Jill's Pick from Around the World: Penguin census in Antarctica


Video credit: wsj.com

Bird-watcher Philip Trathan is counting the emperor penguins here—from space. In the first complete census of these well-known birds, the British wildlife ecologist and his colleagues are scanning high-resolution satellite photos of Antarctica for penguins, like military analysts searching for Iranian rocket sites. In fact, their precision imagery comes from the U.S. National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. The photos are part of the roughly $25 million of commercial satellite images the agency buys every month for use by the Central Intelligence Agency and the Defense Department. "You can count individual birds," said Dr. Trathan, a penguin ecologist at the British Antarctic Survey, who is part of an international census team.
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Posted by WILDNEWJERSEY at 5/4/2010 10:00 AM
Categories: Jill's Pick from Around the World
Tags: penguin census emperor penguins U.S. National Geospatial Intelligence Agency antarctica satellite images
 

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