Emperor penguins on the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica
christopher walton
Satellite images reveal four emperor penguin colonies previously unknown to science.
During the winter, colonies of thousands of emperor penguins live and breed on the frozen sea ice that clings to the Antarctic coast. Now, melting ice is forcing emperor penguin colonies to relocate to more stable breeding grounds, and researchers are regularly monitoring their migration destinations using satellite images. Against the background of bright white snow, large flocks of penguins and the guano stains they leave behind stand out as brown spots on the landscape.
Satellite images helped locate the colony
British Antarctic Survey
Three of the colonies researchers found on the Brant Ice Shelf were small, containing fewer than 100 birds. But a fourth group of colonies, which scientists thought had disappeared, had more than 5,000 birds.
This brings the total number of emperor penguin colonies known in Antarctica to 66, but the small increase doesn't tell the whole story. peter fretwell At the British Antarctic Survey. “It's very ironic that we're still finding colonies even though populations are starting to be affected by climate change,” he says.
Last year, at least 19 penguin colonies completely failed to reproduce due to melting ice, causing mass mortality of chicks. Some predict that this species could become extinct by the end of this century. “The losses we're seeing from climate change probably outweigh the population gains from finding new colonies,” Fretwell says.
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Source: www.newscientist.com
