WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:03.520 Oh hey, it's your Internet dad who just learned how 2 00:00:03.560 --> 00:00:06.599 to mute her mic on zoom. A alleyboard back with 3 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:09.640 a shiny new episode of Ologies. This one's coming out 4 00:00:09.640 --> 00:00:11.599 on April twenty first. Do you know what week it is? 5 00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:12.400 Y'all? 6 00:00:12.439 --> 00:00:15.720 It is World Penguin Week. That's not true. April twenty 7 00:00:15.720 --> 00:00:18.039 fifth is World Penguin Day. There's no such thing as 8 00:00:18.039 --> 00:00:20.239 World Penguin Week, but I'm declaring it a week World 9 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:23.359 Penguin Week. Welcome to it. But before we get to 10 00:00:23.399 --> 00:00:25.920 the fanfare and all the fun facts, a few thanks 11 00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:28.519 to everyone on patreon dot com slash Ologies for supporting 12 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:31.600 the show. Thank you to everyone tagging their merch photos 13 00:00:31.800 --> 00:00:34.759 Ologies merch so we can repost them. Thank you to 14 00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:38.640 everyone who has rated and subscribed on Apple Podcasts and 15 00:00:38.679 --> 00:00:42.079 all the other platforms, especially those leaving reviews to booy 16 00:00:42.119 --> 00:00:46.920 the bad days, such as sailor Thought, who says weirdly 17 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:49.840 meditative listening. I've been listening Toologies for quite some time, 18 00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:52.600 but Quarantine has made me appreciate this beautiful podcast more 19 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:55.399 than ever. I listened to old episodes every single night 20 00:00:55.560 --> 00:00:58.039 to help me turn my anxiety off. Thank you, Edward. 21 00:00:58.200 --> 00:01:01.039 You're welcome sailor thought, let's get to some penguins. Let's 22 00:01:01.039 --> 00:01:04.760 get him in your ears, in your brains, in your hearts. Penguinology. 23 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:07.760 It's a real thing. It has been for years. We'll 24 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:11.159 discuss shortly. So I became aware of this ology after 25 00:01:11.400 --> 00:01:14.480 approximately one million of you tweeted me a photo of 26 00:01:14.519 --> 00:01:16.920 this ologist maybe a year and a half ago with 27 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:20.400 the chiron, which is the graphic as the lower third 28 00:01:20.439 --> 00:01:22.879 of the TV screen that says who someone is. And 29 00:01:22.920 --> 00:01:27.799 this ologist identified on the BBC as a penguinologist. Oh 30 00:01:27.799 --> 00:01:30.079 and who better to call it that than one of 31 00:01:30.120 --> 00:01:35.400 the world's foremost penguin experts. He's legit. Penguinology is thus legit. 32 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:37.400 So we have been in touch for months and months, 33 00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:38.760 but I had to wait for him to be in 34 00:01:38.840 --> 00:01:41.840 not Antarctica, and then we hopped on the phone. He 35 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:44.560 from the UK where it was evening and he was 36 00:01:44.599 --> 00:01:49.120 settling in to relax and get barraged with idiot questions 37 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:52.359 from me, your stupid podcast host. So he is a 38 00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:56.319 research fellow at Oxford University's zoological department. He spent well 39 00:01:56.359 --> 00:02:00.480 over a decade working and studying and very gently buying 40 00:02:00.599 --> 00:02:04.959 on penguins. And heads up Penguin watch dot org, where 41 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:08.319 you yourself can go and see wonderful penguins in remote 42 00:02:08.360 --> 00:02:12.319 regions on planet Earth. You can join eleven thousand volunteers 43 00:02:12.360 --> 00:02:15.800 who help scientists, including him, count penguins just by looking 44 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:18.599 at pictures of penguins and just putting a dot on 45 00:02:18.639 --> 00:02:22.400 the penguins. It's so good and quick. Audio note if 46 00:02:22.439 --> 00:02:25.879 you hear any clickity clacking, that is just the keyboard 47 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:29.159 in my shared home office with Jarrett, So just consider 48 00:02:29.159 --> 00:02:32.919 it like an ASMR treat. Okay, great, Okay. So we 49 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:35.639 talked about what it's like working on the ends of 50 00:02:35.639 --> 00:02:38.639 the Earth and how cold it is, and what exactly 51 00:02:39.080 --> 00:02:41.680 is a penguin and how do they stay warm and 52 00:02:41.800 --> 00:02:45.719 mating habits and weird knees and bad parents and neck 53 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:50.120 facts and diets and swimming and waddling and Pooh and 54 00:02:50.199 --> 00:02:53.120 you and how you can help out our feathered friends. 55 00:02:53.199 --> 00:02:57.680 So observe this World Penguin Week by slipping on a 56 00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:00.319 tux and sliding down the ice to join us for 57 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:03.960 one of the most anticipated episodes of Ologies maybe ever 58 00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:28.280 with penguinologist doctor Tom Hart. Okay, it looks like we're 59 00:03:28.280 --> 00:03:30.360 off sync, but I swear it'll work in the audio. Okay, 60 00:03:30.680 --> 00:03:36.240 we're business, right, you're Tom Heart. You're a penguinologist. Yes, 61 00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:40.840 this is so thrilling. I'm not sure if you understand 62 00:03:40.840 --> 00:03:44.319 how thrilling this is. You are perhaps like the best 63 00:03:44.360 --> 00:03:46.759 person to ask about penguins, but also you're the best 64 00:03:46.759 --> 00:03:48.919 person to have an ologies because you are a self 65 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:50.120 titled penguinologist. 66 00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:50.840 Absolutely. 67 00:03:51.400 --> 00:03:55.560 Yeah, what was the moment that you decided that your 68 00:03:55.879 --> 00:03:57.599 lower third should say peguinologists. 69 00:03:57.919 --> 00:04:00.520 I'm a bit nerved by calling it my life a third. 70 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:07.800 That sounds a bit invasive. But it was a BBC 71 00:04:07.960 --> 00:04:12.479 interview on Emperor Penguins, and I think I've been calling 72 00:04:12.520 --> 00:04:15.840 myself that for a few years and it's half joke, 73 00:04:16.079 --> 00:04:19.319 but it's half it's informative. It just tells people what 74 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:22.519 you do. So the whole point is they usually they 75 00:04:22.600 --> 00:04:26.720 usually laugh and then they ask why what, And at 76 00:04:26.759 --> 00:04:30.040 that point you've got people. So it's the most honest 77 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:34.120 ologist in that It's not everything I do. It could 78 00:04:34.120 --> 00:04:38.920 be you know, anything from model and molecular biology to 79 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:43.240 ecologist or behaviorist, but largely when I'm talking about penguins, 80 00:04:43.240 --> 00:04:45.839 and particularly when I'm trying to conserve them. It makes 81 00:04:45.839 --> 00:04:48.759 sense to just say I'm a penguinologist. People know exactly 82 00:04:48.759 --> 00:04:50.839 what it is, and it is a little bit of 83 00:04:50.839 --> 00:04:55.199 a joke. But at the same time, when when people 84 00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:59.360 have kind of fought me on it, I pushed back 85 00:04:59.399 --> 00:05:02.240 twice as high because it is transparent and that's what 86 00:05:02.279 --> 00:05:03.000 we should be doing. 87 00:05:04.360 --> 00:05:08.000 Do you have other academics who are penguin researchers can 88 00:05:08.120 --> 00:05:10.839 tell you that it's not a protocol. 89 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:13.560 I've had a few turn the noises up, but largely no. 90 00:05:13.720 --> 00:05:15.920 I think people are coming around. I mean it makes 91 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:21.639 the point, and actually, through both outreach and engagement, I've 92 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:25.399 been able to do a lot, so I think any 93 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:27.079 early cynicism is fading now. 94 00:05:27.879 --> 00:05:31.279 M h. I mean you're here with us now, and 95 00:05:31.399 --> 00:05:32.199 would you have done? 96 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:36.040 That's that absolute pinnacle of my career. 97 00:05:36.279 --> 00:05:40.360 Doctor Tom Hart is a globally celebrated expert on seabirds, 98 00:05:40.519 --> 00:05:43.319 having been an author on paper such as high coverage 99 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:47.439 genomes to llucinate, the evolution of penguins and divergent trophic 100 00:05:47.480 --> 00:05:53.000 responses of sympatric penguin species to historic anthropogenic exploitation and 101 00:05:53.079 --> 00:05:56.240 recent climate change. But those things, let's be honest, pale 102 00:05:56.279 --> 00:06:00.000 when compared to watching me fumble through my abject penguin 103 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:03.680 in ignorance overscape. I'm sure. So where did it all start? 104 00:06:03.879 --> 00:06:07.839 When did you start liking birds and zoology and conservation? 105 00:06:08.439 --> 00:06:11.720 Oh, very early on, I think anytime from about age ten. 106 00:06:12.040 --> 00:06:15.639 I probably wanted to bring a marine biologist. I definitely 107 00:06:15.720 --> 00:06:18.560 like biology and I like the marine environment, and so 108 00:06:18.639 --> 00:06:23.360 it was that or lifeboat crew or something like that. 109 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:26.959 But yeah, it's no surprise to ten year old me, 110 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:30.000 who's pretty toughed with it. It's kind of no surprise. 111 00:06:30.040 --> 00:06:31.600 And yet at the same time, it could have been 112 00:06:31.639 --> 00:06:35.439 a lot of other things that make a difference and 113 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:37.759 our conservation related. 114 00:06:37.399 --> 00:06:40.439 Did you always want to go on remote expeditions as 115 00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:42.199 part of your work or did it just so happen 116 00:06:42.279 --> 00:06:44.839 that penguins was an area that you kind of gravitated 117 00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:48.000 toward or that needed yourope you working on it. 118 00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:51.160 I think I definitely wanted to go remote. But again, 119 00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:56.560 the exact ending up in Antarctica is is a mild 120 00:06:56.560 --> 00:07:00.560 surprise because you're not told as a kid it's possible. 121 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:04.720 I mean, you're told the standard jobs and no one 122 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:11.079 ever mentioned this, and actually, really almost any job in 123 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:13.399 science or a lot of them. If you're doing it right, 124 00:07:13.480 --> 00:07:15.879 you're inventing a new job that didn't exist for the 125 00:07:15.879 --> 00:07:19.480 previous generation because you're trying to push boundaries. So to 126 00:07:19.480 --> 00:07:22.000 some degree that's fair. But at the same time, yeah, 127 00:07:22.120 --> 00:07:25.959 no one told me that as a kid that I 128 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:29.399 should be looking to work in Antarctica or even though 129 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:30.160 it was possible. 130 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:33.120 How many times have you been to Antarctica for your work? 131 00:07:33.240 --> 00:07:34.639 I have any clue? 132 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:36.279 Yeah, okay, so that many? 133 00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:39.360 Yeah, I genuinely don't know, but it's I think it's 134 00:07:39.800 --> 00:07:43.399 it's something like thirteen seasons worth over about fifteen years, 135 00:07:44.040 --> 00:07:46.160 so I've missed a couple of seasons since I started. 136 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:46.959 What is it? 137 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:48.439 What was it like the first time you went? 138 00:07:51.800 --> 00:07:58.079 Genuinely life changing? Yeah, because yeah, it's life changing in 139 00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:00.800 the sense that it's like saying wonders of world, knowing 140 00:08:00.839 --> 00:08:05.680 that it's changing. It's very eye opening to put things 141 00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:09.720 in global context, as well as being personally very rewarding. 142 00:08:10.519 --> 00:08:14.240 So yes, it's definitely, I mean, I think or inspiring, 143 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:18.879 awesome that I overused, but life changing in the sense 144 00:08:18.920 --> 00:08:20.879 that you know there and then your life is not 145 00:08:20.920 --> 00:08:24.160 going to be the same. Absolutely, a few. 146 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:26.959 Of the places he commutes to for work are the 147 00:08:27.079 --> 00:08:32.120 Sandwich Islands and South Georgia, which are little dispects, no 148 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:35.879 bigger than one hundred miles long way off the coast 149 00:08:35.960 --> 00:08:40.759 of Argentina, just above the continent of Antarctica. Now Anarctica, 150 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:45.200 the continent. Who even owns it? I asked Google for us, Well, 151 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:49.159 it was air quotes discovered only about one hundred years ago. 152 00:08:49.399 --> 00:08:53.840 Doesn't really belong to anyone. It's likened to a condominium politically, 153 00:08:54.039 --> 00:08:58.960 with different countries having jurisdiction and putting research stations there. 154 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:02.360 And there was a nineteen fifty nine Antarctic Treaty It 155 00:09:02.440 --> 00:09:07.000 essentially said, hey, nobody answers, okay, now parts of Antarctica, 156 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:10.759 how cold can they get? Negative eighty nine degrees celsius. 157 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:14.159 That's negative one hundred and twenty eight fahrenheit. And it's 158 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:19.120 a polar desert. It's blustery, it's cold, it's white, it's icy, 159 00:09:19.159 --> 00:09:22.679 it's pristine, it's gorgeous. Now, in terms of critters, you 160 00:09:22.759 --> 00:09:26.519 got your orcas, you got some seals, some albatross, you 161 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:30.080 got some shrimpy little krill munchies in the water, and 162 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:34.120 of course penguins. Now, for Tom, why penguins. 163 00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:38.320 It wasn't really penguins, It was studying the Southern Ocean 164 00:09:38.519 --> 00:09:44.559 and trying to conserve it. So, if anything, I was 165 00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:49.399 attracted to the Antarctic Treaty and the idea that no 166 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:53.639 one known Antarctica and that if you could show what 167 00:09:53.639 --> 00:09:57.600 the problem was, they had to fix it. That's a 168 00:09:57.639 --> 00:10:04.120 little bit naive with the politics, but it's still somewhat true. 169 00:10:04.559 --> 00:10:06.960 It's a place where knowledge can make a real difference. 170 00:10:07.159 --> 00:10:10.679 Antarctica is were and would I'd kind of distinguish between 171 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:13.399 Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. So a lot of Antarctica 172 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:19.720 is different from the stereotype of just cold, white and windy. 173 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:24.600 I mean, that's definitely true, but it's incredibly diverse. No 174 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:29.799 one goes to Antarctica and knowing what it's like because 175 00:10:29.960 --> 00:10:33.399 although you've seen it on the telly, it's vastly different 176 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:36.720 from that. And so everyone everyone goes to Antarctica with us, 177 00:10:36.840 --> 00:10:39.759 you know, with some kind of story about how they 178 00:10:39.799 --> 00:10:41.600 got there, but at the same time, no one knows 179 00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:42.919 what it's like until they're there. 180 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:45.919 What is it like going to study penguins, Like does 181 00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:48.799 a guy with a pipe and a wiry beard drop 182 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:51.720 you off of a research vessel, just like later suckers 183 00:10:51.879 --> 00:10:52.879 see you in three months. 184 00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:57.039 In a word, now, it would be a bad season 185 00:10:57.080 --> 00:10:58.919 for us if we ended up in the same place 186 00:10:59.320 --> 00:11:02.440 for three months. So we want to hit as many 187 00:11:02.480 --> 00:11:07.960 sites as possible. And that's how we change data and 188 00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:12.480 knowledge about Antarctica is by to a lot of sense 189 00:11:13.240 --> 00:11:15.480 going to a lot of different sites for very little 190 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:19.399 and leaving things like time lapse cameras in there in 191 00:11:19.480 --> 00:11:22.320 place for a whole year that record a whole year 192 00:11:22.600 --> 00:11:26.440 with us only there maybe for three hours. So yeah, 193 00:11:26.559 --> 00:11:30.360 now we do still go places in camp, but largely 194 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:33.639 it's we're getting dropped off somewhere for a few hours 195 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:35.200 or a couple of days, and then we moved on. 196 00:11:36.120 --> 00:11:40.360 Ah, it's like a very adventurous science cruise, a cruiser 197 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:41.200 see a couple hour. 198 00:11:41.639 --> 00:11:43.919 Well, I mean we hitch hike on tour ships all 199 00:11:43.960 --> 00:11:46.080 the time. I mean that's how we really, Yeah, that's 200 00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:47.919 how we do a lot of our work. I mean 201 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:51.600 that's it's not joke. It's the most efficient way we 202 00:11:51.679 --> 00:11:56.480 can work. A tourship will drop you off, usually near penguins, 203 00:11:56.480 --> 00:12:00.240 because they want people to see them for a few hours, 204 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:04.240 and then they well, they're maneuvering somewhere else. You're having lunch, 205 00:12:04.519 --> 00:12:07.440 then you sleep, you know, you wake up and do 206 00:12:07.480 --> 00:12:10.600 it again. It's an incredibly efficient way to get around 207 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:15.639 an enormous number of penguin colonies. Yeah, hitchhiking is how 208 00:12:15.679 --> 00:12:18.240 we've been able to do so much. So we've got 209 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:22.759 a major benefactor called Quark Expeditions. They're incredible with us. 210 00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:27.399 But equally, you know, we have phoned people up out 211 00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:30.360 of the blue saying, I gather you're going somewhere interesting. 212 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:36.360 Hello on Tom Hart, doctor Tom Hart, penguinologist. 213 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:42.200 And usually they give us a space. 214 00:12:43.879 --> 00:12:46.519 And now, when you're talking about these colonies, how many 215 00:12:46.600 --> 00:12:50.000 penguins are we talking and what species? Tell me about 216 00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:52.600 these penguins as someone who's never seen a penguin outside of. 217 00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:53.600 A zoo, why not? 218 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:56.399 Why have I not? It's a great question. I live 219 00:12:56.399 --> 00:12:59.440 in la not a lot of penguins here other than 220 00:12:59.559 --> 00:13:02.799 zoo penguins, which Tom says just aren't the same. 221 00:13:03.519 --> 00:13:07.759 No, wild penguins are impressive because of the numbers of colony. 222 00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:10.440 You know, the numbers in a colony and seeing them 223 00:13:10.440 --> 00:13:13.639 in a in a natural habitat is totally different. So 224 00:13:14.919 --> 00:13:16.519 fix that please, that's. 225 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:21.559 Okay, I will, I'll get of ground rule. What is it? 226 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:25.720 What is a colony like? How many will will kind 227 00:13:25.720 --> 00:13:27.200 of coalesce together? How many? 228 00:13:27.799 --> 00:13:30.960 It entirely dispends depends on the species and where you are. 229 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:36.399 So so in Antarctica, on the kind of mainland continent 230 00:13:36.559 --> 00:13:39.799 of Antarctica, the colonies are actually often quite a lot smaller. 231 00:13:40.440 --> 00:13:45.159 So gent two penguins are dailies. They're often in colonies 232 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:48.320 of about three five thousand, with a few exceptions. So 233 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:50.080 when you get into the Ross Sea, they can be 234 00:13:50.120 --> 00:13:53.279 a lot bigger. They might be several hundred thousand. Emperor 235 00:13:53.279 --> 00:13:57.639 penguins on sea ice there are very varied, but yeah, 236 00:13:57.639 --> 00:14:01.039 it could be anything from a couple of thousand two again, 237 00:14:01.080 --> 00:14:02.519 one hundred thousand, so. 238 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:07.080 A colony could be as populous as the city of Boulder, Colorado, 239 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:11.399 or even Vacaville or West Covina, Hi, West Covina. 240 00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:14.639 The largest colonies on Earth are in the South Sandwich Islands, 241 00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:18.559 and those are well, they were we haven't finished counting 242 00:14:18.600 --> 00:14:21.480 them recently, but they were one point three million pairs. 243 00:14:22.840 --> 00:14:24.120 And that's a lot of penguins. 244 00:14:24.279 --> 00:14:29.240 And are you using drones and mathematical calculations to figure 245 00:14:29.240 --> 00:14:31.080 out how many are in these huge colonies. 246 00:14:31.240 --> 00:14:34.679 Yeah, everything we do is a mixture of I mean, 247 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:37.720 we're always trying to post the tech to get something. 248 00:14:38.679 --> 00:14:43.039 I mean we're basically always playing catch up. These colonies 249 00:14:43.080 --> 00:14:47.120 are too big, they're understudied, and we want the answer 250 00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:52.879 fast enough to do something about usually declined. So yeah, 251 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:56.200 the big thing is time lapse cameras, so that records, 252 00:14:56.360 --> 00:14:58.279 you know, a year in the life of a colony, 253 00:14:58.919 --> 00:15:01.480 and as many images as we can get we want 254 00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:05.639 to process. So if we can take a photo every hour, 255 00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:08.679 we get the timing of breeding and success and things 256 00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:11.759 like that. If we can take a photo every minute 257 00:15:12.080 --> 00:15:16.519 during breeding season, then we get feeding behavior, foraging and 258 00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:20.200 all of that stuff, which is you know, has not 259 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:24.399 been possible on the scale we're talking about of hundreds 260 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:28.240 of colonies simultaneously. So yeah, we need a mixture of 261 00:15:28.440 --> 00:15:31.480 citizen science and machine learning. So we need all the 262 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:35.320 kind of AI tools and crowdsourcing if we're ever going 263 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:39.000 to do this. But yeah, we're always pushing. It's things 264 00:15:39.080 --> 00:15:43.159 like drones with collaborators, it's satellite imagery. 265 00:15:43.399 --> 00:15:45.840 Let's pack up a minute, let's just waddle on backwards. 266 00:15:46.120 --> 00:15:51.000 And now basic stupid questions about penguins. What exactly makes 267 00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:51.879 a bird of penguin? 268 00:15:52.360 --> 00:15:56.159 Well common ancestry. I mean they're monophyletic, which means they 269 00:15:56.240 --> 00:16:00.000 evolved once and then everything else is diversified within them. 270 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:04.200 Oh so it's thought that penguins diverged from the ancestors 271 00:16:04.200 --> 00:16:08.960 of albatrosses and petrels seventy one million years ago. What 272 00:16:09.080 --> 00:16:12.120 is a petrol you're asking, It's a good question. I 273 00:16:12.120 --> 00:16:16.200 didn't know. It's a tube nosed, short winged seabird. And 274 00:16:16.279 --> 00:16:18.799 if you squint at a picture of a petrol, you 275 00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:21.120 can kind of see the resemblance to a penguin. It's 276 00:16:21.159 --> 00:16:24.240 kind of like looking at two brothers with wildly different 277 00:16:24.279 --> 00:16:27.879 haircuts and one of them can fly. But penguins, penguins, 278 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:30.120 you are great swimmers. This is not a contest. 279 00:16:30.440 --> 00:16:32.919 What makes them a penguin in terms of if you're 280 00:16:32.919 --> 00:16:38.559 going to describe emits quite a large seabird. Seabirds tend 281 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:43.120 to be larger on average than other birds, but large 282 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:47.480 they don't have hollow bones, so they've by giving up 283 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:50.799 the ability to fly, they've become a lot more, a 284 00:16:50.799 --> 00:16:54.360 lot better adapted at diving and swimming. That's also allowed 285 00:16:54.360 --> 00:16:58.840 their feathers to change, So those are more about hydrodynamics 286 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:04.240 and insulation obviously. Yeah, there's a lot of cold adaptations, 287 00:17:05.279 --> 00:17:09.119 both anatomically and behaviorally as well. But one of the 288 00:17:09.119 --> 00:17:12.400 big things that people forget is just starvation tolerant. I 289 00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:15.680 mean you think of the emperor penguins, the males that 290 00:17:16.119 --> 00:17:19.440 are incubating an egg and then a chick for about 291 00:17:19.480 --> 00:17:23.799 three four months. That's a lot of it. So any 292 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:28.079 other species they molt all at the same time. So 293 00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:31.519 flying birds they melt several feathers at a time so 294 00:17:31.559 --> 00:17:32.480 that they can still fly. 295 00:17:33.640 --> 00:17:35.200 So a few weeks ago, in case you missed this, 296 00:17:35.240 --> 00:17:38.519 we covered it in plumology. But flying birds will lose 297 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:40.640 a flight feather from one side and then the other. 298 00:17:40.839 --> 00:17:43.599 That way they can keep balance, and some species, like 299 00:17:43.799 --> 00:17:46.880 parrots and pelicans, it can take them up to two 300 00:17:47.079 --> 00:17:50.359 years to replace all those ding dang feathers. But our penguins, 301 00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:54.279 penguins are your friends who cannonball into a pool instead 302 00:17:54.279 --> 00:17:56.440 of dipping a toe in. They are right or die 303 00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:57.920 all at once. Let's do this. 304 00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:01.640 Penguins all have this catus traphic molt where they then 305 00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:04.319 go to sea for a week or so, feed up 306 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:06.440 as much as they can, and then they stand in 307 00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:10.359 one place, looking grumpy, losing all of their feathers before 308 00:18:10.359 --> 00:18:10.759 the winter. 309 00:18:11.920 --> 00:18:15.359 Oh what is the evolutionary advantage of doing it all 310 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:15.720 at once? 311 00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:18.640 I'm not sure, but I think it's so that. I 312 00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:21.880 think it's so they don't lose foraging efficiency when they're breeding, 313 00:18:22.119 --> 00:18:24.720 and then because they can't do it over winter, they 314 00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:27.119 need I mean, they want to go into winter with 315 00:18:27.480 --> 00:18:29.000 peak condition for their feathers. 316 00:18:29.079 --> 00:18:33.640 And what are some behaviors in penguins that are so different? Like, 317 00:18:33.720 --> 00:18:37.799 what are some of the behaviors that are so endearing 318 00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:42.680 about penguins or that are that are shitty people? 319 00:18:43.839 --> 00:18:46.400 I mean, do we have to call it endearing? I 320 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:54.359 think we don't. They deserve a respect, okay comment? I 321 00:18:54.359 --> 00:18:57.960 mean the ones everyone knows about is the one, the 322 00:18:58.000 --> 00:19:00.519 one a lot of people think of is huddling and emperors, 323 00:19:00.519 --> 00:19:03.880 but that really is almost only in emperors for the 324 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:08.119 breeding king penguins that look very similar but are in 325 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:12.359 the sub Antarctic in places like South Georgia, they also 326 00:19:12.440 --> 00:19:15.359 huddle over winter, but only the chicks, so the chicks 327 00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:19.640 get left behind. And you see these massive aggregations of 328 00:19:19.720 --> 00:19:23.400 chicks huddling to keep warm. So mostly it's a thing 329 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:26.599 that's found in chicks rather than rather than the adults, 330 00:19:26.759 --> 00:19:29.839 and it's a mixture of trying to avoid big predators 331 00:19:30.759 --> 00:19:33.160 pecking at you as well as to stay warm. 332 00:19:33.720 --> 00:19:37.279 Come on, a bunch of fuzzy groundbirds in tuxedos having 333 00:19:37.319 --> 00:19:40.400 an icy cuddle party. Let me have this, also a 334 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:43.079 quick who's who of penguins? Are you ready for this? 335 00:19:43.319 --> 00:19:47.039 There are seventeen to twenty different species, and my understanding 336 00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:50.519 is that there are more than twenty penguinologists who disagree 337 00:19:50.559 --> 00:19:54.039 about subspecies, but either way. On the shores of Antarctica 338 00:19:54.079 --> 00:19:56.519 we have emperor penguins. These are the big guys, three 339 00:19:56.599 --> 00:19:59.720 to four feet tall. They have this sheen of golden 340 00:19:59.799 --> 00:20:02.799 yello on their face and chest. And then there are 341 00:20:02.920 --> 00:20:06.960 smaller daily penguins which have very simple curved lines that 342 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:10.400 black and white, and daily penguins look like mid century 343 00:20:10.440 --> 00:20:15.000 modern of penguin design, very simple, so elegant. King penguins 344 00:20:15.160 --> 00:20:18.680 look like smaller emperor penguins, and they're in the northern 345 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:22.440 reaches of Antarctica and the Falkland Islands, and chin strap 346 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:25.519 penguins they look like they're sporting a little black bike helmet. 347 00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:28.839 They live on the islands in the Scotia Sea. Gentoos 348 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:32.039 are on the Antarctic Peninsula and the nearby islands, and 349 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:35.160 they're the ones with the orange feet and the matching 350 00:20:35.240 --> 00:20:38.599 orange bill. Gentoos are like those ladies with nice shoes 351 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:42.079 and handbags that go together. Crested penguins those are the 352 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:46.599 ones with the bananas, yellowish spiky things near their eyes. 353 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:48.759 They have a very speak to the manager haircut, and 354 00:20:48.799 --> 00:20:53.359 they include rock hoppers and Macaroni penguins, named not for 355 00:20:53.400 --> 00:20:57.039 the pasta but for the flamboyant men's fashion style of 356 00:20:57.160 --> 00:21:02.400 macaronism of the seventeen hundreds. Now there are banded penguins 357 00:21:02.519 --> 00:21:05.480 which have kind of a racing stripe around their bellies. 358 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:08.319 Those are in South America and South Africa. They include 359 00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:11.079 the jackass. There are yellow eyed penguins in New Zealand 360 00:21:11.240 --> 00:21:15.559 and the sub Antarctic Islands. And finally, finally, little penguins. 361 00:21:15.720 --> 00:21:18.519 Those are on the Southern Australia Coast and New Zealand 362 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:21.279 and they have a bluish tint to their feathers and 363 00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:26.200 they're teeny just over a foot tall, maybe three apples 364 00:21:26.279 --> 00:21:31.359 high and blue motion to call them smurf penguins whirled 365 00:21:32.079 --> 00:21:35.359 all right. Also, thirty seven million years ago there was 366 00:21:35.400 --> 00:21:39.880 a colossus penguin which stood, oh my god, six feet 367 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:43.880 eight inches tall, the same height as Lebron James. So 368 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:47.160 if you take nothing else from Ologies as a podcast, 369 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:50.039 just know that at one point on planet Earth there 370 00:21:50.039 --> 00:21:53.880 were groups that look like entire NBA basketball leagues consisting 371 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:56.160 only of ginormous as penguins. 372 00:21:56.640 --> 00:22:02.839 The movement around the colony is phenomenal. Really, it is 373 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:06.279 a bit like a city in their respect that you've got. 374 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:08.960 You know, you've got loads of nests that are kind 375 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:15.200 of really regularly spaced, and so there's just penguins looking 376 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:18.920 quite stoic, staying in one place, and then these massive 377 00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:24.000 highways of movement and partner exchanges so they can't leave 378 00:22:24.079 --> 00:22:27.519 the egg. So you see a lot of what you 379 00:22:27.559 --> 00:22:32.400 see minute to minute is penguins huddled over on a 380 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:35.480 nest and then occasionally one relieving it and the next 381 00:22:35.480 --> 00:22:41.000 one going to see So the behaviors you see are 382 00:22:41.079 --> 00:22:46.200 largely the kind of stoic ones, the ability to stay 383 00:22:46.200 --> 00:22:48.160 in one place and stay warm for a long time. 384 00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:53.960 And then it's really really visibly about the dedication to 385 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:56.400 an egg and then a chick, And how. 386 00:22:56.279 --> 00:22:59.119 Do they find their nests? Again, do you guys know? 387 00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:04.359 No, but I think if it's known, I don't know it, 388 00:23:05.160 --> 00:23:10.279 but I it doesn't bother me. I mean I think 389 00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:12.759 if I could roughly find It's like in a crowd, 390 00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:15.440 you wouldn't say, oh, you're so clever that you can 391 00:23:15.480 --> 00:23:18.240 find a human in a crowd. I mean you'd go 392 00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:21.200 to where you last saw them. Then you might call, 393 00:23:23.400 --> 00:23:27.720 and you know, it's not it's not that hard. We're 394 00:23:27.720 --> 00:23:31.799 giving them undue credit in that's we could probably do that. 395 00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:34.839 Do they have certain calls for each other? 396 00:23:35.240 --> 00:23:39.559 Absolutely? So they have, particularly between chicks and adults, and 397 00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:45.000 then between the adults. Between the partners, it's probably more tone. 398 00:23:45.160 --> 00:23:48.119 So I'm sure they can recognize them by voice, but 399 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:50.880 a lot of it, we think is tone. So it's 400 00:23:51.039 --> 00:23:53.880 like you come home say to a partner, how are you? 401 00:23:54.680 --> 00:23:56.839