WASHINGTON — The inhabitants of emperor penguins in a single a part of Antarctica seems to be declining sooner than beforehand thought, in response to a brand new evaluation of satellite tv for pc imagery launched Tuesday.
The estimated inhabitants of 16 penguin colonies — seen in satellite tv for pc pictures taken between 2009 and 2024 — had declined 22% throughout that interval primarily due to local weather change that’s shrinking the quantity of obtainable sea ice. It’s unclear whether or not this drop is seen throughout the continent, scientists mentioned.
“Sea ice is essential for the penguins as a result of they breed on sea ice and forage on sea ice,” mentioned Peter Fretwell with British Antarctic Survey, who helped analyze the information.
Scientists beforehand estimated that the entire emperor penguin inhabitants declined about 10% throughout all of Antarctica over the previous decade and a half. The newest survey included a area overlaying the Antarctic Peninsula, Weddell Sea and Bellingshausen Sea.
“It’s completely alarming that the numbers are a lot worse than predicted,” mentioned Daniel Zitterbart, a penguin researcher on the Woods Gap Oceanographic Establishment, who was not concerned within the research.
There are uncertainties within the newest estimate. The evaluation depends on a calculation of how densely the penguins are clustered in every space the place they’re detected in a single satellite tv for pc photograph taken every year.
The colonies studied symbolize about 30% of the entire emperor penguin inhabitants, which lives solely in Antarctica. The lack of steady sea ice could also be affecting the penguins in methods past shrinking their breeding grounds.
“Extra predators like leopard seals and orcas could possibly are available in nearer to the colonies if sea ice breaks up earlier within the yr,” mentioned Fretwell.
Warming ocean temperatures and altering rainfall patterns may impression the survival of penguin chicks, he added.
