Thread by @NSF

Drones, Fitbits and AI, oh my: Happy #WorldPenguinDay! Come learn about how #NSFfunded researchers from @PointBlueConSci study Adélie penguins at one of the windiest locations on Earth. #takeoverNSF

📸: @ae_schmidty

Can you guess what an Adélie penguin 🐧 and a salmon 🐟 have in common? #WorldPenguinDay

📷Matthias Breiter

#takeoverNSF

Both of these charismatic species exhibit what scientists call “natal philopatry,” which means they return to their birthplaces to breed!

Adélies often end up building their pebble nests very close to where they hatched. #takeoverNSF

#Adélie penguins: They weigh about as much as a gallon of milk, are at perfect kneecap-pecking height, and can easily outpace human scientists any day of the week. They also live in some of the most inaccessible regions on the planet.

#takeoverNSF #WorldPenguinDay #Antarctica

Most Adélie penguins wear classic black & white tuxedos, but a few have more unique coloring.

Affectionately known as misfits, many of them find mates just as well as their black & white friends. #takeoverNSF #WorldPenguinDay2022

📸Danny Khor

Researchers from @PointBlueConSci, along with many collaborators, study Adélie penguins on Ross Island, where over 370,000 pairs of Adélies gather to nest each year. At the east end of Ross Island is Cape Crozier, one of the largest Adélie colonies in the world #takeoverNSF

The #RossSea, one of the most intact marine ecosystems on Earth, supports large populations of penguins, seals, whales and many other amazing animals. It also plays an important role in regulating Earth’s climate #takeoverNSF

#WorldPenguinDay

Like many places on Earth, #Antarctica is changing rapidly, especially the amount of sea ice. Adélie penguins depend on sea ice 🧊 for foraging, resting, molting and hiding from leopard seals. #takeoverNSF #WorldPenguinDay

📸: @ae_schmidty

Adélie penguins can act as ecological “indicator species.” By understanding how and why Ross Island Adélie populations change, we can learn more about the whole Ross Sea ecosystem and how it is responding to #climatechange.

#takeoverNSF

First, we need to know how many penguins there are. Have you ever tried to count thousands of moving objects? It’s impossible to do this by hand, so we fly drones over Adélie colonies and use #AI to count the penguins from #drone images. #takeoverNSF

🎥 by @PrkrLovesParks

Then we need to understand what makes Adélie numbers go up and down. We start by following the same individuals every year to track births and deaths, and look for patterns that explain changes in overall numbers. #takeoverNSF

📸: @ae_schmidty

#WorldPenguinDay

We also study what is happening at sea, away from the breeding colonies. Sea ice 🧊 and food availability 🦐🐟 are two big factors that can affect Adélie populations. We deploy #GPS devices on penguins to see where they are finding krill and fish. #takeoverNSF

#WorldPenguinDay

We attach tiny video cameras to #penguins, so we can see what they’re snacking on and where they find their food. Adélies swim at about 2 meters per second when hunting, so our tags are usually in for a bumpy ride. #takeoverNSF #WorldPenguinDay

Here are some pictures of things Adélie penguins have eaten on camera. Can you tell what they are?

📸: All images by Adelie penguins 😊

#takeoverNSF #WorldPenguinDay2022

We use “penguin Fitbits” to tell how hard the adults are working to find their food. #fieldwork

📷 @chrislinder

#takeoverNSF #WorldPenguinDay

Photo credit goes to @chrislinder! 🙃😎

We use an automatic scale that allows the penguins to weigh themselves & tell us how much food they brought back. While feeding chicks, Adélie foraging trips last 1-3 days. Imagine how hungry your kid would be if you spent 3 days at the grocery store! #takeoverNSF
GIF: Danny Khor

We also use underwater robots called gliders to measure how much penguin food (penguins love 🦐 and 🐟) is in the water. We’ll be launching new ones this December! #takeoverNSF

📸: Dr. Walker Smith of @VIMS_News

#WorldPenguinDay

Next big Qs: Where do young #penguins go when they first leave the colony? And can penguins be scientists? We’re testing tags with #GPS and other sensors, so we see where young ones go and whether they can help us measure changes in the ocean due to glacier melt. #takeoverNSF

What about #climatechange? Over geologic time, Adélies have adapted to large changes in climate. We don’t know how quickly they can adapt to current rates of human-driven climate change. #takeoverNSF

📸@ae_schmidty

#PenguinDay

Sea ice is receding in many places & #penguins may need to move south. #takeoverNSF

Adélies have long migration routes and are sensitive to #overfishing. Our #NSFfunded research helped inform the creation of the Ross Sea #MarineProtectedArea, an important protected zone that helps conserve critical habitat for Adélies and other Ross Sea wildlife #takeoverNSF

Like many Antarctic animals, penguins are vulnerable to climate change and overfishing. To learn more about Antarctic #conservation, check out penguinscience.com, asoc.org & follow @pointblueconsci.

Thanks for joining us today!

#takeoverNSF #WorldPenguinDay