Abstract:
The exact location of an Emperor Penguin Colony on Peterson Bank continually changes due to the changing ice conditions of where the colony is situated.
The location confirmed on the 3rd of November 1994 on fast ice at Peterson Bank was 65.9333 S, 110.2 E, 41km NNW of Australia's Casey Station. The location was recorded by Ward Bremmers during a helicopter flight involved in the resupply
... operations from an ice-bound ship to Casey Station.
The presence of chicks was confirmed on landing and an approximate count estimated chick numbers at 2000 with at least 1000 adults present. Many foraging animals were also observed in transit in the surrounding area. Approximately 100 dead chicks, ranging in age from a few weeks to 3 months old, were observed during a casual check in the immediate vicinity.
The colony lies on fast ice amid grounded bergs in Peterson Bank. The surrounding icebergs are widely spaced (1-2km), so the colony site is relatively unsheltered from the prevailing easterly gales. The sea-ice thickness at the colony sites was 7-8m, suggesting the ice had been stable for the previous three or our seasons. However, during a second visit to the site on 24 December 1994, the ice at the colony site was breaking up, and 200 chicks in the process of moulting were observed drifting on a large ice floe.
On the 24 of April in 1995, a large group of Adults on new ice amid grounded bergs in the Peterson Bank was sighted, suggesting that the colony was reforming.
The fields in this dataset are:
Date
Latitude
Longitude
Number of Adults
Number of Chicks
Dead Chicks
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