The study focused on a colony of 60,000 Adelie penguins on the Antarctic Peninsula. As the penguins eat fish and krill, they leave behind large amounts of nitrogen-rich guano, or poop.

Because penguins mainly eat fish and krill, their excrement is full of nitrogen waste that ultimately breaks down into ammonia. This chemical compound rises into the air as gas, then mixes with ...

According to the study, these penguins consume 1.6 kg (about 3.5 pounds) of krill per day, and the Adélie penguin population as a whole consumes about 1.5 trillion tons of krill annually.

Over the past 4,000 years, the penguins in the southern Ross Sea switched from mainly eating one type of fish – the bald notothen – to another, Antarctic silverfish.

Adélie penguins need an optimal level of sea ice to breed—too much, and access to food is threatened. Image: Louise Emmerson/Australian Antarctic Program As the fervor of Fat Bear Week rages on ...

In places like Antarctica, small things can make a difference. Scientists are finding that penguin waste is helping form clouds, which could be offsetting the effects of climate change.

Those include emperor penguins, which scientists fear will be nearly extinct by the end of the century, as sea ice dwindles due to climate change. Melting sea ice in 2022 , opens new tab led ...