Can You Tell Us About Penguins?
Questions From Australia
Some early questions for David - these kids are just starting out, but are as keen as could be!
to MR HESS, Could you give me some information on penguins. Im Kathryn.W thank you.
To Mr Hes what was the shortest day and how long have you been in the dark? What is the lowest temperature and what was the worst blizzard you have had?
That was a message from Lauren Z. We go to Belgrave South Primary School and that is in Melbourne Australia. Be prepared for more questions later. Thank you
reed3@c031.aone.net.au
I am very glad to hear from a school in the southern hemisphere. I am looking for a picture of a sundial in the southern hemisphere. Do you know of any in your area?
I am not an expert on penguins, but I have seen a few. The penguins in this area are usually Adelie or Emperor penguins. I have only seen the Adelies on the land. I saw some penguins out on the ice, but they were too far away to see if they were Emperors. The Emperor penguins are the largest standing about 4 feet tall. The Adelie penguins stand about 18 inches tall. There was a group of 18 near Scott's Hut about a week ago. I have not been there lately to see if they are still there.
The days are still fairly long. The sun is rising about 7 AM and setting about 9 PM. In a few weeks at the equinox, everywhere will have 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark. A few weeks after the equinox, we will have 4 months when the sun never rises.
The lowest temperature I have seen is about -10 F. At that time, there were some very strong winds making the wind chill -50 F. I am sending a picture attached to this message of the McMurdo Sound during this day. The water appeared to be steaming. The coldest month will be August, but lately the temperatures have been about 0 F.
Please let me know if you have web access where you can follow along with all the letters and pictures. The address of the web page is in the signature line.
Please write back,
Dave
David Hess NK3T