Major emperor penguin breeding ground gone barren since 2016

[turbinetree]

WASHINGTON (AP) — For the past three years, virtually nothing has hatched at Antarctica’s second biggest breeding grounds for emperor penguins and the start of this year is looking just as bleak, a new study found.

Usually 15,000 to 24,000 breeding pairs of emperor penguins flock yearly to a breeding site at Halley Bay , considered a safe place that should stay cold this century despite global warming. But almost none have been there since 2016, according to a study in Wednesday’s Antarctic Science.

The breeding pair population has increased significantly at a nearby breeding ground, but the study’s author said it is nowhere near the amount missing at Halley Bay.

“We’ve never seen a breeding failure on a scale like this in 60 years,” said study author Phil Trathan, head of conservation biology at the British Antarctic Survey. “It’s unusual to have a complete breeding failure in such a big colony.”

https://apnews.com/4629dfad58f540229b9bbae3b4581249

[Beringia]

1. I wonder what the problem is

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. they eat mostly Antarctic silversides fish, also krill.

Antarctic krill population contracts southward as polar oceans warm

The population of Antarctic krill, the favourite food of many whales, penguins, fish and seals, shifted southward during a recent period of warming in their key habitat, new research shows.

https://phys.org/news/2019-01-antarctic-krill-population-southward-polar.html

Hopefully, the penguins are breeding further south of their old grounds.

but...sadly....warmer temps means fucking up the food chain.

[Beringia]

4. Thanks

[dalton99a]

2. No breeding, no new penguins

A 2014 study by Jenouvrier projected that because of climate change the global population of emperor penguins will likely fall by at least 19% by the year 2100.

The breeding colony failure, Trathan said, “is a warning of things that might become important in the future.”