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According to research done by the Argentine Antarctic Institute, the emperor penguin faces extinction within the next 30-40 year.
Photo: 123RF
The emperor is the largest penguin species in the world, and it is also one of the two Antarctica-endemic penguin species. It gives birth during Antarctic winter, and requires solid sea water from April through December to raise fledgling chicks.
If the sea freezes late or melts early, the emperor family will not be able to complete its reproductive cycle.
Marcela Libertelli (a biologist who studied 15,000 penguins at two colonies in Antarctica, the IAA) said, “If the water reaches their newborn penguins which are not ready for swimming and do not have waterproof plumage,”
This has happened at Halley Bay colony, in the Weddell, which is the second-largest Emperor colony. It was here that all the chicks died for three years.
Dr Libertelli and other scientists from Argentina’s Marambio Base, Antarctica, travel 65 km each morning by motorbike during the southern hemisphere winter. They do this in temperatures as low at -40 degrees Celsius, to reach the nearest Emperor penguin colony.
Once they get there, they weigh, weigh, measure, collect geographic coordinates, and take blood sample. They also conduct aerial analysis.
The scientists’ findings indicate a grim future for the species, if climate change isn’t addressed.
“[Climate]Projections suggest that colonies located between latitudes 60-70 degrees will be the most productive. [south]Dr Libertelli stated that the world will be gone in the next few decades, that is, within the next 30-40 years.”
The unique characteristics of the emperor include the longest penguin reproductive cycle.
Once a chick is born, the parent keeps it warm between its legs until it develops its final plumage.
“The planet is at risk if any species disappears. It doesn’t matter if the species is small or large, whether they are animals or plants. It’s a loss in biodiversity,” Dr Libertelli said.
Dr Libertelli stated that the disappearance of the emperor penguin could have a dramatic effect on Antarctica, an extreme environment in which food chains have fewer members.
The World Meteorological Organization warned in April of “increasingly extreme temperature coupled with unusual rainfall and Antarctica ice melting” – a “worrying tendency”, Dr Libertelli said. Antarctic ice sheets have been decreasing since at least 1999.
The future of the emperor is also at stake due to the decline in tourism and fishing in Antarctica. Krill, which is the main source of food for penguins, has been affected.
Dr Libertelli stated that “Tourist boats often have negative effects on Antarctica, just like the fisheries.”
“It is important to have greater control and to think about the future.
– Reuters
