Injured penguin!
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Look at the penguin right in the middle. Is that blood on it? I know these images were recorded a long time ago so there is nothing we can do, but is there any way we can record injured penguins?
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gardenmaeve
moderator
There is no blood and no penguin is injured, @Babyballerina .
It looks awful, but that's a big messy splat of penguin poo! It has red because the Gentoos eat lots of krill (like shrimp) and the krill shells colour the poo red.
If you ever see an injured penguin you are welcome to just mention it in a comment, but we see very few in this project. Thank you for your concern.
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AvastMH
moderator
Hi Babyballerina! Don't worry, this penguin is not injured. I have worked on this project for a long time and only twice have I see an injured penguin 😃
So what is it? Well it is another penguin's poop. They must sit on their eggs to keep them warm. They cannot go away from the nest to poop, so when they do poop it comes out very fast, and hits other penguins sat near it! It looks messy when they have eaten fish - that's white poop. But if they eat krill (like small shrimp) their poop is red, and when that lands on another penguin it looks like an injury.
Yesterday we caught a penguin in the act - and you can see how it might hit another one! https://talk.penguinwatch.org/#/subjects/APZ0007z4p
Make sure you check the FAQS because they have lots of really good help in them: https://talk.penguinwatch.org/#/boards/BPZ0000007/discussions/DPZ0000ab8
Happy counting!
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Thanks! It's good to know the penguin is ok.
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gardenmaeve
moderator
You're welcome. We all have seen such worrisome sights so we are glad you are relieved!
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