Out of five known emperor penguin colonies in the Bellingshausen Sea region of western Antarctica, four have failed to breed this year as chicks likely drowned in the melting sea ice.
A massive die-off has hit emperor penguin chicks from four colonies in West Antarctica due to record-smashing low sea ice this year, a new study finds.
Emperor penguins , the tallest and heaviest penguin living today, need stable sea ice that is firmly frozen to the shore to survive and breed. They mate and lay their eggs during the Antarctic winter, between May and June, and the hatchlings emerge after an incubation period of 65 days. Chicks remain covered in fine down until November, when they start to fledge and grow waterproof feathers.
Researchers monitor emperor penguins using their droppings, or guano, which leaves brown stains on the frosty landscape that can be seen from space. Over the past 14 years, satellite images have revealed evidence of five relatively small colonies that return every year to the same locations in the Bellingshausen Sea region of western Antarctica to breed.
If this pattern persists, the scientists warned in the study, there could be"grave consequences" for emperor penguins, which are already listed as threatened on the U.S. endangered species list.
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