Only one species of penguin lives north of the equator -- and it’s nowhere near the North Pole. Instead, it inhabits the warm, sunny Galapagos Islands, off the coast of South America. But it’s endangered -- its population has dwindled to just a couple of thousand. Without help, it could vanish.
The Galapagos penguin is one of more than 5600 species of birds, fish, turtles, and other marine critters that need help. They’re listed as threatened, endangered, or critically endangered by an international organization. The United States maintains its own endangered species list.
The human body relies on sunlight to synchronize its internal clock. Light controls the release of hormones that tell our bodies whether it’s time to be alert or time to sleep – despite most of us needing an alarm clock to wake up. Most other animals, even those that are nocturnal, use sunlight to maintain their internal clocks as well. But animals living close to either of Earth’s poles need a different strategy during the long months of winter when there’s hardly any sunlight at all.
