Saturday, April 14th 2012, 9:57 AM EDT
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The first census of penguins at the South Pole has found nearly 600,000 – twice the number previously thought to be there.
Using state-of-the-art satellite imagery, scientists found 44 colonies of emperor penguins.
Seven colonies were previously unknown, and many of the known ones were bigger than expected
In the past, it was notoriously difficult to estimate their numbers as they live in temperatures of -50c (-58f), and some colonies are in the most remote parts of the Antarctic sea ice.
The British Antarctic Survey hopes that having an accurate number – thought to be 595,000 compared with previous estimates of 270,000-350,000 – will help manage conservation and track climate change.
The scientists hope having an accurate measure of their number - now though to be 595,000 compared to previous estimates of 270,000-350,000 - will help manage conservation efforts and track the impact of climate change.
Click source to read FULL report from Tamara Cohen
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