Diary Update from Melanie Challenger - Week 2
Melanie writes: "On Halloween, I woke to find my 'sealegs' – the ability to walk in a straight line while the ship is rolling against the swell of the ocean! The day’s light was lustreless, the seas rattled and gunmetal grey. We had crossed the Antarctic Convergence, an ocean fringe where the heavy, cold Antarctic waters sink beneath the warmer, lighter, less bitter subantarctic waters. It is a boundary of mist and transformation, a nearly invisible skin of difference and a dashed line beyond which we enter the ice! Crossing it, the sea temperature drops by up to four degrees. I saw my first iceberg, its lunary defiance, intractable and iceblue against the elements. It is hard to find the words to tell you in your classrooms in Britain just how beautiful and exciting the natural world can be in such pristine wilderness – I am around ten thousand miles away from you, and perhaps you think your lives have little influence on a world as remote and strange as Antarctica. But humans have more of an effect than you might imagine! Outside my window, there is a silhouette against the dimming sunlight. It is a swathe of feather and beak, a strip of lovely skill, an omen. It is the bird with the largest wingspan in the world: a Wandering Albatross. The brilliant English poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge penned one of the most famous poems in the English language, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The poem narrates a long sea voyage, and the drift of the vessel into Antarctic waters. In this ice-locked world, an albatross appears to guide the ship to safety. One of the sailors shoots this albatross upon their salvation, and a curse falls upon the ship and crew. The poem was written around two hundred years ago. Now the albatross (in all its varieties) is threatened with extinction because long-line fishing vessels snare the birds in their boats. Every time we eat fish bought from the supermarket, we should consider whether a bird has been tangled in a net for our evening meal. None of us should stop eating fish, but we must all put pressure on the fishermen to find ways of bringing in a catch without killing the albatross. I wish you could see the elegance of an albatross in flight, the halleluiah of its wing-thrust as it glides on the energy of the waves. We must be the generation that saves the albatross."
Book: Consider buying Dr Sasha Norris' 'Superkids: 250 Incredible Ways for Kids to Save the Planet'
Poetry: Read Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and then write a poem that tells the story of salvation: the saving of the albatross.
This week's scientist: Dr Andy Wood, Biologist, Science Manager and IT specialist
"God save thee, ancyent Marinere!
"From the fiends that plague thee thus--
"Why look'st thou so?"--with my cross bow
I shot the Albatross.
The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1797-1799.
Andy is a long time member of the British Antarctic Survey team who is currently on his fourteenth Antarctic trip. He has worked with the birds and seals at Bird Island for many years, is a senior science manager in the Biological Sciences Division, and a chartered IT professional. His science career started with a PhD study of wading birds on the Tees estuary involving significant use of computers for biological data analysis. His next career move was to BAS, then as database manager for the Offshore Biological Programme.
Project this season: the numbers of albatrosses at Bird Island have been declining over recent years due to birds being accidentally caught and killed by fishermen. A new study of Black-browed Albatross was started this season to help monitor the unfortunate decline in these most enigmatic of bird species. The work involved catching and ringing adult birds as they arrived at their nesting site; a small metal ring attached to the bird's leg, will if found and returned, give some indication of the final fate of the bird.
Albatross Facts
- The Wandering Albatross has the largest wingspan of any living bird, up to 3.5 m (that's twice the height of an average adult human).
- The Wandering Albatross flies up to 5,000 km per week to find food for its chick.
- 100,000 albatrosses are killed every year on longline fishing hooks, that's about one every five minutes.
- 19 of the 22 albatross species in the world are threatened with extinction.
For more facts see the additional information in our web pages.
If you want to help to save the albatross, lots more information can be found on the Save The Albatross web site, and join the RSPB in their campaign.
This week's featured school: Horningsham Primary School, Wiltshire
Answers from Dr Claire Waluda:
Here are my answers to your questions. I hope you have enjoyed thinking about penguins this week.
Why can't they fly?
Penguins gave up flying a long time ago and adapted their wings and bodies for life in the oceans. While flying birds have hollow bones that are very light and filled with air, penguins have solid bones to make them heavy and help them dive. Their wings have become strong flippers to soar through the seas, and their feathers have become small and waterproof. Although they can’t fly in the sky, in the water they glide effortlessly and look very much as if they are flying.
What did they evolve from?
It is thought that, like all birds, penguins evolved from the dinosaurs a long time ago. Penguins later evolved from flying birds to become the swimming and diving birds that we all know today.
How long is their life span?
Most penguins live for around 20 years, but some, like the emperor penguin can live for as long as 50 years.
How do they survive so long in cold?
Penguins have many adaptations to life in the cold. Their bodies are able to maintain a constant temperature (‘thermoregulate’) just like we do. They have short and stiff feathers with a layer of down underneath which can be used to trap air just like in a duvet, which is the most important adaptation to the cold.
Do penguins have any close relatives? Are any extinct?
Penguins are most closely related to flying seabirds like albatrosses and petrels. The biggest extinct species was found in New Zealand, was 1.7 metres tall (5 ft 7 inches) and weighed 90 kilograms (200 lb). Recently scientists discovered a fossil of an extinct giant penguin in Peru, which was 1.5 metres tall (5 ft), had a very long spear-like beak and lived around 36 million years ago.
How do they feed their babies?
Penguin parents both look after their babies. They take it in turns to go out to sea where they catch fish and krill (tiny shrimp like creatures). When they return they feed their chicks by regurgitating the food into the beak of the waiting chick.
Do they eat anything except for fish?
Some penguins, like Adélie and chinstrap penguins eat almost nothing but krill which are small pink shrimp-like creatures that live in the cold waters of the Antarctic in massive swarms that can be many kilometres in length. Krill are also the favourite food of big whales like blue whales. Some penguins eat fish, and some (like king penguins) eat squid too.
What would happen if king penguins were taken and moved to a hotter climate?
Some penguins are able to survive in hotter climates. The Galapagos penguin lives close to the equator, and is the only species that is sometimes found in the northern hemisphere. If you took a king penguin to a hot place, he would be able to survive by regulating his body temperature. He would do this by increasing his body temperature and his heart rate, and panting like a dog to try and get rid of heat quickly. Perhaps he would cool off with a swim in the sea, like you would on holiday somewhere hot. I think he would really prefer to stay in the cooler sub Antarctic!
What sort of movements can penguins make and why?
Penguins can swim by flapping their wings. They can waddle across the ice and snow to get to the sea or to their nests. Sometimes to go faster on the snow they can push themselves along on their bellies using their feet and claws. This is called ‘tobogganing’. When penguins come home to their nest to meet their partner they put their heads in the air and wave them from side to side as a greeting, they also make loud noises to say hello, which can sometimes sound like a braying donkey, a quacking duck or a honking goose!
Why are their beaks shaped like this?
Penguins beaks are strong and blunt. Their beaks are shaped to help them catch their food. Did you know that a penguin has a spiky tongue to stop fish and krill slipping out of her beak?
Can you determine anything from the different colours they have on their beaks?
The colours on their beaks help us work out which species of penguin they are. There are 17 different species and they all have different colours and patterns on their heads and beaks. Different species have black, red, yellow, orange and pink beaks, which might help them attract a mate or defend their territory.
How does their body make enough heat in such a cold place?
Penguins bodies make heat by burning their food, just like ours do. They are also adapted to keep warm, using their feathers to trap air close to their bodies.
Three Penguin Poems from the classes at Horningsham Primary School, Wiltshire
Flightless bird
With flipper wings
Over a satin white belly
Above dingy, dark dino claws.
An army of penguins
In chain mail coats
Polished with a silver sheen.
Their spear-headed beak
Curves downwards
In search of prey.
As piercing sharp eyes
Stare out with a proud gaze.
Dressed for dinner
In an ebony tailcoat
Over a gleaming white
Freshly ironed shirt.
Smooth, waxed inky cap,
A yolk yellow cravat
Immaculately tied
Around their squat necks,
Velvet white shorts cannot cover.
