Melting ice threatens the emperor penguin

These are record levels of Antarctic sea ice. They have already caused reproductive failures in a fifth of the species’ colonies. The melting ice threatens the emperor penguin like never before.

There are 14 of 66 colonies and tens of thousands of penguins affected. This is what a study by the British Antarctic Survey says. There is an increasing tendency for colonies to lose chicks as a result of ice loss before the end of the breeding cycle.

The melting ice threatens the emperor penguin.  It seems that extinction is inevitable.
The melting ice threatens the emperor penguin. It seems that extinction is inevitable.

Table of Contents

Untenable

Emperor penguins breed and raise their chicks on land-bound sea ice. This sea ice is stable and firmly attached to the coast. If this ice breaks up too soon, the chicks head out to sea before they grow waterproof feathers, known as fledging. This leads to high, or sometimes complete, mortality of chicks in the colony.

What do the predictions say? That the emperor penguin population will fall by 99% by the end of the century. It will be the virtual extinction of this charismatic animal. The study was published on World Penguin Day (Thursday, April 25).

The author of the study is Dr. Peter Fretwell. He studies wildlife from space. He says in a statement: “As the continent warms, we see ice breaking up earlier, leading to higher chick mortality. “Over time several of the current breeding sites will become unsustainable.”

Several colonies that were severely affected in 2022 also showed adaptations. Some moved to find more stable ice. Others reproduce on icebergs or ice shelves.

The babies die due to the early thaw.
The babies die due to the early thaw.

Hopes

«The thaw threatens the emperor penguin. But the fact that we are seeing these adaptations in the most affected colonies gives us some hope. “Birds could react to their changing environment and move to find more stable ice,” Fretwell said.

Over the past seven years, spring and summer sea ice extent in all seasons around Antarctica has decreased significantly. The years 2022 and 2023 had record summer sea ice extents. They represent the first in the satellite record (1979-2023) during which the Antarctic sea ice area fell below 2 million km2.

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