the normal range, said David Ainley of H.T. Harvey & Associates of San Jose, California. A smaller colony of Adelies at Cape Royds will...