Antarctica boasts almost twice as many emperor penguins as previously thought, researchers have discovered using satellite mapping technology to count the iceberg-huddling birds from above.
Emperor penguins are seen at a Tokyo zoo in 2005. Antarctica boasts almost twice as many emperor penguins as previously thought, researchers have discovered using satellite mapping technology to count the iceberg-huddling birds from above.
An international team of scientists led by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) found 595,000 birds, far beyond previous estimates of 270,000 to 350,000, according to the study on Thursday in the open-access journal PLoS ONE.
"We are delighted to be able to locate and identify such a large number of emperor penguins," said lead author and BAS geographer Peter Fretwell.
"This is the first comprehensive census of a species taken from space."
Emperor penguins are the largest kind of penguin, standing up to four feet (1.2 meters) tall.
They cannot fly but are known for their revolving group gatherings to stay warm on the ice in wind chill conditions of -76