Photographing penguins

Search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today. Only a very small percentage of these images have ever been published. The rest have been sitting in dusty archives in the form of negatives, slides, glass plates, etchings, and prints. Google will be adding the entire LIFE photo archive — about 10 million photos.

This photo:

Ornithologist photographing native penguin.

Location:	Antarctica
Date taken:	February 1956
Photographer:	Fritz Goro
Size:	1280 x 1257 pixels (17.8 x 17.5 inches)

Paint a penguin on your face

Step by step instructions for a Christmas Penguin using Snazaroo face paints by Helen @ Cats Whiskers

Look, a traveling penguin!

A little plushie penguin pal designed and handmade by JGoode has his bags packed and is already off and running - venturing out into the wild to meet people all over the world.

MyPenguinTravels.com is the journal of The Penguin, the places he visits, the things he likes to do and the people he meets.

Waddle along - it should be a fun ride!

Is this penguin dangerous?

Tests are underway on the Big Penguin tourist attraction in Tasmania's north-west to determine whether it is a public health danger.

It is believed the statue is made of the deadly fibre asbestos.

The Big Penguin was erected in 1975 to mark the centenary of the town of Penguin.

The former Goliath Cement employee that sculpted the 3 metre sea bird, Andrew Bennie, says it contains asbestos.

The Central Coast Council is taking the issue seriously, ordering a forensic examination.

Source: ABC

Puppy power saves penguins

A world-first dog trial has proved central to turning around the fate of Warrnambool's Middle Island penguin colony - and now the next generation of pups is set to continue the good work.

After dwindling to a dire population of just four in 2005, penguin numbers at Middle Island have rebounded this year.

An early start to the breeding season has already seen eight penguin chicks leave the nest and another 16 are still on the island in various stages of development.

Deakin University PhD student Amanda Peucker, who is monitoring the penguins' progress, said the population growth could largely be attributed to the success of the guard dogs in keeping predators, like foxes, off the island.

"A couple of years ago we had something like 180 penguins killed by foxes, now there aren't even any fox prints in the area," she said.

Source: The Age

Researchers stumble upon new penguin species

Researchers have stumbled upon the remains of a previously unknown species of penguin that pre-dates the Polynesian settlement of New Zealand nearly half a century ago.

Australian and New Zealand researchers, from the University of Adelaide and the University of Otago, were studying fossils they believed to be of the more commonly known, and now endangered, yellow-eyed penguin when DNA tests revealed they actually belonged to a new species, the Waitaha penguin.

"In the process of studying yellow-eyed penguins we accidentally discovered this extinct species, which looks like it was unique to the south island of New Zealand," Dr. Jeremy Austin a senior researcher at the Australian Center for Ancient DNA, University of Adelaide told Reuters.

Source: Reuters

We all need friends

A baby penguin at the Living Coasts attraction in Torquay, Devon, which had to be separated from its family after a greedy sibling continually ate all its food has found companionship with a stuffed toy.

Source: Telegraph

A little break

Jennifer Meyer recently visited my other blog & left a comment on a post which I followed back to her blog, J.L.Meyer Illustrations, where I found this very charming illustration.

Although I went SOUTH, and it isn't officially winter yet here in Chicago, that palm tree sure makes me wish I never came back! (34 degrees in Chicago today)

We've been tooling around in Florida and the Bahamas since November 7th - not much to report, except massive quantities of sunshine, margaritas, more sunshine, sandy beaches, more margaritas, too much food, some Coronas, more sunshine, some more margaritas, a little sunburn, and a little shopping.

Oh well, back to the grind ...