The adelie penguin colony at Cape Adare, Antarctica. Borchgrevink's 1899 hut can be seen to the left. Photo / Fiona Shanhun
The adelie penguin colony at Cape Adare, Antarctica. Borchgrevink's 1899 hut can be seen to the left. Photo / Fiona Shanhun
Can you spot the penguin?
If you're struggling, stop squinting and take in the big picture.
There are almost a million penguins that call this colony home, and you see much of them within this frame - check out the dark blotches that look like mounds of sand.
The photographwas taken of the massive adelie penguin colony at Antarctica's Cape Adare late last month by Antarctica New Zealand's Dr Fiona Shanhun, as part of a census that has been running for more than three decades.
An aerial view of Cape Bird. Photo / Fiona Shanhun
This long-term monitoring programme allows scientists to relate changes in penguin numbers to weather, sea ice and other environmental variables, and help them check whether commercial exploitation, such as fishing, is having any impact.
The census is conducted at various sites during a one-week window in late November and early December, when males are incubating eggs and females are at sea foraging.
High-resolution aerial photos of colonies are taken through the open door of a helicopter while the pilot flies above the colonies and predetermined flight lines help ensure complete coverage of the colonies while minimising the number of passes overhead.
Shanhun said low cloud on the day of the census at Cape Adare meant that the photography had to be cut short there, "but I did get a few shots with the door open, which was pretty awesome".
Back in New Zealand, the photos are stitched together and penguins are counted using a special software program.
This still requires human guidance, but it is a vast improvement on the manual counting method that was used up until 2010.
Cape Adare. Photo / Fiona Shanhun
The data are reported to the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), and are also useful for planning for new marine protection and comparing penguin numbers elsewhere on the continent.
Cape Bird. Photo / Fiona Shanhun
Shanhun said being amid a penguin colony was much different to what one might expect.
Cape Adare, as seen from above. Photo / Fiona Shanhun
"As you walk in from the sea ice approaching the colony, you get the waft of hundreds of thousands of penguins filling the air, and as you get closer you hear the noise of them.
"It's awesome to work among them."
Cape Adare, as seen from above. Photo / Fiona Shanhun
Cape Adare, as seen from the air. Photo / Fiona Shanhun
Overlooking Cape Adare. Photo / Fiona Shanhun
Cape Adare seen from the air. Photo / Fiona Shanhun
