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SIMBA Antarctic Sea Ice

Mrs. anderson, We just read some of your latest journals, and we are so happy to hear that you are finally in the ice and seeing animals!! Especially Penguins :) Here are a few questions from the group:

Natasha: If you have seen killer whales, have you seen any other kinds of whales?

Ryan: How much do penguins weigh?

Andrew and Daniel: How long will you have to finish your expedition now?

Samantha: Have you seen any baby seals or penguins?

Austin: What type of dinosaurs were there 180 mya?

Sam: How large was the biggest whale you saw?

Alyssa: How tall are the penguins you saw?

Isaiah: What is the hottest temperature a penguin can live in?

Haley: How many different kinds of penguins did you see?

Grant: How cold is it at night right now?

Devin: What is the temperature during the day?

Meagan: what does the sea ice look like right now?

Stephon: How old can penguins get?

Thu, 10/04/2007 - 13:45

Sarah Anderson

I'm so glad you are following us. Thanks for taking the time to send some questions. The following responses are from our mammal and sea bird expert Brent:Natasha: If you have seen killer whales, have you seen any other kinds of whales?Hello Natasha, we have seen killer whales just a couple of days ago in the pack ice and also saw a few minke whales in the same area. Before that we have encountered minke whales and southern bottlenose whales at different times during our far ranging travels so far.
Ryan: How much do penguins weigh?Hi Ryan, Weight of penguins vary by time of year and reproductive status mostly. We have seen four species of penguins so far and there weights range as:
Magellanic penguins: 2 to 8 kilogramsking penguins: 9 to 17 kilogramsAdelie penguins: 4 to 8 kilogramsemperor penguins: 20 to 41 kilograms
Samantha: Have you seen any baby seals or penguins?Hi Samantha, we have not yet seen any baby seals or penguins. Their breeding seasons have not yet begun, but will in a short while. Of the seals that we have seen recently, Ross and crabeater seals should start giving birth on floes in the pack ice in a couple of weeks and wemight see some of these as we move around the ice and then leave in late October. Leopard seals start giving birth later so we probably won't see any leopard seal pups.
Adelie penguins will start laying eggs in November so we won't see any Adelie penguin chicks. Emperor penguin adults have been caring for their chicks throughout the winter in various places on the Antarctic continent. Those chicks won't start to fledge until November and December and their nearest known colonies are quite far away so we won't see any of them during this expedition. But we are seeing non-breeding adults and sub-adults in small numbers in the pack ice so far.
Sam: How large was the biggest whale you saw?Hello Sam, the largest whales that we have seen so far are the minke whales and they range in length from about 7 to 10 meters.
Alyssa: How tall are the penguins you saw?The tallest penguins that we've seen are the emperor penguins and they are about 1.3 meters tall. The Adelie penguins are smaller and grow to about 0.7 meters tall
Isaiah: What is the hottest temperature a penguin can live in?Hello Isaiah, penguins generally prefer cold temperatures but the range of temperatures on land where they occur vary by species. Emperor penguins live the furthest south and endure the coldest temperatures year round. They are followed by Adelie, chinstrap, and gentoo penguins and the a few other species moving towards warmer Antarctic and sub-Antarcticregions. There are a couple of species in South Africa, South America, New Zealand, and Australia that have adapted to warmer temperatures where they nest on land, but still those are not really warm climates.
Haley: How many different kinds of penguins did you see?Hi Haley, So far we've seen Magellanic, Adelie, emperor and king penguins.
Stephon: How old can penguins get?Hello Stephon, That's a good question. There have not been many long-term studies of penguins that follow a large enough sample of known individuals (marked or tagged) to know for sure. But 10 years may be a long life for most species though the large species might live as long as 20 years, though it's a generally unanswered question for this group of birds.
Thanks to Brent for answering those great questions. The following answersare from Mrs. Anderson:
Grant: How cold is it at night right now?It's not too bad - nothing like Spring in Antarctica! Last night it got down to about 11 below zero Celsius, which is around 12 degrees Fahrenheit. It's much colder in the interior of the continent. It's warmer in the ice because the ocean water helps moderate the climate.
Devin: What is the temperature during the day?That has varied from minus 14 Celsius (around 7 Fahrenheit) to minus 2 (around 29 Fahrenheit). The wind makes it feel colder!
Andrew and Daniel: How long will you have to finish your expedition now?It is October 3 today, we have to be back in Punta Arenas on October 31, so we have less than three weeks of work left.
Meagan: what does the sea ice look like right now?The sea ice nearly covers the surface of the water. Sheets of ice have been pushed togetherunder great pressure. The ice floe we are working on now is approximately circular and has a diameter of about 1.2 miles. There are some sections of open water around. Since it's Spring we expect that the pieces of ice will slowly start to break up and begin melting.
Austin: What type of dinosaurs were there 180 mya?That's a great question Austin, but nobody here is a dinosaur expert to help with that one...maybe you can look that one up at home...when I get home I will and I'll post the answer for you. Check back in mid-November!
Thanks again to the Redd School for posting your questions. I hope to hearfrom you again.
Mrs. Anderson

Sat, 10/06/2007 - 09:53

Maggie Prevenas

Hi Lollie!Just thought I would add a little bit about the farthest north nesting penguins, the Galapagos penguins. Yes there is a species of penguins that lives in the 'tropics', the Galapagos penguins. Penguins are considered southern hemisphere animals, but this variety has evolved to live in the very hot Galapagos Islands. To fend off the heat, they have a patch of skin in their face, around their eyes, that allows them to give off extra body heat. It turns a beautiful rosy color when they are hot. They also hold their flippers out to cool off.
These penguins are the penguins most often found in zoos. We have a hotel here in Hawaii, the Hilton in Waikiki, that has a very small flock of Galapagos penguins. My students alerted me to this and I didn't believe them, until I saw them for my self. I loved it!
warmly,
Maggie