Climate Change Prompts Emperor Penguins To Find New Breeding Grounds 215
An anonymous reader writes Researchers have discovered that emperor penguins may not be faithful to their previous nesting locations, as previously thought. Scientists have long thought that emperor penguins were philopatric, returning to the same location to nest each year. However, a new research study showed that the penguins may be behaving in ways that allow them to adapt to their changing environment. Lead author Michelle LaRue said,"Our research showing that colonies seem to appear and disappear throughout the years challenges behaviors we thought we understood about emperor penguins. If we assume that these birds come back to the same locations every year, without fail, these new colonies we see on satellite images wouldn't make any sense. These birds didn't just appear out of thin air—they had to have come from somewhere else. This suggests that emperor penguins move among colonies. That means we need to revisit how we interpret population changes and the causes of those changes."
Or, maybe... (Score:5, Funny)
...they got tired of all of the scientists following them around, year after year, tagging them and annoying the kids.
"Y'know, Marge, this place is just getting too touristy for me. Let's go somewhere quiet, farther down the beach."