In recent years, the emperor penguin population in parts of Antarctica has begun to drastically shrink. Over the past decade and a half, scientists estimate that the total emperor penguin population declined by approximately 10 percent across Antarctica. However, due to recent discoveries, the percentage has risen dramatically. In certain regions, over a 15-year period, a new analysis of satellite imagery shows that the penguins’ colony size decreased by 22 percent.
Due to the penguins’ remote locations and their affinity to form breeding colonies on fast ice (ice attached to land or the seafloor, making it immobile) during the winter, it is extremely difficult to monitor their population size. However, new advances in satellite imagery have changed the game in documenting these elusive penguins. The new research pairs high-resolution imaging with field-based surveys, as well as long-term data, to track population trends over multiple years. This technology allows research to monitor the penguins across all of Antarctica, which is fundamental to studying not only penguins, but any animals that live in places that are hostile to humans.
While emperor penguins tend to stay on fast ice, to have easy access to a home base, as well as feeding grounds, the penguins breed on sea ice, and get food from the nearby sea, making the conditions that keep them a thriving population very specific. They must have enough sea ice to breed and have a place to live, but it cannot be somewhere far from the open ocean, so they can hunt for food for themselves and their chicks. However, due to current climate issues, sea ice has been rapidly melting and becoming unstable. Penguins need the ice to be stable for about eight to nine months out of the year, but this is now unfortunately not a certainty. This can lower the birth rate of emperor penguins.
In 2022, four out of the five known breeding sites in one part of Antarctica were labeled as a “total breeding failure” due to the loss of sea ice. Using less advanced satellite images, researchers noticed that sea ice in the Bellingshausen Sea region broke into fragments before the young penguins were able to develop their waterproof feathers, putting them in danger of drowning and leaving them susceptible to frigid temperatures. The penguins’ failure to successfully breed at such a large scale caused a notable worry early on. Unfortunately, in recent years these occurrences are much more common.
While limited breeding grounds are one factor contributing to the population’s decline, there are many more components at play. Due to the limited sea ice and more exposed sea, other wildlife have had to adjust their diets, putting more competition on food resources. As a result of this, predators such as seals and killer whales now have a chance to utilize the open ocean, and they can more easily target the penguins. Additionally, changes in snow or rain patterns worsen conditions for penguin survival and reproduction.
Scientists believe that if the current trends continue, all emperor penguin colonies will be gone by the year 2100. Sea ice is melting faster than anticipated and endangering Antarctica’s wildlife. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officially implemented protections for the emperor penguin under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 2022, but global warming is threatening to add the emperor penguin to the endangered species list altogether. Without a serious change to the way the world handles climate change, emperor penguins might not have a chance at surviving this horrific depopulation.
Photo Caption: Penguin
Photo Credit: Unsplash