Monitoring and research on Antarctic organisms is an important part of China's Antarctic scientific expedition. At present, some researchers are monitoring and researching Antarctic organisms at the new Ross Sea station in Antarctica. According to the researchers, they have a very important task in Antarctica, which is to count, what to count, and how to count? Let's take a look.
Source: CCTV News.
My main job is to count penguins, how do you count them? Penguins form a small breeding colony, or a large breeding colony with patches underneath. For small flocks, I can manually count them directly, and people can stand there and see how many breeding pairs there are, how many birds are incubating eggs, and count the number of breeding pairs. Zhao Kai, a doctor from the Key Laboratory of Biodiversity and Ecological Engineering of the Ministry of Education of Beijing Normal University, said, "For the relatively distant and contiguous penguin breeding colonies, I need to fly the drone, and then through this **, I will count the penguins inside." ”
The main area monitored by Zhao Kai is Penguin Island near China's Ross Sea New Station, which is a penguin sanctuary that has been established for nearly five years, and the key protection object is the Adélie penguin.
There are only two types of penguins that can survive and breed in the high latitudes of the Antarctic continent, one is the Adélie penguin and the other is the emperor penguin. The Adélie penguin is the most abundant and common penguin in Antarctica, with white eye circles, a black beak, short legs, and black claws. Dignified and personable, he often greets every guest who arrives in Antarctica as a host.
Recently, Zhao Kai counted the population of Adélie penguins with more than 26,000 breeding pairs. From the historical data, there were about 10,000 breeding pairs here in 1963, to more than 25,000 breeding pairs monitored in 2017, and then to the recent monitoring data, it can be seen that the Adélie penguin population here has maintained a relatively stable state.
It is understood that Antarctic birds and marine mammals are sensitive to changes in the external environment, and their population trends can well reflect the impact of global climate change on the entire Antarctic marine ecosystem. Through long-term monitoring and research of birds and marine mammals, it can provide a very important scientific basis for global climate change research and climate change response.
In addition to penguins, researchers will also observe other Antarctic creatures, such as Weddell seals, on Penguin Island, near the new station. Weddell's seal is the only animal of the genus Weddell's seal in the family Sealidae, also known as the "monk seal", which is an extremely ancient creature, so it is called a "living fossil". Weddell seals were once found in the Pacific, Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas, and today there are only about 750,000 individuals in the world.
I'm glad I caught a picture of the seal drinking milk, and I saw that the fluff on the cubs hadn't completely withdrawn. And if it is an adult, the hair on this body is relatively smooth, and it will change this nipple to suck milk. Zhao Kai said.
Perspective News Agency Comprehensive People**, CCTV News Report).
Editors: Li Xu, Liao Mingjuan (intern).
Proofreader: Li Xuying.
Review: Gong Zimo.