What you can do with MAPPPD
Everything on MAPPPD is free to use for research, education, policy and expedition planning.
Explore the map
Search by site, area, CCAMLR subarea or species, or click any colony on the map.
Open the map →Follow trends
Every site has a summary page with counts by season, fitted trends and the source of each count.
Find a site →Download the data
Get every count as a CSV, as a Darwin Core Archive for GBIF and OBIS, or through the public API.
Explore in 3D
Browse drone-built 3D models of penguin colonies on the Antarctic Peninsula.
View 3D models →About MAPPPD
MAPPPD (Mapping Application for Penguin Populations and Projected Dynamics) is an open-access decision support tool created and curated by Oceanites, an NGO dedicated to counting penguins in Antarctica. It links directly to the Antarctic Penguin Biogeography Project database and lets Antarctic enthusiasts and stakeholders explore and download the most up-to-date publicly available penguin census records for the entire continent.
MAPPPD is the product of an international collaboration of Antarctic researchers collecting data to study how this fragile polar ecosystem is changing through time.
The Antarctic Penguin Biogeography Project (APBP) was awarded a 2024 Geo for Good award from Google.
Who we are
Antarctic Site Inventory partners
The Antarctic Site Inventory is an Oceanites-led research program, supported by partners from all over the world, that collects census data for penguin populations throughout the Antarctic Peninsula.
Relevant publications
Since its launch in 2016, MAPPPD has been widely used by the scientific and management community to support specific conservation objectives. These are the papers most relevant to MAPPPD and its use.
Become a penguin detective
Help find Antarctica's undiscovered penguin colonies using satellite imagery in Google Earth, and help build and maintain the database.
Endorsements and funding
MAPPPD is proudly endorsed by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and its Expert Group on Birds and Marine Mammals (EGBAMM).
Initial funding for MAPPPD was provided through an award from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA award nnx14ac32g), with further support from Oceanites, Inc. and Black Bawks Data Science Ltd.
