New technology and polar science: novel penguin-cam uncovers community care of the young and most vulnerable.

guardian.co.uk

Emperor penguin mass chick huddle in Antarctica – big picture

From Guardian UK Feb 6, 2013

“New footage of emperor penguins in Antarctica will be seen in the BBC’s Penguins – Spy in the Huddle, from Monday 11 February 2013. The series covers nearly a year spent in the close company of three penguin species, deploying 50 spycams which allowed two scientists to get closer than ever before.

The work of Frederique Oliver and Martin Passingham – who spent eight months in the field filming more than 1,000 hours of behaviour – uncovers new penguin behaviour such as this huddle, where the parents surround their chicks for warmth and protection. The scientist-turned-camera operator and field assistant filmed emperor penguins using 17 full-size, animatronic penguin-cams.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01460gm Spy in the Huddle BBC

Reindeer-cam captures life in Yakutia, Siberia

Well, lets go north. A new virtual friend of the Antarctic Book of Cooking and Cleaning, Bolot Bochkarev is a journalist, fixer & guide based in Yakutsk, Republic of Sakha, Siberia Russia. He is an accomplished photographer as well. This image is from his website AskYakutia.com. Recently Bolot returned from a one-month reindeer sledding expedition from Oymyakon to the Okhotsk Sea. It’s called Frozen Frontier with Mikael Strandberg for OutWildTV.

askyakutia.com

A few more of Bolot’s fantastic images from the expedition.

Bolot Bochkarev, Frozen Frontier: First 3 Days with Reindeer Herders askyakutia.com

askYakutia.comBefore departure, askYakutia.com

Before departure, askYakutia.com

Age Matters to Antarctic Clams: Age Matters When It Comes to Adapting to the Effects of Climate Change

Article from Science Daily News

Apr. 18, 2013 — A new study of Antarctic clams reveals that age matters when it comes to adapting to the effects of climate change. The research provides new insight and understanding of the likely impact of predicted environmental change on future ocean biodiversity.

The study showed that whilst young clams (average of three years old) try to move to a better area in the sea-bed sediments when they sense warmer temperature or reduced oxygen levels, the older (18 years old) more sedentary clams stay put. This has implications for future clam populations because it is the older animals that reproduce. Scientists anticipate that future oceans will be slightly warmer and contains less oxygen (a condition known as hypoxia).

British Antarctic Survey scientist studying clams http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/press/press_releases/press_release.php?id=2136

Lead Author Dr Melody Clark of British Antarctic Survey said, “Antarctic clams play a vital role in the ocean ecosystem. They draw down carbon into sea-bed sediments and circulate ocean nutrients. We know that they are extremely sensitive to their environment. Our study suggests that the numbers of clams that will survive a changing climate will reduce.

“The Polar Regions are the Earth’s early warning system and Antarctica is a great natural laboratory to study to future global change. These small and rather uncharismatic animals can tell us a lot about age and survival in a changing world — they are one of the ‘engines of the ocean’.”

Co-author, Eva Phillip, from the University of Kiel, says: “The study shows that it is important to investigate different ages of a population to understand population wide changes and responses. In respect to Antarctic clams it has been indicated in previous studies that older individuals may suffer more severely in a changing environment and the new study corroborates this assumption. Only the investigation of population-wide effects makes it possible to draw conclusions for coastal ecosystems.”

Like humans, clams’ muscle mass decreases as they get older. This means they get more sedentary. So when changes are introduced into their habitat, the older clams tend to just sit it out until conditions revert back to normal.

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A clammy food note: Wendy didn’t cook clams in Antarctica, there is no clam bake recipe in our upcoming book The Antarctic Book of Cooking and Cleaning! But i’m sure Wendy makes a mean clam chowder. Her Stoney Bay Chowder is awesome. Here’s a Greenpeace redlist of specific clams & other fish to avoid buying or catching. And a list of good seafood choices from Sea Choice and Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch. Must be lunchtime if I’m linking clam research with clam bakes.