Hi Everyone,
I received an e-mail message from Patti Wiegering a 3-4 multi-age
teacher at Glenwood Heights Primary School in Vancouver,
Washington. Molly Zalman, a student of hers, had some questions
concerning penguins for Paul Smith, the friend of mine that is a
physics student presently stationed at Casey Research Base,
Antarctica.

Please find attached Molly's questions, as well as Paul's response
from Antarctica.

-Bruce Daley "Chip"
chipper@redrock.nevada.edu

Please note that all Paul's letters are available via anonymous ftp
from ftp.nevada.edu in the /pub/ccsd/ANTARCTICA directory.



Chip,
  these questions are getting harder and the askers are getting
younger. i'll have 5 year olds asking me nuclear physics stuff
next!!
-P

Dear Molly,
   Here are some answers to your questions about penguins.  You
asked some good questions and I didn't know the answers to them
all, so I went and talked to Mark, one of the biologists who stayed
here for the winter last year.  His work is on Antarctic plants
(moss, lichen, algae) but he knows a lot about the penguins too. 
I should say also that these answers are for Adelie penguins, which
are the only kind we actually see near Casey.  King and Emperor
penguins live mostly further out to sea on the icebergs and in
different parts of Antarctica.

>l.  Can penguins breath underwater or do they hold their breath?
   Penguins have lungs so they have to breathe air which means the
longest they can stay underwater for is about 2 minutes.  When they
swim through the  water they go under for a few seconds and swim
fast, then pop up out of the water and catch a breath before going
under again.  It looks a lot like how dolphins swim under and then
come out of the water and fall back in. Penguins usually swim in
groups of five or six.

>2.  How many eggs can a penguin have?
   Penguins usually have two eggs in the summer when there's lots
of food and the conditions are good so it's easier for the chicks
to survive.  The chicks grow big very fast, so they are as big as
their parents by the end of the summer.

>3.  How long do penguins usually live?
   About twenty years is the longest, but not many make it to that
age, since a seal gets them when they get old and slow down.

>4.  Do penguins get in big fights?
  During nesting time they get in big fights, maybe over nesting
territory. They hit each other with their wings and Mark says it's
amazing how violent they become since they are quiet creatures for
the rest of the year.

>5.  About how many penguins have you seen?
   Thousands and thousands!!!  Thet are all over the place, around
Casey there is an estimated 20,000 breeding pairs (40,000 penguins)
and if we include the islands further out, more than 60,000 pairs. 
They seem to count penguins are the number of pairs that can breed.

Occasionally we see them on the roads around the station but mostly
they don't come closer than the station limits.

>6.  How close have you gotten to a penguin?
   The closet I've been to them is about 3 metres, it helps if I
crouch down so I don't look so big to them.  When they think
someone is too close they start to run away.

>7.  Did you like it when you were walking to the island and the
penguins ran toward you?
   The first time it happened is was so surprised when they ran to
us.  After that it was great, we didn't have to go and find them,
they found us! I've really enjoyed meeting the penguins this way. 
At home in Melbourne, there is a place called Phillip Island where
at night, fairy penguins come to shore after being out fishing for
the day.  Fairy penguins are the smallest ones I've seen (the
penguins here look huge in comparison) but there are always so many
tourists around it's amazing they aren't too scared to swim ashore.

Here with a lot less people around it's much more natural. Ok
Molly, thanks for the questions, I learnt a few new things too.  I
hope your penguin collection continues to grow.
Bye from Antarctica,
Paul