Southern Ocean

Satellite images show how penguins’ diets are changing in response to Antarctic climate change

<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/754997/original/file-20260819-60-gdwpyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&rect=229%2C0%2C3113%2C2075&q=45&auto=format&w=1050&h=700&fit=crop" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An Adélie penguin swims through the ocean.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Casey Youngflesh</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The color of penguin poop, as seen from space, is offering a new window into how the ecology and the environment of Antarctica are changing over time.</p> <p>Adélie penguins are one of the most abundant predators in the Southern Ocean. They rely on food sources in the ocean, but nest on <a href="https://www.penguinmap.com/mapppd/">rocky outcrops all around the Antarctic continent</a>.</p> <p>Penguin colonies often have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1642/AUK-14-31.1">hundreds of thousands of nesting birds</a>, which g