Emperor penguins in Antarctica are far more plentiful than previously thought, a study that used extremely high-resolution imagery snapped by satellites has revealed.
“It surprised us that we approximately doubled the population estimate,” said a scientist with the British Antarctic Survey and lead author of a paper published Friday in the journal PLoS One.
This new view of the Antarctic showed approximately 595,000 birds in the population made famous by the film March of the Penguin. Given the harsh conditions on the ground, counting the 4-foot-tall species, which is found only in Antarctica, has been nearly impossible until now.
(WATCH the ABC video below, READ the story from MSNBC)