Penguin+Period+6


 * Group Members: Bennett Gwynn and Isabelle Culpepper**

Google Earth tour
 * How Will We Work Together: We will work together by dividing the questions. (Isabelle odd and Bennett even.)**
 * Research:**

1__. Where does your animal live, and what are its characteristics?__ Locate your animal’s habitat (Where does it live? Does it migrate?)

In the wild, all penguins live south of the equator, except for the Galapagos Penguin. The Galapagos penguin lives the farthest north it actually lives on the equator.This is because penguins prefer to swim in cold rather than warm water. There are many different varieties of the penguin, some tend to migrate while others do not. Generally penguins migrate to follow food.

All subspecies and varieties of your animal: There are many different varieties of penguins. To be exact there are eightteen varieties. They are the Little Blue/Fairy Penguin, the Fiordland Crested Penguins, Shares Island Penguins, Erect-Crested Penguins, Rock-hopper Penguins, Yellow-eyed Penguins, African Penguins, Magellanic Penguins, Humboldt Penguins, Gentoo Penguins, Macaroni Penguins, Galapagos Penguins, King Penguins, Royal Penguins, Emperor Penguins, Adelie Penguins, Chinstrap Penguins, and Black-footed Penguins.

Identify at least 10 characteristics that will give an in-depth, accurate description of your animal: Penguins are aquatic and flightless birds that live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Generally the larger penguins inhabit the colder climates while the smaller penguins inhabit the more temperate regions. Most penguins feed on krill, fish, squid, and other sea life. Penguins spend half their life on land and half in the sea. The penguins' wings have adapted into flippers making them extremely agile in the water. All penguins are counter shaded for camouflage, they have a white underside and a dark, usually black, upper side. The larger penguins can dive deeper and longer than smaller penguins if the situation calls for it. To move on land penguins either waddle on their feet or slide on their bellies. If the terrain is rocky or steep the penguins can jump with their feet together. To locate each other in crowded colonies penguins use sound, they use sight to see under water. This is because their eyes are adapted to underwater vision. Penguins can drink salt water, because a gland filters excess salt water from the bloodstream. The salt is then excreted in a concentrated fluid from the nasal passages.

2__.Where and Why is your animal endangered?__ Locate where it is endangered (might not be endangered in all its habitats) Provide statistics and other facts related to its endangerment:The population of African penguins has declined sgreatly this century and is still going down. There are many different causes, earlier in the century, guano was collected from the main breeding islands; removing the guano led to a huge reduction in potential nesting sites as the birds liked to make burrows in the thick covering of guano. Egg collection also pitched in to the reduction of the population from several million at the turn of the century to somewhere around 50,000 pairs today. New Zealand is home to two species that are suffering from mankind. The Yellow-eyed penguins get most of the publicity, since they are more visible. However, the Fiordland penguins are probably in more danger.Yellow-eyed penguins are found on the East Coast of South Island, mostly around the Otago Peninsula as well as on two remote sub-Antarctic Islands. Numbers from Africa have declined steeply over the last few decades as more and more land has been used for agriculture, destroying the natural vegetation that provided nesting cover.Fiordland penguins are only found on the isolated West coast of South Island and Stewart Island and are in danger for two reasons. First, mankind has introduced several animals (rats,cats, dogs, etc.) that attack penguins in their nests and take chicks and eggs. Secondly, as the human population grows, people are starting to move in to the remote areas where these birds breed. Right now, little is known about the population of these birds, or how it is changing as man intrudes on their living space.On the Galapagos Islands there is a small huddle of penguins. Galapagos penguins are by far the most northerly of all penguins living right on the equator. With the development of the Galapagos Islands over the last few years there has been a reduction in the number of these small birds. How serious this reduction remains to be seen. Most of the remaining penguin species are relatively safe. There are two obvious potential threats. First, there are some moves to commercial harvesting of Krill in the Southern Ocean. Krill is the mainstay of the Antarctic food chain, some penguins feed directly on Krill, while others feed on fish. At present very little is known about overall Krill stocks or how much it may be safe to harvest. However, if commercial Krill fisheries take off there is a real danger that this food source may be removed by over-fishing.The other threat is global warming, all penguins live in and around the fertile cold seas. As the Earth heats up penguins will need to move to breeding grounds further south. Clearly they have achieved this in past ice ages. However, the problem this time is that the changes seem to be occurring very quickly, so that the penguins may not be able to adapt to new sites quickly enough to avoid disaster.** 3. __Where is your animal in captivitly and/or conserved?__ Locate at least two zoos and/or conservation centers where the animal is held: The penguin is held at all four Sea World locations. ( Orlando, Florida, San Diego, California, and San Antonio, Texas) Penguins are also held at the Georgia Aquarium. Many zoos part of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) also work to conserve and protect the penguin species.
 * The penguin is endangered in the Galopagos Islands,the islands around Antartica, and South Africa. The most critically endangered species** **is the African Penguin, followed by the penguins whose habitat is in New Zealand.

4. What is being done to restore your animal’s populations? Where is it being done? Identify the experts, leaders, and/or groups guiding the conservation: In, South America,Recent interest mainly generated by the The Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust has alerted local residents and farmers and now several reserves have been set up and at least one farmer is taking positive steps to encourage the penguins back on their land.In Africa You can support SANCCOB, the organization that rescues oiled birds and campaigns for better conservation measures. SANCCOB is a purely voluntary organization. Earthwatch - Based in the USA, Earthwatch funds a wide range of research and conservation projects. There is one penguin project - working with African Penguins - to volunteer visit the Earthwatch web-site.You can join Earthwatch and receive regular bulletins on all the research they fund. If you wish, you can work as a volunteer on any particular project as a part of your regular holiday. You pay for the opportunity - your money going towards the actual cost of the project. Scott Polar Research Institute - The SPRI is based within the University of Cambridge in the UK, but remains an independent research organization. They carry out a wide range of research in the Antarctic region, research into the impact of tourism on Antarctic penguins. The Friends of the SPRI help raise funds for this research and organize regular events to keep members informed by the actual researchers. The Penguin Fund of Japan - Founded by Stephen Aoynagi (who sadly died in October 1998), the Penguin Fund raises money to pay for research and conervation work with penguins. They also organise trips for members to see penguins in the wild.**
 * Locate where research is done on your animal and where efforts are underway to conserve its population (Note: It may be that this is done at the same location(s) you identified in #3)

Outline any research and efforts to conserve the population

Galapogos Penguins Emperor Penguins
 * Photos**

Chinstrap penguin Gentoo Penguins




 * Videos

Bibliography (All Resources Used)** http://www.waza.org/network/index.php?main=zoos http://www.siec.k12.in.us/west/proj./main.html Encyclopedia Britannica http://www.seaworld.org http://www.seaworld.org/education/swt/field-trip/index.htm http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/conservation