Here are the questions and answers from Beth Rhyne's class at Myrtle Grove Middle School, received 5 February 2003:

1. How do you store the fossils and other material so they will not get damaged when you travel back home?

I have special containers that I bought for shipping my field supplies and sediments to and from Antarctica. They are large plastic containers called 'Action Packers' that travel pretty well.  I can lock down the lid and pack up to 70 lbs of sediments and samples within them.  For bone and more delicate samples, I place these inside another box or container before packing in the Action Packer.  All this seems to work well--I haven't had any specimens damaged in shipment yet.

2. Have you ever been to an abandoned colony then later penguins come back after you excavated it?

Yes, actually, I have.  When I did some work near the U.S. base, Palmer Station, on Anvers Island in the Antarctic Peninsula in 1996, I excavated some abandoned pebble mounds at a place called Biscoe Point.  These sites were former colonies of Adélie penguins.  Now, that area is being reoccupied by Gentoo penguins.  My colleague who works on penguins at this station, Dr. Bill Fraser, told me recently that gentoos are expanding southward and increasing in numbers in the Palmer area.  In addition, they are beginning to occupy some of the sites that I excavated in 1996. This reoccupation by gentoos, rather than Adélie penguins, is due to the warming trend in the peninsula that is causing a decline in Adélies, but an increase in more subantarctic species like the gentoo.

3. Antarctica is a restricted area to collect natural resources. In the future, would we use Antarctica to harvest natural resources?

I hope not.  I hope Antarctica remains free of human disturbances such as mining and oil drilling forever.  Right now, it is one of the largest natural areas on the planet that has not suffered significant impacts by humans.  That may change in the future though as Antarctica also is rich in natural resources including fossil fuels and minerals.  In fact, many countries maintain a presence in Antarctica primarily to be able to make a claim for some of those resources if the Antarctic Treat ever ends.  Before that happens, I hope that synthetic fuels will be developed that will decrease the demand for fossil fuels.

4. In a penguin colony, is there one penguin who is the head or alpha penguin?

No. The only hierarchy that may exist is that younger, less experienced penguins or first-time breeders are often found on the edge of the colony as all the prime sites away from the edge and towards the center are taken by more experienced birds.  Being on the edge is not so good as this is where their nests are more susceptible to predation by skuas.  Here, skuas can target eggs or small chicks in those nests from both the air and the ground.  Nests farther into the center of the colony, however, can be targeted only from the air.  Otherwise, each penguin defends its nest with equal vigor from all other penguins or other species (including humans!) that come near it.

5. What has been the most interesting thing found out about penguins during the course of your research?

I think one of the most interesting things I've learned is that the diet of Adélie penguins is much more diverse than previously thought.  Prior to digging in these sites, most studies on diet in penguins indicated that krill was the primary prey, with some fish and squid as well.  However, the data from my sites indicate a high diversity of fish and squid can be found in their diet as well.  I think the reason I have more evidence for this is that the diet studies that have been completed were done only during the chick feeding period, a narrow period of time in the mid summer each year.  It's easier to study penguin diet then as they are constantly bringing food into the colony to feed their chicks. This food is dominated by krill as it is a high-energy food source for their growing chicks.  However, there's a lot more of the year left unsampled and that is when they are feeding on other things besides krill.  We're now doing other studies to verify this and learning new things about penguin foraging as a result.

These were great questions and I'll look forward to hearing from you again.  If you want, you may also direct a question to either Rodney or Michele, the students working with me. 

Steve Emslie