With all their backs turned against the wind I can't help thinking of those flocks of Antarctic penguins huddled miserably against the blizzard.

BBC: Wounded soldiers train in Iceland for South Pole race

Previous attempts to count emperor penguins systematically have been thrown off because field biologists could survey the penguin rookeries only during the extended daylight of the Antarctic summer, when conditions are relatively balmy and the penguins usually are scattered, feeding at sea.

WSJ: Emperor Penguins Aplenty in Antarctica

In mid-December, the Antarctic summer, a colony of chinstrap and Gentoo penguins are in their rookeries, cawing and carrying pebbles for their stone nests as males and females take turns warming their large, speckled eggs.

FORBES: Go with the Floe