Penguins

Tourists on a cruise spotted a rare, giant phantom jellyfish in Fournier Bay of Anvers Island off the Antarctic Peninsula last year.

How Vacationers on Antarctic Cruises Are Filling in Scientific Gaps

From ships and submarines, citizen scientists can access remote areas ripe for new discoveries. But does the research make up for the climate impact?

Emperor penguins rely on sea ice to reproduce and, as a result, are vulnerable to global warming.

The Wonderful World of Birds

Scientists Discover an Emperor Penguin Colony From Poop Stains in Satellite Images

Researchers pinpointed the group of roughly 500 birds in West Antarctica

An artist's concept of Kumimanu fordycei and Petradyptes stonehousei

The Wonderful World of Birds

Fossils of a 340-Pound Giant Penguin Found in New Zealand

Paleontologists unearthed the bones of two new penguin species that lived 50 million years ago

Algoa Bay, South Africa, is home to nearly half of the world’s remaining African penguins, whose numbers have fallen as much as 98 percent since 1900.

These Artificial Nests Are Helping African Penguins Beat the Heat

Ceramic nests deployed on penguin colonies in South Africa could shield the endangered seabirds from rising temperatures

An Adélie penguin

Adélie Penguins Are Dwindling in East Antarctica

Researchers blame too much summer sea ice for causing a downward spiral in one colony

In addition to sorting mail and manning the gift shop, the women will help keep an eye on the 1,500 penguins who live at Port Lockroy.

Meet the Four Women Who Will Run Antarctica's ‘Penguin Post Office’

Selected from 6,000 applicants, the workers will spend five months counting penguins and sending mail from the seventh continent

The current rate of climate change does not bode well for penguins.

Penguins Might Not Be Ready to Adapt to Modern Climate Change

A new study looking at genomes and the fossil record shows that penguins evolve slower than other birds

The Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica

Antarctica’s 'Doomsday Glacier' Melting at Fastest Rate in 5,500 Years

Researchers used penguin bones and shells to track ice loss in the Thwaites and Pine Island glaciers

Kororā, the world’s smallest penguin, are native to New Zealand.

Hundreds of Little Blue Penguins Are Turning Up Dead in New Zealand

Rising ocean temperatures are likely causing the flightless birds to starve to death

The vehicle, ECHO, was designed by the Marine Animal Remote Sensing Lab at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. ECHO is part of a large-scale research project that monitors the impact of human-induced climate change on the Southern Ocean.

Innovation for Good

This Tiny Yellow Robot Spies on Antarctica's Emperor Penguins

The vehicle dubbed ECHO slowly rolls up to the birds without stressing them and may allow researchers to monitor their ecosystem more closely

Gentoo penguins may become more numerous in parts of Antarctica that were once too icy for the temperate birds. 

New Antarctic Penguin Colonies Discovered Farther South Than Normal

As the climate warms, gentoo penguins are expanding to habitats that were previously too icy for them to raise chicks

This is the first chick fostered by same-sex penguin parents at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York.

Meet Elmer and Lima, a Same-Sex Penguin Couple Fostering a Chick at a Syracuse Zoo

The two male birds are 'exemplary' parents, says the zoo’s director

Single penguins will snag mates, and couples, both new and established, will start breeding around January or February.

The South African Town Where Penguins Rule

A colony of 1,000 breeding pairs of African penguins nests on the beaches and in the gardens of Simon's Town

Though the fossil shared a resemblance to others found in the region, it had much longer legs. The team decided to name the new species Kairuku waewaeroa, which means “long-legged” in the Maori language.

New Zealand Kids Discovered This Fossil of New Giant Penguin Species on a Field Trip

Paleontologists say the bird would have been roughly the size of a ten-year-old child

Emperor penguins are the world's largest penguin, standing almost four feet tall and weighing around 88 pounds. They live almost exclusively in Antarctica and need sea ice to survive.

New Research

Climate Change Poised to Push Emperor Penguins to the Brink of Extinction

Study estimates 98 percent of colonies will be quasi-extinct by 2100 unless the world drastically reduces its greenhouse gas emissions

The yellow colored king penguin Aptenodytes patagonicus was spotted after photographer Yves Adams suddenly saw penguins swimming towards the shore.

Rare Yellow Penguin Photographed for the First Time

The Antarctic bird has leucism, meaning its feathers do not contain melanin needed to produce black pigment

A satellite image shows the A68a iceberg in the lower left. The chunk of ice looks a bit like a pointed finger, and scientists say it's currently on a path to collide with the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia.

Delaware-Sized Iceberg Could Decimate Wildlife on South Atlantic Island

Iceberg A68a is on track to hit the British Territory of South Georgia, where it could complicate access to food for millions of seals and seabirds

Some of the corpses looked newly dead but have actually been preserved in ice for more than 800 years.

New Research

Scientist Unearths a Colony of Mummified Penguins in Antarctica

Melting ice revealed an ancient colony that has never before been recorded

When Alexander von Humboldt (right) traveled to England in 1790, he met a young chemist named James Smithson, the founder of the Smithsonian. Humboldt's influence still resonates throughout the massive museum and research complex.

Alexander von Humboldt

How the Revolutionary Thinker Alexander von Humboldt Helped to Create the Smithsonian

The 19th-century polymath continues to influence the Institution’s research; a major Smithsonian exhibition explains how and why

Emperor penguins standing on sea ice at the Brunt ice shelf in Antarctica.

Satellites Spy Poop-Stained Ice, Revealing New Emperor Penguin Colonies

Researchers found eight new colonies, but all were small and located in parts of Antarctica predicted to be ravaged by climate change

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