ABC News Transcript
July 1, 2008 Tuesday
SHOW: WORLD NEWS WITH CHARLES GIBSON 6:50 PM EST
PENGUINS IN PERIL;
SAVING THE PENGUINS
ANCHORS: CHARLES GIBSON
REPORTERS: NED POTTER (NEW YORK, NY USA)
LENGTH: 360 words
CHARLES GIBSON (ABC NEWS
)
(Off-camera)
A new study out today, is causing concern about the future of penguins
and humans. There are more than 15 different species of penguins, all
naturally tuxedoed to bring smiles to our faces. But what's happening
to many of those species, is no smiling matter. Here's Ned Potter.
NED POTTER (ABC NEWS)
(Voiceover)
Penguins have very little to do with canaries. But today, they're being
called canaries in the coal mine. Animals whose health is a signal
about the health of the world.
DEE BOERSMA (BIOLOGIST
What
they're telling us is that there are really fundamental changes going
on in the world's oceans. And it's not good. And we need to be paying
attention to these species.
NED POTTER (ABC NEWS)
(Voiceover) Dee Boersma, a biologist from the University of Washington,
has been studying penguins for more than 25 years. And says, in some
places, their population has been cut in half. Partly, because of human
beings. Most of us think of penguins as cute, but cold. The overdressed
stars of "Happy Feet" or "March of the Penguins." But they are actually
scattered around the southern hemisphere. In the Antarctic, Boersma
says they are threatened by climate change. Off South America, there's
oil pollution. In the Pacific, they get caught in fishing nets.
SYBILLE KLENZENDORF (WORLD WILDLIFE FUND)
As their life support is dwindling, our life support is dwindling, too.
NED POTTER (ABC NEWS)
(Voiceover) Boersma says she wants to remind us that what we do can affect animals in some of the most remote places on earth.
DEE BOERSMA (BIOLOGIST
I've seen it in many different places in the world. And that's one of the reasons why I think it's alarming.
NED POTTER (ABC NEWS)
(Voiceover)
But, that said, Boersma says this need not just be a story of gloom and
doom. In some places, the penguins came back after shipping lanes were
moved just a few miles. If we can protect these kings of the cold, she
says, we can have a nice warm feeling about out own future, too. Ned
Potter, ABC News, New York.
CHARLES GIBSON (ABC NEWS)
(Voiceover) And when we come back, fun and games on the golf course. Also, therapy for wounded vets.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
SUBJECT: BIOLOGY (90%); CLIMATE CHANGE (77%); WILDLIFE CONSERVATION (77%); THREATENED & SENSITIVE SPECIES (72%); OCEANS (54%)
COMPANY: AMERICAN BROADCASTING COS INC (93%)
ORGANIZATION: UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON (55%); WORLD WILDLIFE FUND (53%)
GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (92%); ANTARCTICA (79%); SOUTH AMERICA (73%)
LOAD-DATE: July 2, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Transcript
Copyright 2008 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
All Rights Reserved