Thousands of penguin chicks have died of starvation in Antarctica due to an unusually thick ice cover that forced their parents to search for food at greater distances.
French scientists have been studying a colony of 18,000 pairs of Adelie penguins in East Antarctica since 2010 and found that only two young penguins survived the last breeding season in early 2017. They attributed this to larger areas of sea ice that persisted into the summer, meaning adult penguins had to travel further to find food while the chicks died waiting.
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Four years ago, the same colony, which then numbered 20,196 pairs, produced no chicks. Thick layers of ice combined with warmer weather and rains followed by a sudden drop in temperature resulted in all the young freezing to death.
Yan Ropert-Coudert, a scientist from the Dumont D’Urville research station near the penguin colony, stated that environmental changes related to the collapse of the Mertz glacier have affected the area.
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“Conditions are such that this will happen more frequently due to the collapse of the Mertz glacier in 2010, which changed the configuration of the sea in front of the colony,” he told AFP. However, it is necessary for other factors such as temperature, wind direction and strength, and the non-opening of natural openings in the ice cover near the colony to align.
He added that the upcoming season seems better for the birds in terms of ice cover, but “unfortunately, we never know how it will end.”
Adelie penguins, which primarily feed on small crustaceans, have so far fared well in the East Antarctica region. Their numbers have decreased in areas where climate change has caused the accumulation of drifting ice that reduces their habitat, while simultaneously, warming seas have affected their food supply.
