Penguin poop spotted from space reveals hidden colonies

British scientists say y’ve confirmed re are more emperor penguin colonies in Antarctica than previously thought based on evidence of bird droppings spotted from .

A study published Wednesday by scientists at British Antarctic Survey counted 61 emperor penguin colonies dotted around sournmost continent, 11 more than number previously confirmed.

Scientists used ims from Europe’s Sentinel-2 satellite mission to look for smudges on ice that indicated large amounts of gua, or penguin poop.

majestic emperor penguin breeds in remote areas where temperatures can drop as low as minus 50 degrees Celsius (minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit). Researchers have long relied on aerial photographs and satellites to spot colonies of flightless marine birds.

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Peter Fretwell, a British Antarctic Survey geographer and study’s le author, called latest count “good news” but ted that newly spotted colonies were small.

″(y) only take overall population count up by 5-10% to just over half a million penguins or around 265,500 – 278,500 breeding pairs,” he said.

Emperor penguins are vulnerable to loss of sea ice predicted to occur because of man-me global warming. Some researchers suggest number of colonies could drop by more than 30% by end of century.

Some of newly discovered colonies are located far offshore, on sea ice that has formed around grounded icebergs and which is particularly at risk of disappearing.