And the answer is....
Friday February 2 9:46 AM ET
Study: Penguins Do Not Topple Watching
Aircraft
dailynews.yahoo.com
LONDON (Reuters) - Do penguins topple over when they peer into the sky watching planes and helicopters
fly over?
Finally, a full blown scientific study has come up with the answer. They may waddle away in fright but they do
NOT lose their balance and topple over.
Rumors of falling penguins have abounded since British plane and helicopter pilots returning from the 1982
Falklands War claimed their flights had toppled the earth-bound birds.
To settle the issue, a favorite of cartoonists and penguin jokes, environmental research scientist Richard Stone
spent five weeks watching helicopters fly over two King Penguin colonies in the Antarctic, studying their effect
on more than 1,000 birds.
``We saw birds moving away from the noise (of helicopters and planes),'' he said. ``Not a single bird fell over
after 17 flights.''
``As it (the helicopter) approached, the birds went quiet,'' he said. ``They didn't appear to turn around and
look.''
Some birds waddled away from the helicopters. Others became quiet. A few minutes later, they waddled back.
``We don't know if it's the noise or the visual aspect -- whether it looks like a potential predator,'' Stone said. |
