Record low sea ice in late 2023 led to breeding failures in one-fifth of Antarctica’s emperor penguin colonies.
Emperor penguins suffered mass breeding failures due to record low sea ice in 2023, according to scientists with the British Antarctic Survey.
“We’re predicting that we’ll lose around 99 percent, possibly at least all the emperor penguins by the end of this century — that’s 75 years from now.”
Emperors are the world’s largest penguin species and one of only two endemics to Antarctica.
They depend on sea ice firmly attached to the shore to lay their eggs and raise their chicks.
If ice breaks up too early, the chicks will be forced to enter the sea before their waterproof feathers have fully come in.
Peter Fretwell studies wildlife using satellites.
“If that ice breaks up too early then they’ll go into the water without their waterproof feathers and they’ll die. They’ll either freeze to death or they’ll drown.”
That happened in 14 of Antarctica’s 66 emperor penguin colonies last year.
Scientist say it’s because Antarctic sea ice shrank to a record low, driven in part by rising temperatures and climate change but some of the birds seem to be adapting to the changing conditions.
Even though 2023 saw a lower sea ice extent than the year before, emperor penguin colonies experienced fewer breeding failures than in 2022.
