Hello all new Penguin counters from far and wide and especially our new school student counters

by AvastMH moderator

This is likely to be a very busy day - and what a wonderful thing that is! The BBC will feature PenguinWatch on the 6 o'clock news. They have been following our scientist, Dr Tom Hart, as he collected old data from this last Antarctic summer of 2015/6 and his preparations to collect data for the oncoming year.


Some quick information.

There are three moderators on PW - We help provide information and guidance and keep everything on track to make sure that the valuable data get to the scientists as carefully and quickly as possible.

We are: Yshish, Gardenmaeve, and AvastMH. We are also volunteers so you might find that there are some hours when we cannot be here to help 'live'. But we will always check your queries as soon as we can. IMPORTANTLY our FAQs are very very helpful:

FAQ - 1st AL: Difficult pictures or shading, trouble with counting:  https://talk.penguinwatch.org/#/boards/BPZ0000007/discussions/DPZ0000aay
FAQ - 2nd AL: Nesting / bloody or dead looking penguins:   https://talk.penguinwatch.org/#/boards/BPZ0000007/discussions/DPZ0000ab8
FAQ - 3rd AL: Adult or chick / penguin species:  https://talk.penguinwatch.org/#/boards/BPZ0000007/discussions/DPZ0000ac2  Pictures to help you identify the penguins/chicks
FAQ - 4th AL: Breeding cycles, mating behavior, mixed colonies, site locations:  https://talk.penguinwatch.org/#/boards/BPZ0000007/discussions/DPZ0000adb
FAQ - 5th AL: Other animals / humans / vessels, and buildings / objects:  https://talk.penguinwatch.org/#/boards/BPZ0000007/discussions/DPZ0000ade

Excited by a picture and want to find it again? COLLECTIONS.

Collections are a marvellous way - and MUCH BETTER than hashtagging - to get back to pics that you liked or were interesting for a scientific reason.
How to make your own: say 'yes' to comment on the picture after you've finished counting.

When the picture turns up to be commented on you don't need to say anything - just click the word 'collect' and follow the easy title request. How do you find it again. Come to the comments page (DON'T start from the classification page) and click 'profile'.

MODERATORS' COLLECTIONS

Gardenmaeve and Yshish in particular have collections that relate to common queries. AvastMH also has a large number of collections. You can access anyone else's collections just by clicking on their name. An excellent collection is @gardenmaeve 's Collection Hints for New Penguin Counters!: https://talk.penguinwatch.org/#/collections/CPZS0001b3


Finding recent pictures that you marked and 'favourites'
Click 'profile on the classification page this time.

Schools - please do introduce yourselves or let us know if you are doing a particular project. We all love to share in the adventure of Penguin Watch.

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Where are these penguins? AND a quick note on hashtags:

We don't know!   You can find a list of useful hashtags but please use these VERY sparingly! If in doubt ask if it needs a hashtag as you comment on the picture. A list of place nicknames can also be found at: https://talk.penguinwatch.org/#/boards/BPZ0000007/discussions/DPZ0000imy

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Enjoy your marking and this project! If you want to 'spread your wings' through the Zooniverse you might try some projects like:

Floating Forests - all about Kelp which is so important to the life of the ocean: www.floatingforests.org : and

Plankton Portal - all about the plants/animals that start our food chain in the great seas and oceans : www.planktonportal.org

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Android phones/tablets

Sadly these can change themselves often and we cannot keep up with all of their changes. We can keep up with laptops and computers so if you have any trouble with marking please do let us know by commenting on a picture or, better still, popping a note to follow this discussion. Thank you.

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I very much hope that you enjoy being with the Zooniverse.  

Best and happy pebbles,

AvastMH

Posted April 7, 2016 3:58 PM

by 3sw

Have just joined Penguin Watch at Whitehill School in Hertfordshire UK. We study different habitats throughout the year and this is a real-life application of our work.

Posted April 7, 2016 4:15 PM
by AvastMH moderator

Humans!!

Yes you will see tourists, and sometimes scientists in these pictures. There are extremely strict regulations about tourism in the Antarctic just as you would expect.

If you would like to know more please access the International Association Antarctica Tour Operations site. IAATO is linked very closely to the Antarctic Treaty.

IAATO tourism overview : http://iaato.org/en_GB/tourism-overview

The Treaty : http://iaato.org/en_GB/the-antarctic-treaty

to quote that last site:

'Twelve countries active in Antarctic scientific research signed The Antarctic Treaty December 1, 1959. The treaty came into force June 23, 1961, designating the entire continent as "a natural reserve, devoted to peace and science" and creating an unprecedented global partnership that today includes nearly 50 countries. The Treaty is augmented by the Environmental Protocol that sets standards for all human activities, and which aims to ensure that those activities are planned and conducted in a way that limits adverse impacts on the Antarctic environment.

Treaty Parties come together once a year at the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM). As an invited Expert since 1992, IAATO participates in annual ATCMs, providing expert advice on tourism-related issues. In its role as representative for the Antarctic tourism industry, IAATO also submits Information Papers and contributes to discussions by the Antarctic Treaty party delegates.'

Our lead scientist, Dr Tom Hart, is helped to move around the penguin sites by Quark expeditions, and he gives talks in exchange: http://www.quarkexpeditions.com/gb/why-quark/our-people/special-guests/dr-tom-hart

I hope this helps to show that the humans you see are dong their best to be duly careful during their visits 😃

Posted April 7, 2016 4:18 PM
by FukazmeEse translator

Very fun and inspiring website.
But reticles bafflingly give me the impression of shooting rather than observation and conservation.

Posted April 7, 2016 4:33 PM
by AvastMH moderator

Hi FukazmeEse,

We humans are better at interpreting images than computers. So we help to change that picture into a map of the penguin bodies. These maps go to show so many details of the lives of the penguins, and their changing breeding rates, and the success of those breeding seasons, each year. Very little was known about the lives of penguins during the night. The night time pictures are revealing details never before seen.

Already Dr Hart has ensured more areas of protected sea for the penguins to fish in. Please enjoy reading his blogs here: https://penguinlifelines.wordpress.com/ for more information. Penguinwatch may seem static. But it is a great tool for assessing the effect of changes (including humans fishing) to this environment.

Thank you for helping us 😃

Posted April 7, 2016 5:01 PM
by FukazmeEse translator in response to AvastMH's comment.

Thanks for your quick reply.
If you need Japanese translations, I would like to make my humble contribution.

Posted April 7, 2016 5:27 PM
by AvastMH moderator

Gosh - Thank you FukazmeEse! We would love to have PW translated into Japanese for us. We have a few European languages already 😃

I need to contact our moderator called yshish to find out how we can do this. She organized all the previous translations 😃 This may take me a day as she has a tight timescale at home today.

Thank you again! I will put a note here as soon as possible 😃

Posted April 7, 2016 5:59 PM
by AvastMH moderator

(Message updated by moderator)

Posted April 8, 2016 12:10 PM
by yshish moderator, translator in response to FukazmeEse's comment.

Hey, I've just asked the developers to give you a permission for the translation page. Sending you a private message with the details.

Thanks a lot for your kind offer! So exciting 😃

Cheers,
Zuzi

Posted April 8, 2016 6:08 PM
by AvastMH moderator

(checked)

Posted April 9, 2016 3:33 PM