Difference between revisions of "Template:Westarctica.wiki:Today's featured article"

From Encyclopedia Westarctica
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Line 1: Line 1:
[[File:SturgeIsland-Balleny.jpg|300px|left]]
[[File:Hope Bay-Adélie penguin.jpg|300px|left]]
'''[[Sturge Island]]''' (67°25′S 164°44′E) is the largest island in the uninhabited [[Balleny Islands]] group located in the [[Southern Ocean]]. It lies 25 kilometers (16 mi) southeast of [[Buckle Island]] and 95 kilometres (59 mi) northeast of Belousov Point on the [[Antarctic]] mainland. The islands were discovered by John Balleny in 1839.
The '''[[Adélie penguin]]''' is a species of [[penguin]] common along the entire [[Antarctica|Antarctic]] coast, which is their only residence. They are among the most southerly distributed of all seabirds, along with the [[emperor penguin]], the south polar skua, [[Wilson's storm petrel]], the [[snow petrel]], and the [[Antarctic petrel]]. They are named after [[Adélie Land]], in turn named for Adèle Dumont D'Urville, the wife of French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville, who discovered these penguins in 1840.


The island is roughly a parallelogram in shape, with long east and west coasts and shorter coasts facing northwest and southeast. It is approximately 5 nautical miles (5.8 mi) in width, and its maximum length is 20 nautical miles (23 mi), between Cape Freeman in the north and Cape Smyth in the south. The island's highest point reaches 1,705 m (5,594 ft) or 1,524 m (5,000 ft) (the unclimbed Brown Peak). This is the highest point in the Balleny chain. Brown Peak is a stratovolcano and is situated on the northern part of Sturge Island. John Balleny discovered Brown Peak in February 1839, and named it for W. Brown, a merchant who provided financial support to the Enderby Brothers' expedition. In 1841, Captain [[James Clark Ross]], who sighted the islands on his own expedition to [[Antarctica]], gave it the name "Russell Peak."
Based on a 2014 analysis of fresh guano-discolored coastal areas, 3.79 million breeding pairs of Adélie penguins are in 251 breeding colonies, a 53% increase over a census completed 20 years earlier. The colonies are distributed around the coastline of the Antarctic land and ocean. Colonies have declined on the [[Antarctic Peninsula]], but those declines have been more than offset by increases in [[East Antarctica]]. During the breeding season, they congregate in large breeding colonies, some over a quarter of a million pairs. Individual colonies can vary dramatically in size, and some may be particularly vulnerable to climate fluctuations. In March 2018, a colony of 1.5 million was discovered.


'''([[Sturge Island|Full Article...]])'''
'''([[Adélie penguin|Full Article...]])'''

Revision as of 23:17, 22 April 2020

Hope Bay-Adélie penguin.jpg

The Adélie penguin is a species of penguin common along the entire Antarctic coast, which is their only residence. They are among the most southerly distributed of all seabirds, along with the emperor penguin, the south polar skua, Wilson's storm petrel, the snow petrel, and the Antarctic petrel. They are named after Adélie Land, in turn named for Adèle Dumont D'Urville, the wife of French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville, who discovered these penguins in 1840.

Based on a 2014 analysis of fresh guano-discolored coastal areas, 3.79 million breeding pairs of Adélie penguins are in 251 breeding colonies, a 53% increase over a census completed 20 years earlier. The colonies are distributed around the coastline of the Antarctic land and ocean. Colonies have declined on the Antarctic Peninsula, but those declines have been more than offset by increases in East Antarctica. During the breeding season, they congregate in large breeding colonies, some over a quarter of a million pairs. Individual colonies can vary dramatically in size, and some may be particularly vulnerable to climate fluctuations. In March 2018, a colony of 1.5 million was discovered.

(Full Article...)