tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/penguins-2380/articlesPenguins – The Conversation2023-03-09T05:01:46Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2013682023-03-09T05:01:46Z2023-03-09T05:01:46ZPenguin paradise and geological freak: why Macquarie Island deserves a bigger marine park<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514116/original/file-20230308-24-ho6ma5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5240%2C3404&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Agami/Marc Guyt</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Macquarie Island, around 1,500km southeast of Tasmania, is more than just a remote rocky outcrop. In fact, it’s the only piece of land on the planet formed completely from ocean floor, which rises above the waves to form peaks that teem with penguins and other bird species, some of them found nowhere else on Earth. </p>
<p>These are just some of the reasons why this unique island, and the seas that surround it, have globally significant conservation values. Our new <a href="https://zenodo.org/record/7623378">independent assessment</a> of these values forms the scientific evidence base of Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s <a href="https://minister.dcceew.gov.au/plibersek/media-releases/macquarie-island-marine-park-poised-triple-size">announcement last month</a> of plans to significantly increase protections for the waters surrounding Macquarie Island. </p>
<p>By comprehensively assessing the available data on the marine ecosystems and the many species that live on and around Macquarie Island, our report reveals a subantarctic environment that is crucial for breeding and feeding for millions of seabirds and thousands of marine mammals.</p>
<p>Macquarie Island and its surrounding seas (to a distance of 5.5km) are already protected as a <a href="https://parks.tas.gov.au/explore-our-parks/macquarie-island-world-heritage-area">Tasmanian reserve</a>, and the area (this time including seas to a distance of 22km) is also a <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/629/">World Heritage Area</a>. A Commonwealth marine park also covers most of the southeast quadrant of the island’s “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclusive_economic_zone">economic exclusion zone</a>”, including a sanctuary zone and two seafloor management zones. </p>
<p>The federal government’s proposed expansion of the marine park would cover the island’s entire economic exclusion zone, increasing the area of Australia’s marine sanctuaries by more than 388,000 square kilometres, an increase larger than the area of Germany.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514389/original/file-20230309-14-7ethaq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map of marine park" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514389/original/file-20230309-14-7ethaq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514389/original/file-20230309-14-7ethaq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514389/original/file-20230309-14-7ethaq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514389/original/file-20230309-14-7ethaq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514389/original/file-20230309-14-7ethaq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=656&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514389/original/file-20230309-14-7ethaq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=656&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514389/original/file-20230309-14-7ethaq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=656&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The existing marine park (green), and the proposed expansion (yellow).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian government</span></span>
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<h2>An outstanding spectacle</h2>
<p>Macquarie Island is the exposed crest of the 1,600km-long undersea Macquarie Ridge, which makes Macquarie Island the only piece of land in the world formed entirely of oceanic crust. </p>
<p>Macquarie Ridge is one of only three such ridges that impede the eastward flow of a current called the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Circumpolar_Current">Antarctic Circumpolar Circulation</a>, resulting in distinct differences between the west and east sides of the ridge, which are used in different ways by different species. </p>
<p>The oceanography is further divided north to south by two major <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_(oceanography)">ocean fronts</a>, the Sub-Antarctic Front and the Polar Front, creating three distinct bodies of water. They are closer here than anywhere else in the Southern Ocean, and as they interact with the Macquarie Ridge create at least six different large-scale oceanographic habitats. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514385/original/file-20230309-24-btz5n2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Huge colony of birds on foggy hillside" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514385/original/file-20230309-24-btz5n2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514385/original/file-20230309-24-btz5n2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514385/original/file-20230309-24-btz5n2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514385/original/file-20230309-24-btz5n2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514385/original/file-20230309-24-btz5n2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514385/original/file-20230309-24-btz5n2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514385/original/file-20230309-24-btz5n2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A haven for penguins and other seabirds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Agami/Marc Guyt</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>This creates an outstanding spectacle of wild, natural beauty and a diverse set of habitats supporting vast congregations of wildlife, including penguins and seals. Fifty-seven seabird species, including four species of penguins and four species of albatross, have been recorded on Macquarie Island, and 25 of these species have been observed breeding there. The royal penguin and the Macquarie Island imperial shag live nowhere else on Earth.</p>
<p>The ridge includes a series of undersea mountains that act as “stepping stones” linking subantarctic and polar animals on the sea floor, <a href="https://www.science20.com/news_releases/brittlestar_city_underwater_summit_taller_than_the_world_s_tallest_building">such as brittlestars</a>.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/enjoy-them-while-you-can-the-ecotourism-challenge-facing-australias-favourite-islands-152679">Enjoy them while you can? The ecotourism challenge facing Australia's favourite islands</a>
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<h2>Needing more protection</h2>
<p>Our report shows the area around Macquarie Island is not well represented by the current marine park. In particular, the entire area to the west, and most of the northern and southern parts of the Macquarie Ridge, are not protected by the current marine park, but will be included in the proposed expansion. </p>
<p>Our report also considers several options for protecting the area’s unique ecosystems and concludes that the most sensible approach, given the available data, would be to declare the whole area around the Macquarie Ridge as a marine park, increasing the protection outside the current sanctuary zone, while allowing the current fishery to continue in a habitat protection zone. </p>
<p>This provides the simplest, most expeditious reserve design that is relatively easy to implement, achieves environmental protection and sustainable fishing, recognises the importance of the entire Macquarie Island region, and provides the most resilience to climate change. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514386/original/file-20230309-22-ri9b9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Blue sign on foggy hillside" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514386/original/file-20230309-22-ri9b9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514386/original/file-20230309-22-ri9b9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514386/original/file-20230309-22-ri9b9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514386/original/file-20230309-22-ri9b9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514386/original/file-20230309-22-ri9b9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514386/original/file-20230309-22-ri9b9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514386/original/file-20230309-22-ri9b9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The island is already a nature reserve, but its surrounding waters need greater protection.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Agami/Marc Guyt</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Direct human impacts in the area are predominantly due to fishing and marine debris, although climate change is an ever-present threat too. The fishery targets the deepwater Patagonian toothfish using bottom longlines, mostly in the central zone of the Macquarie Ridge. This fishery is generally well regarded for its best-practice fishing methods and commitment to positive environmental outcomes, and this fishing activity would continue under the new plans. </p>
<p>But if new fisheries were allowed to develop targeting midwater species, or new industries such as seabed mining were permitted, these could directly impact the seabirds, marine mammals and other species that live in these areas. </p>
<p>The proposal put forward by Minister Plibersek protects all of the Commonwealth waters in two different zones of a marine park, effectively tripling the size of the current marine park. It protects the marine domain and allows the current fishery to continue without significant changes to current practices or catches. </p>
<p>Restrictions on any potential future fisheries would be determined by the distribution of “sanctuary zones” which would preclude fishing, and “habitat/species zones”, which could accommodate sustainable fishing. Mining would be precluded under either category of protection.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/disruption-over-macquarie-island-calls-for-some-clever-antarctic-thinking-65558">Disruption over Macquarie Island calls for some clever Antarctic thinking</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What next?</h2>
<p>The government’s proposal signals a clear priority for protection over development in this area. A period of public consultation on the proposal will commence in March. Any future development of the marine park would need to be orderly and careful, including prior consideration of environmental impacts. Any changes to the current fishery management arrangements should ensure that the changes maintain or enhance conditions for a long-term sustainable fishery.</p>
<p>More broadly, our report also demonstrates the potential for, and importance of, compiling the most up-to-date available data for any region prior to any formal review process to update Australia’s marine park network.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The authors thank Anthony D. M. Smith for his contribution to this article and the report on which it’s based.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201368/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Cresswell received funding from the Australian Marine Conservation Society and the Pew Charitable Trusts. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew John Constable has received Funding from the Australian Marine Conservation Society and Pew Charitable Trusts.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nic Bax has received funding from the Australian Marine Conservation Society and the Pew Charitable Trusts</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Reid does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Macquarie Island isn’t just a windswept rock halfway to Antarctica. It’s a globally unique home to dozens of bird and marine mammal species, hence the government’s plans to give it greater protection.Ian Cresswell, Adjunct professor, UNSW SydneyAndrew J Constable, Leader, Southern Ocean Ecosystem Research, University of TasmaniaKeith Reid, Honorary Research Associate, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of TasmaniaNic Bax, Director, NERP Marine Biodiversity Hub, CSIROLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1934332023-01-11T18:33:01Z2023-01-11T18:33:01ZPenguin feathers help inspire new de-icing techniques<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503369/original/file-20230106-23-k7ud43.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=142%2C179%2C3996%2C2146&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The perpetually ice-free Gentoo penguin can serve as inspiration for the creation of passive anti-icing surfaces.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/38007185@N00/8466304187/">(ravas51/flickr)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/penguin-feathers-help-inspire-new-de-icing-techniques" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Walking down a road during a white winter comes with its own set of challenges: the frigid cold, stepping around slippery ice on roads and the need to switch sidewalks to avoid <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/icicles-are-daggers-and-they-drop-expert-says-dangerous-icicles-can-also-point-to-problems-in-your-house-1.5316121?cache=%3FclipId%3D1745623">dagger-sharp icicles that could potentially fall from above</a>. </p>
<p>This accumulated ice on roofs and rain gutter overhangs is not merely an annoyance and danger, but also requires tremendous efforts to remove. Standard ice removal techniques rely on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32852-6">mechanical, thermal or chemical action</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503367/original/file-20230106-22-mq16ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An airplane is sprayed with deicing fluid" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503367/original/file-20230106-22-mq16ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503367/original/file-20230106-22-mq16ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503367/original/file-20230106-22-mq16ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503367/original/file-20230106-22-mq16ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503367/original/file-20230106-22-mq16ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503367/original/file-20230106-22-mq16ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503367/original/file-20230106-22-mq16ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An airplane is sprayed with de-icing fluid to prevent the formation of ice before take-off.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)</span></span>
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<p>The ice on road signs, electrical transmission pylons and cables is removed by hitting the ice slabs to induce vibrations to the object or by bending the structure. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/12/22/airplane.deicing/index.html">Airplanes are sprayed with de-icing fluids</a> that chemically melt and prevent the formation of ice before take-off. And like <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/no-shoveling-salting-needed-as-heated-sidewalks-in-oak-park-melts-snow-upon-contact/">heated sidewalks</a>, airplane wings are typically heated in flight to melt ice that can form on their leading edges. </p>
<p>While all these anti-icing approaches are necessary to avoid fatal infrastructure failure and accidents, these techniques are unsustainable as they require tremendous amounts of <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna33071411">energy and harmful chemicals</a>. Over the past few decades, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aba5010">researchers have tried to</a> develop passive anti-icing technology — a surface that would not allow ice to form on it or would require very little effort to dislodge any small inconsequential pieces of ice that did.</p>
<p>Our team of researchers at McGill University’s <a href="http://kietzig-lab.mcgill.ca/">Biomimetic Surface Engineering Laboratory</a> looked to nature for these solutions. Nature takes a different approach to solving its icy surface problems. Through millennia, species have adapted to possess an array of surface functions that do not require harsh chemistry or huge amounts of energy input. We found the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.2c16972">solution to de-icing challenges in the feathers of adorable wobble-gaited penguins</a>.</p>
<h2>Reading between the feathers</h2>
<p>When we set out to develop a passive anti-icing surface last winter, we thought about how penguins have never been photographed with a big ice crust on their plumage, despite living in really cold environments, swimming and hunting in frigid waters and standing in high winds. </p>
<p>We contacted the <a href="https://espacepourlavie.ca/en/biodome">Montréal Biodome</a> — which showcases different ecosystems — and visited their <a href="https://espacepourlavie.ca/en/biodome-fauna/gentoo-penguin">sub-Antarctic exhibit with Gentoo penguins</a>. They also gave us a jar full of shed Gentoo feathers. </p>
<p>We studied the microstructure and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2014.0287">wetting behaviour</a> of individual feathers and also reassembled them into a feather mat to study whether or not they attract ice. Wetting behaviour characterizes how water droplets behave on the surface. Basically, it checks whether droplets roll off like tiny soccer balls or spread out in a puddle or whether the outcome is something in between.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503363/original/file-20230106-17-bvp86r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Penguin feather photograph" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503363/original/file-20230106-17-bvp86r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503363/original/file-20230106-17-bvp86r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503363/original/file-20230106-17-bvp86r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503363/original/file-20230106-17-bvp86r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503363/original/file-20230106-17-bvp86r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503363/original/file-20230106-17-bvp86r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503363/original/file-20230106-17-bvp86r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Gentoo penguin feather (left) alongside an image of its microstructure. Wire-like barbs, and barbules branch off the feather’s central stem.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Michael Wood)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our analysis showed that the <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/iwais2022/files/iwais2022/paperid084.pdf">penguin’s plumage has both water-shedding and ice-shedding properties</a>. The preening oil that the bird applies when it grooms itself did not appear to play a role in ice-shedding. This led us to suspect that these effects come from the structure of its feathers, which meant that the structure of penguin feathers could provide a radically different approach to creating surface designs with passive anti-icing properties.</p>
<p>The detailed features of every individual feather and the role of the hamuli — a part of the feather that hooks individual feathers together into a mat — inspired us to replicate this natural wire-like mesh of a structure using woven textiles.</p>
<p>In order to mimic the microstructure of the penguin feathers we observed, we selected <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.2c16972">stainless steel cloths with wire diameters and pore sizes</a> similar to those of the feathers. We also used our ultrafast laser processing equipment to match the longitudinal nano-sized grooves seen on the barbs and barbules of the penguin feather’s structure.</p>
<h2>Creating water- and ice- repelling surfaces</h2>
<p>Our research found that while a water-repellent surface is a definite requirement for stainless steel mesh cloth to shed water, this requirement becomes less important as the temperature decreases. </p>
<p>This is because water actually penetrates the previously empty mesh pores and freezes slowly as the temperatures drop low, creating cracks in the ice surface. This means that the surface can easily repel water and ice at freezing temperatures.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A Gentoo penguin walks on snow" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492383/original/file-20221028-67386-5tqk25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=38%2C130%2C5067%2C3099&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492383/original/file-20221028-67386-5tqk25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492383/original/file-20221028-67386-5tqk25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492383/original/file-20221028-67386-5tqk25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492383/original/file-20221028-67386-5tqk25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492383/original/file-20221028-67386-5tqk25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492383/original/file-20221028-67386-5tqk25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Biomimetic mesh surfaces, which mimic penguin feathers with a woven stainless steel textile, showed about 95 per cent decreased ice adhesion strength compared to polished smooth monolithic stainless steel surfaces.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/miriagrunick/32072866901/in/album-72157678813166476/">(MiriaGrunick/flickr)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is in contrast to the majority of water-repellant surfaces that mimic air-trapping as seen in lotus leaves (<a href="https://www.futurity.org/superhydrophobic-materials-nontoxic-1067122-2/">lotus effect</a>), where water penetration often strengthens the adhesion of ice. </p>
<p>Our biomimetic mesh surfaces — which mimicked penguin feathers with a woven stainless steel textile — showed about 95 per cent decreased ice adhesion strength compared to polished smooth monolithic stainless steel.</p>
<p>This extremely good ice-shedding performance can be attributed to the shape of the microstructure pores, the openings of which are smaller than the actual empty space inside the pore. </p>
<p>These pore openings get closed off first by growing ice, which traps still liquid water inside. That enclosed water freezes slowly in comparison to the water on the outside. As it freezes, it can expand by around nine per cent in its confined space, ultimately creating cracks along every single pore of the wire cloth. These cracks help any ice build up to shed off easily.</p>
<h2>A de-icing strategy for the future</h2>
<p>While our study approaches the problem of ice accumulation from a different perspective than all previous studies, it provides potential new de-icing solutions to a problem that affects our lives every winter. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A house roof riddled with icicles." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503368/original/file-20230106-26-zu5v7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503368/original/file-20230106-26-zu5v7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503368/original/file-20230106-26-zu5v7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503368/original/file-20230106-26-zu5v7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503368/original/file-20230106-26-zu5v7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503368/original/file-20230106-26-zu5v7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503368/original/file-20230106-26-zu5v7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">De-icing techniques that mimic penguin feather structures can be used alongside heating systems to prevent icicle formation on house roofs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/inthe-arena/11760235066/in/photolist-iVdhay-6YMnK-qq3Qpu-2o4Brnc-2o4Gdte-2mSeiEh-2ky5mLv-2kDBiCL-iNXTze-C8i6v9-SE6LkF-7CmMw4-7E5MUW-k4u8Q8-7Bmgm7-5UzhLv-7BBUTQ-5VMHRR-2n6zDBW-q3Npch-dZ3TRZ-4jB8bN-7G28vA-PJW3rm-2mTN3qz-91bHsY-2o4DMwq-wu3zJW-5Ua9Wj-9BCDgy-2mTN3rG-9BzHoX-9BzFPD-9BzHTz-2isMwqG-7DmT1r-5KDKXm-xkikC-2mTJNGB-2mTLP9L-2i6Hrxy-94tgQg-2cETbBz-2gMo2iK-9a3NfX-RykhLo-7sL4Yq-2itj189-2nk8rZS-25q9Vmf">(Andrew Seaman/flickr)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Clearly, we need more investigations and developments before critical infrastructure such as aircraft or power lines solely rely on passive de-icing solutions like these. </p>
<p>However, we can implement them alongside traditional active heating systems for less-critical applications like street signs in the foreseeable future. This will allow us to investigate the long-term stability of such textured surfaces, their installation and maintenance costs, and whether or not it curbs the energy and chemical requirements of today’s de-icing techniques.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193433/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anne-Marie Kietzig receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael John Wood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Nature takes a unique approach to solving its icy surface problems. We found the solution to de-icing challenges in the feathers of adorable wobble-gaited penguins.Anne-Marie Kietzig, Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill UniversityMichael John Wood, Mitacs Elevate Post-Doctoral Scholar, McGill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1965632022-12-22T19:08:51Z2022-12-22T19:08:51ZAntarctica’s emperor penguins could be extinct by 2100 – and other species may follow if we don’t act<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502327/original/file-20221221-18-otcrc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C0%2C2548%2C1916&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Greater conservation efforts are needed to protect Antarctic ecosystems, and the populations of up to 97% of land-based Antarctic species could decline by 2100 if we don’t change tack, our new research has found.</p>
<p>The study, <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3001921">published today</a>, also found just US$23 million per year would be enough to implement ten key strategies to reduce threats to Antarctica’s biodiversity.</p>
<p>This relatively small sum would benefit up to 84% of terrestrial bird, mammal, and plant groups.</p>
<p>We identified climate change as the biggest threat to Antarctica’s unique plant and animal species. Limiting global warming is the most effective way to secure their future.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Antactic scene overlooking water" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502328/original/file-20221221-12-d4epl7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502328/original/file-20221221-12-d4epl7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502328/original/file-20221221-12-d4epl7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502328/original/file-20221221-12-d4epl7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502328/original/file-20221221-12-d4epl7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502328/original/file-20221221-12-d4epl7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502328/original/file-20221221-12-d4epl7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Climate change is the biggest threat to Antarctica’s unique plant and animal species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Threats to Antarctic biodiversity</h2>
<p>Antarctica’s land-based species have adapted to survive <a href="https://www.bas.ac.uk/science/science-and-society/education/antarctic-factsheet-geographical-statistics/">the coldest</a>, windiest, highest, driest continent on Earth. </p>
<p>The species includes two flowering plants, hardy moss and lichens, numerous microbes, tough invertebrates and hundreds of thousands of breeding seabirds, including the emperor and Adélie penguins.</p>
<p>Antarctica also provides priceless services to the planet and humankind. It <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0173-4">helps regulate</a> the global climate by driving atmospheric circulation and ocean currents, and absorbing heat and carbon dioxide. Antarctica even <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-air-above-antarctica-is-suddenly-getting-warmer-heres-what-it-means-for-australia-123080">drives weather patterns in Australia</a>.</p>
<p>Some people think of Antarctica as a safe, protected wilderness. But the continent’s plants and animals still face numerous threats.</p>
<p>Chief among them is climate change. As global warming worsens, Antarctica’s ice-free areas are predicted to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature22996">expand</a>, rapidly changing the habitat available for wildlife. And as extreme weather events such as heatwaves become <a href="https://theconversation.com/record-smashing-heatwaves-are-hitting-antarctica-and-the-arctic-simultaneously-heres-whats-driving-them-and-how-theyll-impact-wildlife-179659">more frequent</a>, Antarctica’s plants and animals are expected to suffer.</p>
<p>What’s more, scientists and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/26/travel/antarctica-tourism-environment-safety.html">tourists</a> visiting the icy continent each year can harm the environment through, for example, pollution and disturbing the ground or plants. And the combination of more human visitors and milder temperatures in Antarctica also creates the conditions for <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ddi.12593">invasive species</a> to thrive.</p>
<p>So how will these threats affect Antarctic species? And what conservation strategies can be used to mitigate them? Our research set out to find the answers.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/children-born-today-will-see-literally-thousands-of-animals-disappear-in-their-lifetime-as-global-food-webs-collapse-196286">Children born today will see literally thousands of animals disappear in their lifetime, as global food webs collapse</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="person photographs coastal scene in Antarctica" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502330/original/file-20221221-17-fl43fo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502330/original/file-20221221-17-fl43fo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502330/original/file-20221221-17-fl43fo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502330/original/file-20221221-17-fl43fo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502330/original/file-20221221-17-fl43fo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502330/original/file-20221221-17-fl43fo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502330/original/file-20221221-17-fl43fo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Antarctica’s ice-free areas are expected to expand under climate change.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>Our study involved working with 29 experts in Antarctic biodiversity, conservation, logistics, tourism and policy. The experts assessed how Antarctica’s species will respond to future threats.</p>
<p>Under a worst-case scenario, the populations of 97% of Antarctic terrestrial species and breeding seabirds could decline between now and 2100, if current conservation efforts stay on the same trajectory.</p>
<p>At best, the populations of 37% of species would decline. The most likely scenario is a decline in 65% of the continent’s plants and wildlife by the year 2100. </p>
<p>The emperor penguin relies on ice for breeding, and is the most vulnerable of Antarctica’s species. In the worst-case scenario, the emperor penguin is at risk of extinction by 2100 – the only species in our study facing this fate.</p>
<p>Climate change will also likely wreak havoc on other Antarctic specialists, such as the nematode worm Scottnema lindsayae. The species lives in extremely <a href="https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.419.7180">dry soils</a>, and is at risk as warming and ice-melt increases soil moisture.</p>
<p>Climate change won’t lead to a decline in all Antarctic species – in fact, some may benefit initially. These include the two Antarctic plants, some mosses and the gentoo penguin.</p>
<p>These species <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.16331">may</a> increase their populations and become more widely distributed in the event of more liquid water (as opposed to ice), more ice-free land and warmer temperatures.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="a group of gentoo penguins on rock" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501309/original/file-20221215-14-8tq4vz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501309/original/file-20221215-14-8tq4vz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501309/original/file-20221215-14-8tq4vz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501309/original/file-20221215-14-8tq4vz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501309/original/file-20221215-14-8tq4vz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501309/original/file-20221215-14-8tq4vz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501309/original/file-20221215-14-8tq4vz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gentoo penguins are predicted to benefit from climate change.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jasmine Lee</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>So, what to do?</h2>
<p>Clearly, current conservation efforts are insufficient to conserve Antarctic species in a changing world.</p>
<p>The experts we worked with identified ten management strategies to mitigate threats to the continent’s land-based species. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501338/original/file-20221215-22-bhmjst.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501338/original/file-20221215-22-bhmjst.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501338/original/file-20221215-22-bhmjst.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501338/original/file-20221215-22-bhmjst.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501338/original/file-20221215-22-bhmjst.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501338/original/file-20221215-22-bhmjst.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501338/original/file-20221215-22-bhmjst.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Management strategies for conserving Antarctic species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jasmine Lee</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Unsurprisingly, mitigating climate change (listed as the “influence external policy” strategy) would provide the greatest benefit. Reducing climate change to no more than 2°C of warming would benefit up to 68% of terrestrial species and breeding seabirds. </p>
<p>The next two most beneficial strategies were “managing non-native species and disease” and “managing and protecting species”. These strategies include measures such as granting <a href="https://www.scar.org/antarctic-treaty/actm-papers/atcm-xliii-and-cep-xxiii-2021-paris-france/5692-atcm43-ip022/file/">special protections</a> to species, and increasing biosecurity to <a href="https://documents.ats.aq/ATCM40/att/atcm40_att056_e.pdf">prevent introductions</a> of non-native species.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="people in red jackets on rubber boat" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502329/original/file-20221221-23-5b9lxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502329/original/file-20221221-23-5b9lxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502329/original/file-20221221-23-5b9lxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502329/original/file-20221221-23-5b9lxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502329/original/file-20221221-23-5b9lxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502329/original/file-20221221-23-5b9lxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502329/original/file-20221221-23-5b9lxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Strong biosecurity measures are needed to ensure human visitors to Antarctica don’t bring invasive species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">JOHN BOZINOV</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How much would it all cost?</h2>
<p>The United Nations’ <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/cop15-ends-landmark-biodiversity-agreement">COP15 nature summit</a> concluded in Canada this week. Funding for conservation projects was a core agenda item.</p>
<p>In Antarctica, at least, such conservation is surprisingly cheap. Our research found implementing all strategies together could cost as little as US$23 million per year until 2100 (or about US$2 billion in total). </p>
<p>By comparison, the cost to recover Australia’s threatened species is estimated at <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12682">more than US$1.2 billion per year</a> (although this is far more than is actually spent). </p>
<p>However, for the “influence external policy” strategy (relating to climate change mitigation) we included only the cost of advocating for policy change. We did not include the global cost of reducing carbon emissions, nor did we balance these against the <a href="https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Costs-of-climate-change-report.pdf">much greater economic costs</a> of not acting. </p>
<p>As Antarctica faces increasing pressure from climate change and human activities, a combination of regional and global conservation efforts is needed. Spending just US$23 million a year to preserve Antarctica’s biodiversity and ecosystems is an absolute bargain.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-historic-cop15-outcome-is-an-imperfect-game-changer-for-saving-nature-heres-why-australia-did-us-proud-196731">The historic COP15 outcome is an imperfect game-changer for saving nature. Here's why Australia did us proud</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196563/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jasmine Lee received funding from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, the Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment, an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship, and the Australian Antarctic Science Program (project 4297).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Iadine Chadès receives funding from the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (Saving our Species program, the Biodiversity Conservation Trust), the Queensland Department of Environment and Science, the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence (CRE) SPECTRUM, and from the Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Future Science Platform (CSIRO). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Justine is funded through the Australian Research Council Special Research Initiative – Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future. She has previously received funding from the Australian Antarctic Science Program.
She is also a director of Homeward Bound Projects Pty Ltd and a director of the Landscape Recovery Foundation.
Justine was employed by the Australian Antarctic Division as a Principal Research Scientist in 2022, on a part time appointment
</span></em></p>The species at risk include flowering plants, moss and lichens, tough invertebrates and breeding seabirds.Jasmine Lee, Conservation biologist, Queensland University of TechnologyIadine Chadès, Principal research scientist, CSIROJustine Shaw, Conservation Biologist, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1934392022-10-31T12:33:52Z2022-10-31T12:33:52ZEmperor penguins get Endangered Species Act protection – with 98% of colonies at risk of extinction by 2100, can it save them?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492222/original/file-20221027-27-s9z7d4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=23%2C30%2C5119%2C3392&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Penguins are at risk as a warming climate affects sea ice in Antarctica. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/emperor-penguin-aptenodytes-forsteri-royalty-free-image/112780877">Raimund Linke/The Image Bank via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Emperor penguins thrive on Antarctica’s coastlines in icy conditions any human would find extreme. Yet, like Goldilocks, they have a narrow comfort zone: If there’s too much sea ice, trips to bring food from the ocean become long and arduous, and their chicks may starve. With too little sea ice, the chicks are at risk of drowning.</p>
<p>Climate change is now putting that delicate balance and potentially the entire species at risk.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15806">recent study</a>, my colleagues and I showed that if current global warming trends and government policies continue, Antarctica’s sea ice will decline at a rate that would dramatically reduce emperor penguin numbers to the point that almost all colonies would become quasi-extinct by 2100, with little chance of recovering.</p>
<p>That’s why the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized a rule on Oct. 26, 2022, <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/10/26/2022-23164/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-and-plants-threatened-species-status-for-emperor-penguin-with">listing the emperor penguin</a> as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act, effective Nov. 25, 2022. The director of the service said the listing “<a href="https://www.fws.gov/press-release/2022-10/emperor-penguin-gets-endangered-species-act-protections">reflects the growing extinction crisis</a>.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A penguin chick snuggles under the legs of a parent." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414227/original/file-20210802-24-r5owgl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414227/original/file-20210802-24-r5owgl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414227/original/file-20210802-24-r5owgl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414227/original/file-20210802-24-r5owgl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414227/original/file-20210802-24-r5owgl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414227/original/file-20210802-24-r5owgl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414227/original/file-20210802-24-r5owgl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When the sea ice gets too thin, it can break out early and penguin chicks may drown.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/emperor-penguin-royalty-free-image/97387476?adppopup=true">Sylvain Cordier/DigitalVision via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The greatest threat emperor penguins face is climate change. It will disrupt the sea ice cover they rely on unless governments adopt policies that reduce the greenhouse gases driving global warming.</p>
<p>The U.S. Endangered Species Act has been used before to protect other species that are primarily at risk from climate change, including the <a href="https://www.fws.gov/program/alaska-marine-mammals-management-office/polar-bear-program">polar bear</a>, <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/listing-4-subspecies-ringed-seals-arctic-okhotsk-baltic-and-ladoga-under-esa">ringed seal</a> and <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/listing-20-reef-building-coral-species-under-esa">several species of coral</a>, which are all listed as threatened.</p>
<p>Emperor penguins don’t live on U.S. territory, so some of the Endangered Species Act’s measures meant to protect species’ habitats and prevent hunting them don’t directly apply. Being listed under the Endangered Species Act could still bring benefits, though. </p>
<p>It could provide a way to reduce harm from U.S. fishing fleets that might operate <a href="https://www.ccamlr.org/en/organisation/home-page">in the region</a>. And, with <a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-donald-trump-climate-change-environment-and-nature-government-and-politics-1008b4ea1032f357757654ebdf4527cb">expected actions from the Biden administration</a>, the listing could eventually pressure U.S. agencies to take <a href="https://animal.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/Scientists-and-Legal-Scholars-Letter-on-the-Endangered-Species-Act-and-Climate-Change.pdf">actions to limit greenhouse gas emissions</a>. However, the Bureau of Land Management has never acknowledged that emissions from oil and gas extraction on public lands and waters could harm climate-imperiled species. It issued more than <a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/lawsuit-challenges-biden-approved-oil-drilling-permits-for-failing-to-protect-climate-imperiled-wildlife-public-lands-2022-06-15/">3,500 oil and gas drilling permits</a> in New Mexico and Wyoming on public land during the first 16 months of the Biden administration.</p>
<h2>Marching toward extinction</h2>
<p>I first saw an emperor penguin when I visited <a href="https://vimeo.com/311684138">Pointe Géologie</a>, Antarctica, during my Ph.D. studies. As soon as I set foot on the island, before our team unpacked our gear, my colleagues and I went to visit the emperor penguin colony located only a couple of hundred meters from the French research station – the same colony featured in the movie “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0428803/">March of the Penguins</a>.” </p>
<p>We sat far away to observe them through binoculars, but after 15 minutes, a few penguins approached us.</p>
<p>People think that they are awkward, almost comical, with their hobbling gait, but emperors walk with a peaceful and serene grace across the sea ice. I can still feel them tugging on my shoelaces, their eyes flickering with curiosity. I hope my children and future generations have a chance to meet these masters of the frozen world.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/65b9V_iyZAs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Penguin curiosity meets a GoPro camera. <i>Credit: C. Marciau/IPEV/CNRS</i></span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.cebc.cnrs.fr/predateurs-marins/?lang=en">Researchers have studied the emperor penguins</a> around Pointe Géologie, in Terre Adélie, since the 1960s. Those decades of data are now helping scientists gauge the effects of anthropogenic climate change on the penguins, their sea ice habitat and their food sources.</p>
<p>The penguins <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2021.0097">breed on fast ice</a>, which is sea ice attached to land. But they hunt for food within the pack ice – sea ice floes that move with the wind or ocean currents and may merge. Sea ice is also important for resting, during their annual moult and to escape from predators.</p>
<p>The penguin population at Pointe Géologie declined by half in the late 1970s when <a href="https://doi.org/10.1890/05-0514">sea ice declined</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/35075554">more male emperor penguins died</a>, and the population never fully recovered from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0706.2009.17498.x">massive breeding failures</a> – something that has been occurring more frequently.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Chart of penguin pair decline and projection" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414239/original/file-20210803-15-18d89cc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414239/original/file-20210803-15-18d89cc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414239/original/file-20210803-15-18d89cc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414239/original/file-20210803-15-18d89cc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414239/original/file-20210803-15-18d89cc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414239/original/file-20210803-15-18d89cc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414239/original/file-20210803-15-18d89cc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The number of breeding pairs of emperor penguins at Pointe Géologie is projected to decline significantly in a world with high greenhouse gas emissions. The chart uses the RCP 8.5 climate scenario of high-emissions future.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gcb.14864">Jenouvrier et al., 2020</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To assess whether the emperor penguin could qualify for protection under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service encouraged an international team of scientists, policy experts, climate scientists and ecologists to provide <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15806">research and projections of the threats posed by climate change</a> to emperor penguins and their future survival.</p>
<h2>Every colony will be in decline by 2100</h2>
<p>Emperor penguins are adapted to their current environment, but the species has not evolved to survive the rapid effects of climate change that threaten to reshape its world. </p>
<p>Decades of studies by an international team of researchers have been instrumental in establishing the need for protection. </p>
<p>Seminal research I was involved in in 2009 warned that the colony of Pointe Géologie will be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0806638106">marching toward extinction</a> by the end of the century. And it won’t just be that colony. My colleagues and I in 2012 looked at <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033751">all known emperor penguin colonies</a> identified in images from space and determined that every colony will be declining by the end of the century if greenhouse gases continue their current course. We found that penguin behaviors that might help them <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2017.05.017">adapt to changing environmental conditions</a> couldn’t reverse the anticipated global decline.</p>
<p>Major environmental shifts, such as the late formation and early loss of the sea ice on which colonies are located, are already raising the risk.</p>
<p><img src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/2388/SeaIce_Pop_edit1_%281%29.gif?1666968348" width="100%"></p><figure><figcaption><span class="caption">The projected status of emperor penguin colonies by 2100 and annual mean change of sea ice concentration. Natalie Renier/WHOI, Jenouvrier et al. 2021</span></figcaption></figure><p></p>
<p>A dramatic example is the <a href="https://www.bas.ac.uk/media-post/catastrophic-breeding-failure-at-one-of-worlds-largest-emperor-penguin-colonies/">recent collapse of Halley Bay</a>, the second-largest emperor penguin colony in Antarctica. More than 10,000 chicks died in 2016 when <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102019000099">sea ice broke up early</a>. The colony has not yet recovered.</p>
<p>By including those extreme events, we projected that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15806">98% of colonies will be extinct by 2100</a> if greenhouse gas emissions continue their present course, and the global population will decline by 99% compared with its historical size.</p>
<h2>Meeting the Paris goal could save the penguins</h2>
<p>The results of the new study showed that if the world meets the Paris climate agreement targets, keeping warming to under 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 F) compared with preindustrial temperatures, that could protect sufficient habitat to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14864">halt the emperor penguins’ decline</a>.</p>
<p>But the world <a href="https://www.unep.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2022">isn’t on track</a> to meet the Paris Agreement. In a report released Oct. 27, 2022, the United Nations Environment Program said current policies have the world headed for 2.8 C (5 F) of warming by the end of the century, and if countries meet their current pledges to cut emissions, that will still mean warming of at least 2.4 C (4.3 F). </p>
<p>So it appears that the emperor penguin is the proverbial “canary in the coal mine.” The future of emperor penguins, and much of life on Earth, including humanity, ultimately depends upon the decisions made today. </p>
<p><em>Marine ecologist <a href="https://www.bas.ac.uk/profile/pnt/">Philip Trathan</a> of the British Antarctic Survey contributed to this article.</em></p>
<p><em>This updates an article <a href="https://theconversation.com/98-of-emperor-penguin-colonies-could-be-extinct-by-2100-as-ice-melts-can-endangered-species-act-protection-save-them-165468">originally published</a> on Aug. 31, 2021.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193439/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Jenouvrier receives funding from National Science Foundation and National Aeronautics and Space Administration.</span></em></p>Emperor penguins survive in a ‘Goldilocks zone’ between too much sea ice and too little. Climate change is having an impact.Stephanie Jenouvrier, Associate Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic InstitutionLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1868872022-08-01T15:27:05Z2022-08-01T15:27:05ZPenguins adapt their voices to sound like their companions - new study<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474589/original/file-20220718-72701-kg64yw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=100%2C30%2C5033%2C3701&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">African penguins end up "parroting" each other's voices</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/african-penguins-252302530">Mike Korostelev/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>We’ve all known a friend who came back from holiday with a French lilt in their accent. Or noticed an American twang creeping into our voice during dinner with a friend visiting from Texas. </p>
<p>One of us (Luigi) recently moved back to Italy from the UK, along with four-year-old daughter Emma who could barely speak Italian. Over the months she spoke more in Italian. But to our surprise, her accent and intonation sounded like those of her school friends rather than her family. She wasn’t trying to sound more like her friends. Her voice became similar to theirs simply as a result of chattering away with them so often. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rspb.2022.0626">recent study</a> showed penguins do this too and that the ability to vary your voice is more widespread across the animal kingdom than scientists thought. </p>
<p>This phenomenon, known as <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/brv.12382">social accommodation</a>, is common in humans. The more two people talk with each other, the more alike aspects of our voices can become. Their voices accommodate each other. The ability of our voices to change in response to our environment is vital for learning new sounds, words, and languages at any age. </p>
<p>The way Luigi’s young daughter’s voice could change quickly and unconsciously got us thinking about whether other animals do the same. </p>
<p>We study the cognitive abilities of a variety of animals, and in the last couple years Luigi has been working a lot with African penguins. They are an ideal animal for researching social accommodation. African penguins form large colonies and have different types of relationships (with partners, colony-mates). They also have a variety of calls which they use to communicate with each other constantly, including one that sounds like a <a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/plos-corpus-prod/10.1371/journal.pone.0103460/1/pone.0103460.s004.m4v?X-Goog-Algorithm=GOOG4-RSA-SHA256&X-Goog-Credential=wombat-sa%40plos-prod.iam.gserviceaccount.com%2F20220715%2Fauto%2Fstorage%2Fgoog4_request&X-Goog-Date=20220715T122023Z&X-Goog-Expires=86400&X-Goog-SignedHeaders=host&X-Goog-Signature=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">braying donkey</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474308/original/file-20220715-18-7961na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474308/original/file-20220715-18-7961na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474308/original/file-20220715-18-7961na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474308/original/file-20220715-18-7961na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474308/original/file-20220715-18-7961na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474308/original/file-20220715-18-7961na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474308/original/file-20220715-18-7961na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Colony of African penguins housed at Zoom Torino (Cumiana, Italy; photo credit: Veronica Maraner)</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2018.0406">Some animals</a> such as parrots, whales, elephants and bats learn new sounds and songs from their parents, other members of <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1970-12119-001">their species</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/user/identity/landing?code=5lPDJDATGOqwWEIluTdOsvtu7OE91axYyWlhRix3&state=retryCounter%3D0%26csrfToken%3Df0a41784-bbca-43fa-904e-b7824108f3c0%26idpPolicy%3Durn%253Acom%253Aelsevier%253Aidp%253Apolicy%253Aproduct%253Ainst_assoc%26returnUrl%3D%252Fscience%252Farticle%252Fabs%252Fpii%252FS0093934X09001643%253Fcasa_token%253DimB9fdCjT4cAAAAA%253Atx-S0nHfATBBfOihbydqB9cThBaR1ju8umFezEuckn3s3i7wAtIXkqeO--n4UpzggI9hfjxMNck%26prompt%3Dnone%26cid%3Darp-7dc92fb5-7d59-4b60-9d75-e259f5e74d89">other species entirely</a>, or even <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/434455a">non-living sources of noise</a>. Blackbirds do an uncanny impression of a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfL9aA9uXus">lorry reversing</a>. </p>
<p>The vast majority of animals can’t learn new sounds and are born with a limited range of noises they can make. However, <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220124114834.htm">growing evidence</a> suggests some animals’ calls change in response to who they most interact with and that more animals can vary their sounds than previously thought.</p>
<p>African penguins’ evolution <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16519228/#&gid=article-figures&pid=figure-4-uid-3">split off</a> more than 60 million years ago from all other birds that can learn new calls by observation. Penguins cannot learn new sounds and their vocalisations are genetically determined. </p>
<p><a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rspb.2022.0626">In our recent study</a>, we analysed nearly three thousand <a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/plos-corpus-prod/10.1371/journal.pone.0103460/1/pone.0103460.s002.m4v?X-Goog-Algorithm=GOOG4-RSA-SHA256&X-Goog-Credential=wombat-sa%40plos-prod.iam.gserviceaccount.com%2F20220715%2Fauto%2Fstorage%2Fgoog4_request&X-Goog-Date=20220715T075904Z&X-Goog-Expires=86400&X-Goog-SignedHeaders=host&X-Goog-Signature=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">penguin calls</a> from three different colonies in zoos around Italy. We first compared the calls of penguins that belonged to the same colony, including partners and colony-mates, versus those from different colonies. We also studied the same penguins three years later. </p>
<p>Finally, we compared the closeness of partners’ calls versus non-partners’ calls. In all cases, we found that penguins who heard each other’s calls more often had similar “voices”.</p>
<p>Our study suggests that the more penguins experience each other’s calls, the more alike their calls become. And it shows even animals incapable of vocal learning can have flexible acoustics.</p>
<p>Penguins’ calls were closer to those of their partners than to those of their colony mates three years before. This may be because of the special relationship between partners. Knowalski, a male in the Zoomarine Roma colony, lost his partner Marietta few years ago and we noticed that he was depressed for a while. Now he is cheekily trying to steal a female from other males. </p>
<p>Emotions have a <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2017.2783">huge impact on voice</a> and it can <a href="https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2012.00920.x">drive some convergence</a> in animals. <a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/plos-corpus-prod/10.1371/journal.pone.0103460/1/pone.0103460.s005.m4v?X-Goog-Algorithm=GOOG4-RSA-SHA256&X-Goog-Credential=wombat-sa%40plos-prod.iam.gserviceaccount.com%2F20220715%2Fauto%2Fstorage%2Fgoog4_request&X-Goog-Date=20220715T091553Z&X-Goog-Expires=86400&X-Goog-SignedHeaders=host&X-Goog-Signature=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">When partners call directly with each other</a>, they may be in a special <a href="https://theconversation.com/laughs-cries-and-deception-birds-emotional-lives-are-just-as-complicated-as-ours-69471">heightened emotional state</a>, which could affect their voices. </p>
<p>African penguins also use a range of calls in different contexts. For example single penguin make contact calls when they can’t see the colony. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474312/original/file-20220715-22-z4bm3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474312/original/file-20220715-22-z4bm3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474312/original/file-20220715-22-z4bm3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474312/original/file-20220715-22-z4bm3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474312/original/file-20220715-22-z4bm3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474312/original/file-20220715-22-z4bm3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474312/original/file-20220715-22-z4bm3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Breeding pair of African penguins housed at Zoomarine Roma (Torvaianica, Italy; photo credit: Giulia Olivero)</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another study we carried out recently highlighted the remarkable <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rspb.2021.1463">cognitive skills</a> of these seabirds. It showed penguins can not only recognise their partner from the sound of their voice but also could recognise their partner on sight even when the call of a different penguin was played. </p>
<p>We’ve really enjoyed working with these birds. They spend most of their time outside the water, and they seem absolutely unfit for dry land. Although they are excellent swimmers, they wobble so cutely and fall over their own feet often. </p>
<p>Worldwide, we have <a href="https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-319-55065-7_844?noAccess=true">18 species of penguins</a>, some with millions of individuals. Others, like the African penguins have just a few thousand. </p>
<p>This species is in the <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22697810/157423361">red list of the IUCN</a> (The International Union for Conservation of Nature) and classified as endangered. Their world population decreased by 98% since 1900. <a href="https://sanccob.co.za/projects/penguin-seabird-rangers">Rapid action</a> is needed to save them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186887/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Luigi Baciadonna works for The University of Turin. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span><a href="mailto:livio.favaro@unito.it">livio.favaro@unito.it</a> works for The University of Turin. </span></em></p>You can tell how close penguins are to each other by how similar their voices are.Luigi Baciadonna, Post Doctoral Researcher, University of Turin, Researcher, Queen Mary University of LondonLivio Favaro, Researcher in zoology, Università di TorinoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1812582022-05-03T20:07:36Z2022-05-03T20:07:36ZToughness has limits: over 1,100 species live in Antarctica – but they’re at risk from human activity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458548/original/file-20220419-24-q8u3f6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4608%2C3428&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Laura Phillips</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s hard to survive in bitterly cold Antarctica. But the ice continent is home to more than 1,100 species who have adapted to life on land and in its lakes. </p>
<p>Penguins are the most well known, but Antarctica’s diversity lies in its microbes and species like mosses, lichens and tardigrades (water bears). Most of these survive in the few ice-free areas on the continent. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/cobi.13885">new research</a> provides a comprehensive inventory of Antarctic species. We believe it will help the 54 nations who are party to the Antarctic Treaty fulfil one of its major conservation goals – the continent-wide protection of Antarctic species. </p>
<p>Despite their toughness, climate change, introduced species and human activities pose growing threats for these species. We need rapid and widespread protection for Antarctica’s biodiversity if these species are to survive.</p>
<h2>How can so many species live in Antarctica?</h2>
<p>Our inventory found 1,142 land and lake-dwelling species currently known to live on the Antarctic continent. This list is dominated by extraordinarily resilient groups, such as lichens, mosses and invertebrates, which have evolved to thrive under extreme conditions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458552/original/file-20220419-26-y7s59p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458552/original/file-20220419-26-y7s59p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458552/original/file-20220419-26-y7s59p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458552/original/file-20220419-26-y7s59p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458552/original/file-20220419-26-y7s59p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458552/original/file-20220419-26-y7s59p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458552/original/file-20220419-26-y7s59p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458552/original/file-20220419-26-y7s59p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The number of species within each taxonomic group that live in Antarctica. Groups like bacteria with poorly-resolved species lists are excluded.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Laura M. Phillips</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These species have developed unique adaptations to live in this frozen desert, where sub-zero temperatures are the norm and life sustaining water is often locked up as ice. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/invasive-species-are-threatening-antarcticas-fragile-ecosystems-as-human-activity-grows-and-the-world-warms-172058">Invasive species are threatening Antarctica's fragile ecosystems as human activity grows and the world warms</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Antarctic mosses have the incredible ability to freeze and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11120-020-00785-0">almost completely dry out</a>. They come back to life during the brief periods when it’s warm enough for ice to melt, and take advantage of liquid water to rehydrate and grow.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458557/original/file-20220419-16-q5yz3z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458557/original/file-20220419-16-q5yz3z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458557/original/file-20220419-16-q5yz3z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458557/original/file-20220419-16-q5yz3z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458557/original/file-20220419-16-q5yz3z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458557/original/file-20220419-16-q5yz3z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458557/original/file-20220419-16-q5yz3z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A moss bed at Casey Station, Antarctica.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Laura M. Phillips</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458553/original/file-20220419-18-1tnfsr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458553/original/file-20220419-18-1tnfsr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458553/original/file-20220419-18-1tnfsr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458553/original/file-20220419-18-1tnfsr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458553/original/file-20220419-18-1tnfsr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458553/original/file-20220419-18-1tnfsr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458553/original/file-20220419-18-1tnfsr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tardigrade in its active form and after freezing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Laura M. Phillips</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Tardigrades are, famously, masters of survival. During tough times, they can enter a frozen, inactive state very close to death. Some have remained frozen <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0011224015300134?via%3Dihub">for over 30 years</a> before recovering and resuming their normal lives as if nothing happened.</p>
<p>And then, of course, there are the penguins. Five of the world’s 18 species <a href="https://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/animals/penguins/">live in Antarctica</a>, with another four species on sub-Antarctic islands. These birds are built for the cold with thick layers of insulating fat and feathers to keep warm.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458554/original/file-20220419-16-q8u3f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458554/original/file-20220419-16-q8u3f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458554/original/file-20220419-16-q8u3f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458554/original/file-20220419-16-q8u3f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458554/original/file-20220419-16-q8u3f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458554/original/file-20220419-16-q8u3f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458554/original/file-20220419-16-q8u3f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gentoo penguin adult and chicks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Steven L. Chown</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Isn’t Antarctica already protected?</h2>
<p>It’s a common belief that Antarctica is already highly protected. But, in practice, this is only true for specific areas. </p>
<p>In 1991, the nations party to the Antarctic Treaty agreed to conserve the unique continent through the <a href="https://www.ats.aq/e/protocol.html">Madrid Protocol</a>. This agreement set the foundations for a network of 75 protected areas – those with outstanding environmental, scientific, historic, aesthetic and wilderness value.</p>
<p>This approach aided conservation, by restricting entry and limiting what people can do, safeguarding biodiversity from <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1222821">issues such as</a> wildlife disturbance, pollution, and introduction of invasive species.</p>
<p>But there are <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-08915-6">still large gaps</a>, leaving many species unprotected. </p>
<p>One solution is already outlined in the Madrid Protocol: protect the “type localities” of each species. This refers to the location where the very first specimen of a species was collected and described. These specimens are crucial for taxonomy, as they act as the point of reference to check against unknown or ambiguous specimens. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458555/original/file-20220419-12-q5yz3z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458555/original/file-20220419-12-q5yz3z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458555/original/file-20220419-12-q5yz3z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458555/original/file-20220419-12-q5yz3z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458555/original/file-20220419-12-q5yz3z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458555/original/file-20220419-12-q5yz3z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458555/original/file-20220419-12-q5yz3z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Vegetation on the Clark Peninsula, Antarctica, the type locality for five lichen species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Laura M. Phillips</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Importantly, protecting the type locality of a species ensures any species can be protected, even if we know little about their habitat or distribution. This is especially important for Antarctic species, because for many, the type locality is the only known location for that species.</p>
<p>To date, however, no Antarctic protected areas have been created specifically to conserve type localities. That’s where our research can help. </p>
<h2>What needs to be done?</h2>
<p>The reason there are no protected areas of this kind is because we haven’t had a comprehensive list of Antarctic species and their type localities. That’s why we undertook this research. </p>
<p>Once we had the list, we mapped the type localities across the continent to see how many of these sites are currently protected.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458556/original/file-20220419-15-c01pkq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458556/original/file-20220419-15-c01pkq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458556/original/file-20220419-15-c01pkq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458556/original/file-20220419-15-c01pkq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458556/original/file-20220419-15-c01pkq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=687&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458556/original/file-20220419-15-c01pkq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=687&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458556/original/file-20220419-15-c01pkq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=687&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The distribution of protected (green) and unprotected (purple) type localities across Antarctica.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rachel I. Leihy</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We found more than a quarter (28%) of all species already have their type localities protected for other reasons, such as scientific interest or wildlife colonies. That’s because they occur in the few and small ice free areas across the continent, where most of the existing protected areas have been created. The remaining 72% of the continent’s type localities are not protected in this way. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/record-smashing-heatwaves-are-hitting-antarctica-and-the-arctic-simultaneously-heres-whats-driving-them-and-how-theyll-impact-wildlife-179659">Record-smashing heatwaves are hitting Antarctica and the Arctic simultaneously. Here’s what’s driving them, and how they’ll impact wildlife</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>There is now a great opportunity to protect these localities. If we focus first on areas with multiple type localities, we could get many more species protected. </p>
<p>Over time, we could expand this network. We estimate another 105 new protected areas would cover all remaining type localities.</p>
<p>We would also need to update the plans for existing protected areas to ensure the value of type localities are taken into account. </p>
<p>Longer term, we will need to embrace a systematic conservation framework across Antarctica to ensure the world’s last great wilderness remains full of life.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181258/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Phillips is affiliated with Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel Leihy works for the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research and is affiliated with Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
This research was done as a part of the Australian Research Council funded program Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future, and it was also funded by an Australian Antarctic Program grant.</span></em></p>We compiled the first list of Antarctic species and where they were first found. This knowledge means we can now protect all of the icy continent’s species.Laura Phillips, Antarctic Scientist, Monash UniversityRachel Leihy, Ecologist, Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental ResearchLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1796592022-03-22T05:40:53Z2022-03-22T05:40:53ZRecord-smashing heatwaves are hitting Antarctica and the Arctic simultaneously. Here’s what’s driving them, and how they’ll impact wildlife<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453257/original/file-20220321-13-gfewfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=32%2C5%2C3546%2C2591&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Windmill Islands, near Casey Research Station, Antarctica </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dana M Bergstrom</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Record-breaking heatwaves hit both Antarctica and the Arctic simultaneously this week, with temperatures reaching 47°C and 30°C higher than normal.</p>
<p>Heatwaves are bizarre at any time in Antarctica, but particularly now at the equinox as Antarctica is about to descend into winter darkness. Likewise, up north, the Arctic is just emerging from winter. </p>
<p>Are these two heatwaves linked? We don’t know yet, and it’s most likely a coincidence. But we do know weather systems in Antarctica and the Arctic are connected to regions nearest to them, and these connections sometimes reach all the way to the tropics. </p>
<p>And is climate change the cause? It might be. While it’s too soon to say for sure, we do know climate change is making polar heatwaves more common and severe, and the poles are <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/factsheets/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Regional_Fact_Sheet_Polar_regions.pdf">warming faster than the global average</a>.</p>
<p>So let’s take a closer look at what’s driving the extreme anomalies for each region, and the flow-on effects for polar wildlife like penguins and polar bears.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453486/original/file-20220322-17-1ssaemq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453486/original/file-20220322-17-1ssaemq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453486/original/file-20220322-17-1ssaemq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453486/original/file-20220322-17-1ssaemq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453486/original/file-20220322-17-1ssaemq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453486/original/file-20220322-17-1ssaemq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453486/original/file-20220322-17-1ssaemq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453486/original/file-20220322-17-1ssaemq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">At this time of year, Adélie penguin chicks leave the nest to go hunting at sea on their own.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What happened in Antarctica?</h2>
<p>Antarctica’s heatwave was driven by a slow, intense high pressure system located southeast of Australia, which carried vast amounts of warm air and moisture deep into Antarctica’s interior. It was coupled with a very intense low pressure system over the east Antarctic interior. </p>
<p>To make matters worse, cloud cover over the Antarctic ice plateau trapped heat radiating from the surface. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453484/original/file-20220322-20-183hlku.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453484/original/file-20220322-20-183hlku.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453484/original/file-20220322-20-183hlku.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453484/original/file-20220322-20-183hlku.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453484/original/file-20220322-20-183hlku.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453484/original/file-20220322-20-183hlku.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453484/original/file-20220322-20-183hlku.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453484/original/file-20220322-20-183hlku.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Recent storm clouds over East Antarctica.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Barry Becker</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Since it’s autumn in Antarctica, temperatures in the continent’s interior weren’t high enough to melt glaciers and the ice cap. But that’s not to say large swings in temperature didn’t occur. </p>
<p>For example, Vostok in the middle of the ice plateau hit a provisional high of -17.7°C (15°C higher than previous record of -32.6°C). <a href="http://www.concordiastation.aq/home-1/">Concordia</a>, the Italian-French research station also on the high plateau, experienced its highest ever temperature for any month, which was about 40°C above the March average. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453250/original/file-20220321-23-1cdkkkd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Air temperature anomalies across Antarctica" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453250/original/file-20220321-23-1cdkkkd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453250/original/file-20220321-23-1cdkkkd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453250/original/file-20220321-23-1cdkkkd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453250/original/file-20220321-23-1cdkkkd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453250/original/file-20220321-23-1cdkkkd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453250/original/file-20220321-23-1cdkkkd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453250/original/file-20220321-23-1cdkkkd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Air temperature anomalies across Antarctica at 2m above ground for the Mar 18. 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ClimateReanalyzer.org</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The story is very different on the coast as rain fell, which isn’t really common for the continent.</p>
<p>The rain was <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JD033788">driven primarily by an atmospheric river</a> – a narrow band of moisture collected from warm oceans. Atmospheric rivers are found on the edge of low pressure systems and can move large amounts of water across vast distances, at scales greater than continents.</p>
<p>Despite their rarity, atmospheric rivers make an important contribution to the continent’s ice sheets, as they dump relatively large amounts of snow. When surface temperatures rise above freezing, rain rather than snow falls over Antarctica. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1504568316635107329"}"></div></p>
<p>Last Monday (March 14) air temperatures at the Australian Casey Station reached a maximum of -1.9°C. Two days later, they were more like mid-summer temperatures, reaching a new March maximum of 5.6°C, which will melt ice. </p>
<p>This is the second heatwave at Casey Station in <a href="https://theconversation.com/anatomy-of-a-heatwave-how-antarctica-recorded-a-20-75-c-day-last-month-134550">two years</a>. In February 2020, Casey hit 9.2°C, followed by a shocking high of <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/wmo-verifies-one-temperature-record-antarctic-continent-and-rejects-another">18.3°C</a> on the Antarctic Peninsula. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/anatomy-of-a-heatwave-how-antarctica-recorded-a-20-75-c-day-last-month-134550">Anatomy of a heatwave: how Antarctica recorded a 20.75°C day last month</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>So what might this mean for wildlife?</p>
<p>Adélie penguins, which live across the entire Antarctic coastline, have recently finished their summer breeding. But thankfully, the Adélie penguin chicks had already left for sea to start hunting for food on their own, so the heatwave did not impact them. </p>
<p>The rain may have affected the local plant life, <a href="https://theconversation.com/antarcticas-moss-forests-are-drying-and-dying-103751">such as mosses</a>, especially as they were in their annual phase of drying out for the winter. But we won’t know if there’s any damage to the plants until next summer when we can visit the moss beds again.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Snow at Casey Research Station March 2022" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453453/original/file-20220321-14070-1skfe48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453453/original/file-20220321-14070-1skfe48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453453/original/file-20220321-14070-1skfe48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453453/original/file-20220321-14070-1skfe48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453453/original/file-20220321-14070-1skfe48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1340&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453453/original/file-20220321-14070-1skfe48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1340&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453453/original/file-20220321-14070-1skfe48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1340&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Snow on moss beds outside Casey research station 21 March 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chris Gallagher</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What about the Arctic?</h2>
<p>A similar weather pattern occurred last week in the Arctic. An intense low pressure system began forming off the north-east coast of the United States. An atmospheric river formed at its junction with an adjacent high pressure system. </p>
<p>This weather pattern funnelled warm air into the Arctic circle. Svalbald, in Norway, recorded a <a href="https://twitter.com/Ketil_Isaksen/status/1503740808016637953">new maximum temperature of 3.9°C</a>.</p>
<p>US researchers called the low pressure system a “<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-a-bomb-cyclone-an-atmospheric-scientist-explains-175825#:%7E:text=A%20bomb%20cyclone%20is%20a,24%20millibars%20in%2024%20hours">bomb cyclone</a>” because it formed so rapidly, undergoing the delightfully termed “bombogenesis”.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453251/original/file-20220321-19-1cwbkyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Arctic air temperature anomalies" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453251/original/file-20220321-19-1cwbkyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453251/original/file-20220321-19-1cwbkyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453251/original/file-20220321-19-1cwbkyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453251/original/file-20220321-19-1cwbkyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453251/original/file-20220321-19-1cwbkyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453251/original/file-20220321-19-1cwbkyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453251/original/file-20220321-19-1cwbkyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Arctic air temperature anomalies at 2 metres above the ground for March 17, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ClimateReanalyzer.org</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Winter sea ice conditions this year were already very low, and on land there was recent record-breaking <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-greenlands-record-breaking-rain-means-for-the-planet-166567">rain across Greenland</a>.</p>
<p>If the warm conditions cause sea ice to break up earlier than normal, it could have dire impacts for many animals. For example, sea ice is a crucial habitat for polar bears, enabling them to hunt seals and travel long distances.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453485/original/file-20220322-28-1x6y3jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453485/original/file-20220322-28-1x6y3jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453485/original/file-20220322-28-1x6y3jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453485/original/file-20220322-28-1x6y3jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453485/original/file-20220322-28-1x6y3jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453485/original/file-20220322-28-1x6y3jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453485/original/file-20220322-28-1x6y3jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453485/original/file-20220322-28-1x6y3jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Early melting of Arctic ice sheets could have dire consequences for polar bears.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many people live in the Arctic, including Arctic Indigenous people, and we know <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGII_CrossChapterPaper6.pdf">losing sea ice</a> disrupts subsistence hunting and cultural practices. </p>
<p>What’s more, the bomb cyclone weather system brought <a href="https://www.severe-weather.eu/global-weather/polar-vortex-2022-winter-storm-franklin-windstorm-bomb-cyclone-mk/">chaotic weather</a> to many populated areas of the Northern Hemisphere. In northern Norway, for instance, flowers have began blooming early due to three weeks of abnormally warm weather.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1505622982881853446"}"></div></p>
<h2>A harbinger for the future</h2>
<p>Modelling suggests large-scale climate patterns are become more variable. This means this seemingly one-off heatwave may be a harbinger for the future under climate change. </p>
<p>In particular, the Arctic has been warming <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/factsheets/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Regional_Fact_Sheet_Polar_regions.pdf">twice as fast</a> as the rest of the world. This is because the melting sea ice reveals more ocean beneath, and the ocean absorbs more heat as it’s darker.</p>
<p>In fact, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects Arctic sea ice to continue its current retreat, with <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/factsheets/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Regional_Fact_Sheet_Polar_regions.pdf">ice-free summers</a> possible by the 2050s.</p>
<p>Antarctica’s future looks similarly concerning. The IPCC finds global warming between 2°C and 3°C this century would see the West Antarctic Ice Sheet <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/factsheets/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Regional_Fact_Sheet_Polar_regions.pdf">almost completely lost</a>. Bringing global emissions down to net zero as fast as possible will help avoid the worst impacts of climate change.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/each-antarctic-tourist-effectively-melts-83-tonnes-of-snow-new-research-177597">Each Antarctic tourist effectively melts 83 tonnes of snow – new research</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179659/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dana Bergstrom works for the Australian Antarctic Division and is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Wollongong. Her research and fieldwork in Antarctica was supported by the Australian Antarctic Division.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sharon Robinson works for the University of Wollongong. She receives funding from the Australian Research Council and Antarctic Science Grants. She is a member of the United Nations Environment Programme Environmental Effects Assessment Panel.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Alexander works for the Australian Antarctic Division and is part of the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership at the University of Tasmania. His Antarctic research was supported by the Australian Antarctic Division</span></em></p>This seemingly one-off heatwave may be a harbinger for the future under climate change.Dana M Bergstrom, Principal Research Scientist, University of WollongongSharon Robinson, Professor, University of WollongongSimon Alexander, Atmospheric scientist, University of TasmaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1780362022-03-08T00:59:47Z2022-03-08T00:59:47ZCurious Kids: what is the largest penguin that ever lived?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450137/original/file-20220305-16533-hib4bt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C8487%2C4988&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A life reconstruction of one of the largest penguins that ever lived, _Kumimanu biceae_.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.markwitton.co.uk/">Illustration by Mark Witton (used with permission, all other rights reserved)</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p><strong>What is the largest penguin that ever lived? – Casey, age 6, Perth</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/curious-kids-36782"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291898/original/file-20190911-190031-enlxbk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=90&fit=crop&dpr=1" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Hi Casey, thanks for this great question! </p>
<p>Today the largest living penguin is the emperor penguin, which lives in Antarctica and is about one metre tall. The appropriately named little penguin is the smallest, standing only about as high as a ruler.</p>
<p>But penguins have swum in Earth’s oceans for more than 62 million years – and they were not always these sizes. Long before humans walked the Earth, some penguins would have stood as tall as a grown-up person. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449415/original/file-20220302-13-16yt9na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Emperor penguins" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449415/original/file-20220302-13-16yt9na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449415/original/file-20220302-13-16yt9na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449415/original/file-20220302-13-16yt9na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449415/original/file-20220302-13-16yt9na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449415/original/file-20220302-13-16yt9na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449415/original/file-20220302-13-16yt9na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449415/original/file-20220302-13-16yt9na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Emperor penguins swim in the waters of Antarctica.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ianduffy/4133137522/in/album-72157622872433930/">Ian Duffy/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Diving in</h2>
<p>To understand how penguins once got so big, we need to go back to the very first ones. </p>
<p>The closest relatives of penguins today can actually fly through the air. These include petrels and the soaring albatrosses. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449421/original/file-20220302-17-kwigpd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449421/original/file-20220302-17-kwigpd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449421/original/file-20220302-17-kwigpd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449421/original/file-20220302-17-kwigpd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449421/original/file-20220302-17-kwigpd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449421/original/file-20220302-17-kwigpd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449421/original/file-20220302-17-kwigpd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449421/original/file-20220302-17-kwigpd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Penguins and petrels are close relatives.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ed Dunens/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While waddling penguins might seem quite different to these seabirds, they’re quite alike in a number of ways. They share similarities in their skeletons, and both share distant relatives (great, great grandparents going back millions of years) that flew in the air.</p>
<p>Penguins can’t fly in the air anymore. Instead, they “fly” through the water — and doing <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2013.13024">both well isn’t an option</a>.</p>
<p>For birds, water is a lot harder to fly through than air. But penguins have certain qualities that allow them to do this. </p>
<p>The wings of penguins are flippers. These are great for moving underwater, but not very helpful for flying above it. Their heavy bodies help them dive further and deeper so they can hunt for food. But being heavier makes flying in the air difficult. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-do-penguins-fly-underwater-162994">Curious Kids: do penguins fly underwater?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>While penguins’ distant relatives were small seabirds, over many years they gave up flight to become professional swimmers. The bigger they were, and the stronger their bones, the better they could dive. </p>
<p>Because penguins have heavier and stronger bones than air-flying birds, this means their bones are less likely to break. It also means we are more likely to find them as fossils (what’s left behind from ancient life) long after they die. </p>
<p>In fact, the bones of one kind of giant penguin (<em>Kairuku waewaeroa</em>) were discovered by <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2021-09-17/giant-penguin-fossil-found-by-schoolkids-new-zealand/100467506">school children</a>. </p>
<h2>Room to grow</h2>
<p>The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs (<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-birds-survived-the-dinosaur-killing-asteroid-97021">except birds!</a>) 66 million years ago gave the distant relatives of penguins the perfect chance to go swimming. </p>
<p>Many of the animals that would have eaten them in the sea were gone, which meant they could go underwater without worrying about being eaten. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/mannerings-penguin">oldest penguin bones</a> we have belonged to birds that lived only a few million years after the asteroid hit, and come from Aotearoa, or New Zealand. These are similar to the bones of today’s penguins, so we think penguins probably stopped flying in the air some time soon after the asteroid event.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/happy-6ft-ancient-penguins-were-as-tall-as-people-weve-discovered-the-species-that-started-the-downsizing-trend-128546">Happy 6ft: ancient penguins were as tall as people. We've discovered the species that started the downsizing trend</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Some of these first penguins <a href="https://www.canterburymuseum.com/about-us/media-releases/monster-penguin-find-in-waipara-north-canterbury/">were enormous</a>. One was the <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-zealand-discovery-of-fossilised-monster-bird-bones-reveals-a-colossal-ancient-penguin-89028">gigantic <em>Kumimanu biceae</em></a>, which was probably 1.7 metres tall (the same size as many human adults). </p>
<p><em>Kumimanu</em> may have been one of the largest penguins ever. It probably weighed 100kg, whereas the emperor penguin weighs less than half of that. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449425/original/file-20220302-23-6c96jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449425/original/file-20220302-23-6c96jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449425/original/file-20220302-23-6c96jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449425/original/file-20220302-23-6c96jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449425/original/file-20220302-23-6c96jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449425/original/file-20220302-23-6c96jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449425/original/file-20220302-23-6c96jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449425/original/file-20220302-23-6c96jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>Kumimanu biceae</em>, next to a human for scale.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">G Mayr/Senckenberg Research Institute</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>While many giant penguins lived in the millions of years after <em>Kumimanu</em>, the only penguin that may have been larger was the huge <em>Palaeeudyptes klekowskii</em>, which swam off the coast of Antarctica more than 34 million years ago. This penguin may have been <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25990-extinct-mega-penguin-was-tallest-and-heaviest-ever/">two metres tall and weighed 115kg!</a>. </p>
<p>As for what happened to giant penguins, they vanished about 15 million years ago and no one really knows why. There are still many questions, but with more fossil discoveries, we might find some answers!</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449429/original/file-20220302-15-1tu18x4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449429/original/file-20220302-15-1tu18x4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449429/original/file-20220302-15-1tu18x4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449429/original/file-20220302-15-1tu18x4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449429/original/file-20220302-15-1tu18x4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449429/original/file-20220302-15-1tu18x4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449429/original/file-20220302-15-1tu18x4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449429/original/file-20220302-15-1tu18x4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>Kairuku waewaeroa</em> was one of the last giant penguins.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Simone Giovanardi (used with permission)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/178036/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacob C. Blokland receives funding from The Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. </span></em></p>Some penguins would have been as tall (or even taller) than adults today.Jacob C. Blokland, Vertebrate Palaeontology PhD Candidate and Casual Academic, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1755272022-01-26T15:11:58Z2022-01-26T15:11:58ZEavesdropping on nature: why Africa needs more bioacoustics research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442185/original/file-20220124-25-6h373i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">African Penguins are among the species affected by noises made by seismic underwater exploration.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sergey Uryadnikov/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sound plays an important role in nature. It also helps researchers to study and interpret different landscapes and the species that live there. Most animals make sound; biologists often rely on chirps, squawks or whistles to describe and identify species or groups of species. They can also extract behavioural information from sound. For instance, researchers have found that the yellow-casqued hornbill in West Africa can <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2003.2619">distinguish predator-specific alarm calls</a> made by Diana monkeys. </p>
<p>Vocalisations can also simply indicate a species’ presence. A recording process called <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/69/1/15/5193506">passive acoustic monitoring</a> recently revealed the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/aqc.2973?casa_token=cArb1mhAqdsAAAAA%3Axup53SXtkn_XwNIYbtc0g-BzmIV3TyHJzgvMPSG3r8xxQ5r7vVb0wilRieAWeTEULHtVIhnGBQ0BcOhL">presence of the cusk-eel</a>, an elusive fish species, in a marine protected area in the Adriatic Sea.</p>
<p>The study of biological sound produced, transmitted or perceived by animals, both on land and in water, is called <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/with-bioacoustics-conservationists-try-to-save-birds-through-their-songs/2020/01/10/8b800048-0c9a-11ea-bd9d-c628fd48b3a0_story.html">bioacoustics</a>. The discipline can be traced back to the 1920s; it was formalised with the establishment of the <a href="https://www.ibac.info/">International Committee for Bioacoustics in 1956</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/experience-the-spectacular-sounds-of-a-murrumbidgee-wetland-erupting-with-life-as-water-returns-174423">Experience the spectacular sounds of a Murrumbidgee wetland erupting with life as water returns</a>
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<p>There are several advantages to sound as a study mechanism. Automated recording processes bolstered by technology allow scientists to record at remote sites or for extended periods of time. These processes also eliminate the effect that a human’s presence might have on their surroundings. And as technology has improved, recording devices have become more affordable for researchers and citizen scientists alike.</p>
<p>My co-authors and I <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09524622.2021.2021987?journalCode=tbio20">set out to assess</a> the state of bioacoustics research on the African continent. Our aim was to create a roadmap to help guide future work within the discipline on the continent. We analysed 727 publications – relatively broad, given that nothing of this scale had previously been done – dating from 1953 to mid-2020. </p>
<p>We found that most of the research related to land rather than marine or freshwater animals. We also found that eastern and southern Africa dominated the output for this discipline – but that a majority of researchers came from outside the continent. African-affiliated researchers have started closing that gap in the past 20 years. </p>
<p>There is plenty of work to do to ensure that other species, geographical areas and ecosystems across Africa are better understood through bioacoustics.</p>
<h2>Gaps highlight opportunities</h2>
<p>We accessed three major online databases and searched for scientific literature with varying keyword combinations. Publications that met our criteria were extracted and scanned for a range of information. This related largely to authorship, study site and study subject. Chronologically, the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00306525.1953.9633805">first piece</a> of research we identified dates back to 1953. In it, birdsong was used to describe spectacled weaver behaviour in South Africa. </p>
<p>Our record suggests that bioacoustics related research output has grown over time and especially since the turn of the millennium – in correlation with advances in technology and data storage. Nearly two-thirds of the studies we evaluated focused on mammals. </p>
<p>We detected biases within the mammalian class. Primate, and more specifically chimpanzee related research, has enjoyed a disproportionate amount of bioacoustics related attention. As a group, bats have also aroused considerable scientific curiosity; their echolocation behaviours are <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/2041-210X.13721?af=R">reliable species classifiers</a>. </p>
<p>A penchant for mammal-based research among biologists and ecologists <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-09084-6">isn’t news</a>. But we are flagging it because it raises concerns that conservation efforts are heavily skewed towards some species. This leaves other species at risk.</p>
<p>Our findings also suggest that more bioacoustics attention needs to be directed towards non-terrestrial habitats. Land-based studies made up close to 90% of our entire record. This ought to be addressed, given what human activity has done to the world’s oceans and freshwater systems. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aba4658">2021 review</a> published in the journal Science outlined the acoustic challenges our oceans face today. Along the South African coastline, for example, African penguins have been found to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-16569-x">evade noises</a> produced by the seismic exploration of gas and oil in the ocean. This has taken on even more relevance with oil giant Shell’s <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-59809821">recent attempts</a> to conduct exploratory activities near the country’s Wild Coast.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/are-seismic-surveys-driving-penguins-from-their-feeding-grounds-90864">Are seismic surveys driving penguins from their feeding grounds?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But it’s not just about assessing immediate threats. Acoustic monitoring can help supply high-quality data to regional or global biodiversity databases, which are designed to inform environmental management and policy. </p>
<p>We suggest that the comparatively slower uptake of underwater bioacoustics research on the African continent could be put down to the lack of affordable equipment and costs associated with deploying it. Equipment affordability issues are, at least, gradually being remedied through the development of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468067219300306">more cost-effective technology</a>. </p>
<h2>Regional differences</h2>
<p>On land, African bioacoustics research has been concentrated in certain regions. East and Southern Africa have, to now, hosted a disproportionately large amount of bioacoustics themed research compared to the rest of the continent. North Africa was strikingly underrepresented in our study. </p>
<p>On a more localised scale, protected areas and their relative ease of access for researchers have been key drivers of regional bioacoustic research efforts in Côte d’Ivoire’s Taϊ National Park and Uganda’s <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.172066">Budongo Central Forest Reserve</a>, for instance. These territories are well known for their primate populations, especially chimpanzees.</p>
<p>Critically, we weighed up African versus non-African affiliated contributions to the field. Authors attached to non-African institutions heavily outnumbered their African counterparts. African-affiliated contributors have only started closing that gap over the last 20 years or so.</p>
<h2>Building the field</h2>
<p>This research is meant to do more than just highlight gaps in the continent’s bioacoustics related output. Arguably more importantly, it was designed to aid, encourage and promote African capacity building and participation in an emerging field. This is in line with the work being undertaken by the <a href="https://africanbioacoustic.wixsite.com/abcommunity">African Bioacoustics Community</a>. The forum was established in 2018 to connect people working on bioacoustics on the African continent and is preparing to host its third ever conference this year.</p>
<p>Acoustic monitoring has been touted as a “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877343520300592">key monitoring solution</a>” in the pursuit of answers to biodiversity questions. For Africa this spells boundless potential.</p>
<p><em>Fannie Shabangu, marine biologist, South African Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries; Tess Gridley, principal scientist, Sea Search Research and Conservation; Heiko Wittmer, associate professor, Victoria University of Wellington and Stephen Marsland, professor, Victoria University of Wellington co-authored the research on which this article is based.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175527/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Frowin Becker receives funding from the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project. </span></em></p>There is plenty of work to do to ensure that other species, geographical areas and ecosystems across Africa are better understood through bioacoustics.Frowin Becker, PhD Candidate, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1654682021-08-03T15:11:15Z2021-08-03T15:11:15Z98% of emperor penguin colonies could be extinct by 2100 as ice melts – can Endangered Species Act protection save them?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414231/original/file-20210803-22-ek8tkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5134%2C3427&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Penguins are at risk as a warming climate affects sea ice in Antarctica.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/emperor-penguin-aptenodytes-forsteri-royalty-free-image/112780877">Raimund Linke/The Image Bank via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Emperor penguins thrive on Antarctica’s coastlines in icy conditions any human would find extreme. Yet, like Goldilocks, they have a narrow comfort zone: If there’s too much sea ice, trips to bring food from the ocean become long and arduous, and their chicks may starve. With too little sea ice, the chicks are at risk of drowning.</p>
<p>Climate change is now putting that delicate balance and potentially the entire species at risk.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15806">new study</a>, my colleagues and I show that if current global warming trends and government policies continue, Antarctica’s sea ice will decline at a rate that would dramatically reduce emperor penguin numbers to the point that almost all colonies would become quasi-extinct by 2100, with little chance of recovering.</p>
<p>That’s why the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service <a href="https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2021-15949.pdf">proposed to list</a> the emperor penguin as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. The proposal will be published in the Federal Register on Aug. 4, 2021, starting a 60-day public comment period.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A penguin chick snuggles under the legs of a parent." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414227/original/file-20210802-24-r5owgl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414227/original/file-20210802-24-r5owgl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414227/original/file-20210802-24-r5owgl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414227/original/file-20210802-24-r5owgl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414227/original/file-20210802-24-r5owgl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414227/original/file-20210802-24-r5owgl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414227/original/file-20210802-24-r5owgl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When the sea ice gets too thin, it can break out early and penguin chicks may drown.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/emperor-penguin-royalty-free-image/97387476?adppopup=true">Sylvain Cordier/DigitalVision via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The greatest threat emperor penguins face is climate change. It will disrupt the sea ice cover they rely on unless governments adopt policies that reduce the greenhouse gases driving global warming.</p>
<p>The U.S. Endangered Species Act has been used before to protect other species that are primarily at risk from climate change, including the <a href="https://www.fws.gov/alaska/pages/marine-mammals/polar-bear/polar-bears-and-esa">polar bear</a>, <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/listing-4-subspecies-ringed-seals-arctic-okhotsk-baltic-and-ladoga-under-esa">ringed seal</a> and <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/listing-20-reef-building-coral-species-under-esa">several species of coral</a>, which are all listed as threatened.</p>
<p>Emperor penguins don’t live on U.S. territory, so some of the Endangered Species Act’s measures meant to protect species’ habitats and prevent hunting them don’t directly apply. Being listed under the Endangered Species Act could still bring benefits, though. It could provide a way to reduce harm from U.S. fishing fleets that might operate <a href="https://www.ccamlr.org/en/organisation/home-page">in the region</a>. And, with <a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-donald-trump-climate-change-environment-and-nature-government-and-politics-1008b4ea1032f357757654ebdf4527cb">expected actions from the Biden administration</a>, the listing could eventually pressure U.S. agencies to take <a href="https://animal.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/Scientists-and-Legal-Scholars-Letter-on-the-Endangered-Species-Act-and-Climate-Change.pdf">actions to limit greenhouse gas emissions</a>.</p>
<h2>Marching toward extinction</h2>
<p>I first saw an emperor penguin when I visited <a href="https://vimeo.com/311684138">Pointe Géologie</a>, Antarctica, during my Ph.D. studies. As soon as I set foot on the island, before our team unpacked our gear, my colleagues and I went to visit the emperor penguin colony located only a couple of hundred meters from the French research station – the same colony featured in the movie “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0428803/">March of the Penguins</a>.” </p>
<p>We sat far away to observe them through binoculars, but after 15 minutes, a few penguins approached us.</p>
<p>People think that they are awkward, almost comical, with their hobbling gait, but emperors walk with a peaceful and serene grace across the sea ice. I can still feel them tugging on my shoelaces, their eyes flickering with curiosity. I hope my children and future generations have a chance to meet these masters of the frozen world.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/65b9V_iyZAs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Penguin curiosity meets a GoPro camera. <i>Credit: C. Marciau/IPEV/CNRS</i></span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.cebc.cnrs.fr/predateurs-marins/?lang=en">Researchers have studied the emperor penguins</a> around Pointe Géologie, in Terre Adélie, since the 1960s. Those decades of data are now helping scientists gauge the effects of anthropogenic climate change on the penguins, their sea ice habitat and their food sources.</p>
<p>The penguins <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2021.0097">breed on fast ice</a>, which is sea ice attached to land. But they hunt for food within the pack ice – sea ice floes that move with the wind or ocean currents and may merge. Sea ice is also important for resting, during their annual moult and to escape from predators.</p>
<p>The penguin population at Pointe Géologie declined by half in the late 1970s when <a href="https://doi.org/10.1890/05-0514">sea ice declined</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/35075554">more male emperor penguins died</a>, and the population never fully recovered from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0706.2009.17498.x">massive breeding failures</a> – something that has been occurring more frequently.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Chart of penguin pair decline and projection" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414239/original/file-20210803-15-18d89cc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414239/original/file-20210803-15-18d89cc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414239/original/file-20210803-15-18d89cc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414239/original/file-20210803-15-18d89cc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414239/original/file-20210803-15-18d89cc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414239/original/file-20210803-15-18d89cc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414239/original/file-20210803-15-18d89cc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The number of breeding pairs of emperor penguins at Pointe Géologie is projected to decline significantly in a world with high greenhouse gas emissions. The chart uses the RCP 8.5 climate scenario of high-emissions future.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gcb.14864">Jenouvrier et al., 2020</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To assess whether the emperor penguin could qualify for protection under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service encouraged an international team of scientists, policy experts, climate scientists and ecologists to provide <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15806">research and projections of the threats posed by climate change</a> to emperor penguins and their future survival.</p>
<h2>Every colony will be in decline by 2100</h2>
<p>Emperor penguins are adapted to their current environment, but the species has not evolved to survive the rapid effects of climate change that threaten to reshape its world. </p>
<p>Decades of studies by an international team of researchers have been instrumental in establishing the need for protection. </p>
<p>Seminal research I was involved in in 2009 warned that the colony of Pointe Géologie will be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0806638106">marching toward extinction</a> by the end of the century. And it won’t just be that colony. My colleagues and I in 2012 looked at <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033751">all known emperor penguin colonies</a> identified in images from space and determined that every colony will be declining by the end of the century if greenhouse gases continue their current course. We found that penguin behaviors that might help them <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2017.05.017">adapt to changing environmental conditions</a> couldn’t reverse the anticipated global decline.</p>
<p>Major environmental shifts, such as the late formation and early loss of the sea ice on which colonies are located, are already raising the risk.</p>
<p><img src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/1739/SeaIceandColonies_3scenarios.gif?1627936238" width="100%"></p><figure><figcaption><span class="caption">The projected status of emperor penguin colonies by 2100 and annual mean change of sea ice concentrations between the 20th and 21st centuries. Natalie Renier/WHOI, Jenouvrier et al. 2021</span></figcaption></figure><p></p>
<p>A dramatic example is the <a href="https://www.bas.ac.uk/media-post/catastrophic-breeding-failure-at-one-of-worlds-largest-emperor-penguin-colonies/">recent collapse of Halley Bay</a>, the second-largest emperor penguin colony in Antarctica. More than 10,000 chicks died in 2016 when <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102019000099">sea ice broke up early</a>. The colony has not yet recovered.</p>
<p>By including those extreme events, we projected that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15806">98% of colonies will be extinct by 2100</a> if greenhouse gas emissions continue their present course, and the global population will decline by 99% compared with its historical size.</p>
<h2>Meeting the Paris goal could save the penguins</h2>
<p>The results of the new study showed that if the world meets the Paris climate agreement targets, keeping warming to under 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 F) compared to pre-industrial temperatures, that could protect sufficient habitat to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14864">halt the emperor penguins’ decline</a>.</p>
<p>But the world isn’t on track to meet the Paris Agreement. According to one estimate, by Climate Action Tracker, countries’ current policy pathways have a <a href="https://climateactiontracker.org/global/cat-thermometer/">greater than 97% probability of exceeding 2 C</a> (3.6 F). With recent government announcements factored in, the increase is estimated to be around 2.4 C (4.3 F).</p>
<p>So it appears that the emperor penguin is the proverbial “canary in the coal mine.” The future of emperor penguins, and much of life on Earth, including humanity, ultimately depends upon the decisions made today. </p>
<p><em>Marine ecologist <a href="https://www.bas.ac.uk/profile/pnt/">Philip Trathan</a> of the British Antarctic Survey contributed to this article.</em></p>
<p>[<em>Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165468/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Jenouvrier receives funding from National Science Foundation, Grant/ Award Number: OPP 1744794; National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Grant/Award Number: 80NSSC20K1289.
</span></em></p>Emperor penguins survive in a ‘Goldilocks zone’ between too much sea ice and too little. A new study shows the risk they face from climate change.Stephanie Jenouvrier, Associate Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic InstitutionLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1629942021-07-30T04:15:53Z2021-07-30T04:15:53ZCurious Kids: do penguins fly underwater?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407382/original/file-20210621-35447-1dm6ko2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C18%2C6016%2C3989&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p>Do penguins fly underwater? - Rhys, age 7, Perth.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/curious-kids-36782"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291898/original/file-20190911-190031-enlxbk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=90&fit=crop&dpr=1" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Indeed they do. They can’t fly through the air but they can fly underwater. </p>
<p>In other words, a penguin uses the muscles in its chest to bring its special wings, called flippers, downwards. But then it uses the muscles between its shoulders to bring its flippers upwards.</p>
<p>Hummingbirds, which fly in the air, are the only other type of bird that use both the muscles in their chest and between their shoulders to move their wings. </p>
<p>Most birds only use the muscles in their chest. (For the adults in the audience, this is what scientists call a “powered downstroke”. Penguins, and hummingbirds, have a powered upstroke also, whereas other birds have a passive upstroke.)</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-if-trees-are-cut-down-in-the-city-where-will-possums-live-161810">Curious Kids: if trees are cut down in the city, where will possums live?</a>
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<p>A penguin has to work harder than other birds to fly. Even though they work hard, penguins move very fast underwater, especially when they are chasing food such as fish. </p>
<p>They keep streamlined, like a torpedo, with their feet close to their body and under their tail. But a penguin uses its feet, head and sometimes its tail when it wants to change direction. </p>
<p>So if a penguin wants to turn right, its right foot drops down and the penguin turns it head slightly to the right. If the penguin wants to turn left, its left foot comes down and it turns its head slightly to the left. The penguin may move its tail up when it wants to turn in either direction. If a penguin wants to stop, both its feet come down, its tail comes up and the penguin stops flapping its flippers. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-when-a-snake-sheds-its-skin-why-isnt-it-colourful-160997">Curious Kids: when a snake sheds its skin, why isn’t it colourful?</a>
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<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407383/original/file-20210621-22-18yg4pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407383/original/file-20210621-22-18yg4pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407383/original/file-20210621-22-18yg4pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407383/original/file-20210621-22-18yg4pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407383/original/file-20210621-22-18yg4pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407383/original/file-20210621-22-18yg4pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407383/original/file-20210621-22-18yg4pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407383/original/file-20210621-22-18yg4pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A penguin’s flippers can’t bend.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Penguins’ bodies are different to birds that fly in the air in other ways. Birds that fly in air have to be light, so some of their bones have special holes in them, a bit like a piece of Swiss cheese. But penguins don’t have to be light to fly underwater, so their bones are all solid. </p>
<p>Also, the wings of birds that fly in the air can bend. But a penguins’ flippers can’t bend, and this means they can fly strongly through the water without breaking their flippers. </p>
<p>Penguins have adapted to feed in the ocean but to also live on land, where they build nests, lay eggs and raise chicks. </p>
<p>They are truly amazing animals.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407384/original/file-20210621-35169-jz3b0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407384/original/file-20210621-35169-jz3b0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407384/original/file-20210621-35169-jz3b0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407384/original/file-20210621-35169-jz3b0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407384/original/file-20210621-35169-jz3b0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407384/original/file-20210621-35169-jz3b0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407384/original/file-20210621-35169-jz3b0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407384/original/file-20210621-35169-jz3b0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Penguins can change direction very fast when they are underwater.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p><em>If you’re a Curious Kid with a question you’d like an expert to answer, ask an adult to send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162994/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Belinda Cannell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>They can’t fly through the air but they can fly underwater.Belinda Cannell, Research fellow, Research Associate, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1619132021-06-11T15:31:18Z2021-06-11T15:31:18ZWe discovered what’s killing the world’s rarest penguin – and it could help us make a vaccine<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405667/original/file-20210610-19-19zcvem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4437%2C2955&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Yellow-eyed penguins are endemic to New Zealand.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/closeup-portrait-endangered-yellow-eyed-penguin-573212221">Michael Smith ITWP/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Yellow-eyed penguins are the most endangered penguin species in the world, with just <a href="https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/penguins/yellow-eyed-penguin-hoiho/">4,000 left in the wild</a>. Found only in New Zealand and its outlying islands, these birds can grow up to <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/birds/penguins/yellow-eyed_penguin.html">79cm tall and weigh 8.5kg</a>, which is similar to a one-year-old child. They’re easily identified by the pale-yellow band of feathers that extends from their eyes and around the backs of their heads.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405669/original/file-20210610-13-voq3iq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A map of New Zealand with yellow-eyed penguin colonies highlighted in red." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405669/original/file-20210610-13-voq3iq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405669/original/file-20210610-13-voq3iq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405669/original/file-20210610-13-voq3iq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405669/original/file-20210610-13-voq3iq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405669/original/file-20210610-13-voq3iq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405669/original/file-20210610-13-voq3iq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405669/original/file-20210610-13-voq3iq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The locations of yellow-eyed penguin colonies (red) in New Zealand.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-eyed_penguin#/media/File:Yellow-eyed_Penguin_distribution_map.png">Nrg800/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Their shrill calls during the mating season earned them their local name Hoiho, which means “<a href="https://www.yellow-eyedpenguin.org.nz/penguins/about-the-yellow-eyed-penguin/">noise shouter</a>” in Māori. Yellow-eyed penguins are great divers and mostly catch their food – small fish, molluscs and crustaceans – from the seabed. Unlike most of their kin, yellow-eyed penguins are not very social and often nest away from other penguins.</p>
<p>These withdrawn breeding pairs have been in <a href="https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/penguins/yellow-eyed-penguin-hoiho/#disease">sharp decline</a> for the last two decades, especially on islands to the north of their distribution where the population has declined by 65%. The primary cause is outbreaks of diphtheria-like infections that are particularly fatal to young chicks between one and 28 days old. The mouth and tongue of infected chicks are covered by a thick membrane, pus and ulcers that stop them from eating. The infection can spread to the entire body, resulting in sepsis.</p>
<p>Even when treated with a combination of antibiotics, infected birds often die. Up to 93% of yellow-eyed penguin chicks contract avian diphtheria every year in the northern population and <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/135521/Mystery-illness-strikes-penguins">up to 70% of them die</a>, threatening the future of the species.</p>
<p>Despite the alarming situation, scientists knew very little about the cause of avian diphtheria. But in our <a href="https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mSystems.00320-21">recently published study</a>, we identified the bacterium causing these infections, how it infects penguin chicks and how it might be treated to save the species from extinction. </p>
<h2>A familiar foe</h2>
<p>To identify the bacterium, my colleagues from the New Zealand Department of Conservation, University of Otago and Massey University collected swabs from the mouths of chicks in infected nests on the Otago peninsula on the east coast of New Zealand’s South Island. My colleagues and I isolated the bacteria in the laboratory and sequenced its DNA to create a family tree that showed how this bacteria is related to other species.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An adult penguin with yellowish face lying down with a black chick tucked into her side." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404130/original/file-20210602-17-4rzebr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404130/original/file-20210602-17-4rzebr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404130/original/file-20210602-17-4rzebr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404130/original/file-20210602-17-4rzebr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404130/original/file-20210602-17-4rzebr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404130/original/file-20210602-17-4rzebr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404130/original/file-20210602-17-4rzebr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A nesting mother and chick on the Otago Peninsula.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Megan Abbott</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The results were fascinating. The strains from these penguins belong to a new species which has not been reported before, within a group of bacteria called <a href="https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/215100-overview"><em>Corynebacterium</em></a>.</p>
<p>This group includes another species that causes <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1567134816302489?via%253Dihub">diphtheria</a> in humans. Diphtheria once killed up to <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/dip.html">20,000 people a year</a> in the US alone, many of them children, before a global vaccination campaign in the 1940s. Outbreaks are still reported globally which kill thousands of people every year.</p>
<h2>Potential vaccine</h2>
<p>Fortunately, we also found unique DNA sequences in the bacteria that helped us develop a simple test to identify the infection rapidly and more reliably than other methods. Being able to quickly detect these strains will help conservationists start early treatment of infected chicks, improving their chances of survival.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A pink microscope slide with purple bacterial cells." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405663/original/file-20210610-23-omrd5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405663/original/file-20210610-23-omrd5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405663/original/file-20210610-23-omrd5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405663/original/file-20210610-23-omrd5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405663/original/file-20210610-23-omrd5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405663/original/file-20210610-23-omrd5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405663/original/file-20210610-23-omrd5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Species of Corynebacterium can be deadly pathogens for humans and other animals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corynebacterium_diphtheriae#/media/File:Corynebacterium_diphtheriae_Gram_stain.jpg">Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Public Health Image Library</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The disease-causing genes in the bacteria from yellow-eyed penguins are similar to those in the species which cause human diphtheria. This helped us understand how this bacteria attaches and invades cells in the mouth of penguins.</p>
<p>One of these genes produces a protein called Phospholipase D that helps the bacteria survive once inside the host. This protein can be modified to protect animals from bacterial infections. This is very exciting, as it could help us develop a vaccine for the world’s most endangered species of penguin, and possibly, save it from extinction.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161913/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vartul Sangal does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The bacteria which causes the infection in yellow-eyed penguins is closely related to a human pathogen.Vartul Sangal, Senior Lecturer in Cellular and Molecular Sciences, Northumbria University, NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1544812021-02-10T19:08:04Z2021-02-10T19:08:04ZCOVID has reached Antarctica. Scientists are extremely concerned for its wildlife<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383453/original/file-20210210-23-amvtnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5184%2C3445&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In December, Antarctica lost its status as the last continent free of COVID-19 when 36 people at the Chilean Bernardo O'Higgins research station <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-22/coronavirus-cases-confirmed-in-antarctica/13007596">tested positive</a>. The station’s isolation from other bases and fewer researchers in the continent means the outbreak is now likely contained.</p>
<p>However, we know all too well how unpredictable — and pervasive — the virus can be. And while there’s currently less risk for humans in Antarctica, the potential for the COVID-19 virus to jump to Antarctica’s unique and already vulnerable wildlife has scientists extremely concerned. </p>
<p>We’re among a global team of 15 scientists <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720368832?via%3Dihub">who assessed</a> the risks of the COVID-19 virus to Antarctic wildlife, and the pathways the virus could take into the fragile ecosystem. Antarctic wildlife haven’t yet been tested for the COVID-19 virus, and if it does make its way into these charismatic animals, we don’t know how it could affect them or the continent’s ecosystem stability. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383450/original/file-20210210-21-1mpcf86.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A person looking at the red research station in the distance, by the ocean" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383450/original/file-20210210-21-1mpcf86.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383450/original/file-20210210-21-1mpcf86.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383450/original/file-20210210-21-1mpcf86.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383450/original/file-20210210-21-1mpcf86.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383450/original/file-20210210-21-1mpcf86.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383450/original/file-20210210-21-1mpcf86.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383450/original/file-20210210-21-1mpcf86.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bernardo O Higgins Station in Antarctica, where 36 people tested positive to COVID-19.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stone Monki/Wikimedia</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Jumping from animals to humans, and back to animals</h2>
<p>The COVID-19 virus is one of seven coronaviruses found in people — all have <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03165-9">animal origins</a> (dubbed “zoonoses”), and vary in their ability to infect different hosts. The COVID-19 virus is thought to have originated in an animal and spread to people through an unknown intermediate host, while the SARS outbreak of 2002-2004 likely came from raccoon dogs or civets. </p>
<p>Given the general ubiquity of coronaviruses and the rapid saturation of the global environment with the COVID-19 virus, it’s paramount we explore the risk for it to spread from people to other animals, known as “reverse zoonoses”.</p>
<p>The World Organisation for Animal Health is <a href="https://www.oie.int/en/scientific-expertise/specific-information-and-recommendations/questions-and-answers-on-2019novel-coronavirus/events-in-animals/">monitoring cases</a> of the COVID-19 virus in animals. To date, only a few species around the globe have been found to be susceptible, including mink, felines (such as lions, tigers and cats), dogs and a ferret. </p>
<p>Whether the animal gets sick and recovers depends on the species. For example, <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-your-pets-get-coronavirus-and-can-you-catch-it-from-them-135611">researchers found</a> infected adolescent cats got sick but could fight off the virus, while dogs were much more resistant. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-your-pets-get-coronavirus-and-can-you-catch-it-from-them-135611">Can your pets get coronavirus, and can you catch it from them?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Researchers and tourists</h2>
<p>While mink, dogs or cats are not in Antarctica, more than 100 million flying seabirds, 45% of the world’s penguin species, 50% of the world’s seal populations and 17% of the world’s whale and dolphin species <a href="https://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/animals/">inhabit the continent</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383452/original/file-20210210-13-1munuj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A tourist sits near a penguin and takes a photo" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383452/original/file-20210210-13-1munuj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383452/original/file-20210210-13-1munuj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383452/original/file-20210210-13-1munuj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383452/original/file-20210210-13-1munuj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383452/original/file-20210210-13-1munuj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383452/original/file-20210210-13-1munuj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383452/original/file-20210210-13-1munuj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tourists visit penguin roosts in large numbers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/117/36/22311">a 2020 study</a>, researchers ran computer simulations and found cetaceans — whales, dolphins or porpoises — have a high susceptibility of infection from the virus, based on the makeup of their genetic receptors to the virus. Seals and birds had a lower risk of infection. </p>
<p>We <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720368832?via%3Dihub">concluded</a> that direct contact with people poses the greatest risk for spreading the virus to wildlife, with researchers more likely vectors than tourists. Researchers have closer contact with wildlife: many Antarctic species are found near <a href="https://www.ats.aq/e/antarctictreaty.html">research stations</a>, and wildlife studies often require direct handling and close proximity to animals. </p>
<p>Tourists, however, are still a concerning vector, as they visit penguin roosts and seal haul-out sites (where seals rest or breed) in large numbers. For instance, a staggering <a href="https://iaato.org/information-resources/data-statistics/">73,991 tourists</a> travelled to the continent between October 2019 and April 2020, when COVID-19 was just emerging.</p>
<p>Each visitor to Antarctica carries millions of microbial passengers, such as bacteria, and many of these microbes are left behind when the visitors leave. Most are likely benign and probably die off. But if the pandemic has taught us anything, it takes only one powerful organism to jump hosts to cause a pandemic.</p>
<h2>How to protect Antarctic wildlife</h2>
<p>There are <a href="https://iaato.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Antarctic-Treaty-General-Guidelines.pdf">guidelines</a> for visitors to reduce the risk of introducing infectious microbes. This includes cleaning clothes and equipment before heading to Antarctica and between animal colonies, and keeping at least five metres away from animals. </p>
<p>These rules are no longer enough in COVID times, and more measures must be taken.</p>
<p>The first and most crucial step to protect Antarctic wildlife is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720368832?via%3Dihub">controlling human-to-human spread</a>, particularly at research stations. Everyone heading to Antarctica should be tested and quarantined prior to travelling, with regular ongoing tests throughout the season. The fewer people with COVID-19 in Antarctica, the less opportunity the virus has to jump to animal hosts. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383457/original/file-20210210-13-s4finj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A killer whale poking its head out the water near sea ice" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383457/original/file-20210210-13-s4finj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383457/original/file-20210210-13-s4finj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383457/original/file-20210210-13-s4finj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383457/original/file-20210210-13-s4finj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383457/original/file-20210210-13-s4finj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383457/original/file-20210210-13-s4finj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383457/original/file-20210210-13-s4finj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cetaceans, such as orcas, are more susceptible to COVID infections than sea birds and seals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Second, close contact with wildlife should be restricted to essential scientific purposes only. All handling procedures should be re-evaluated, given how much we just don’t know about the virus. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720368832?via%3Dihub">We recommend</a> all scientific personnel wear appropriate protective equipment (including masks) at all times when handling, or in close proximity to, Antarctic wildlife. <a href="https://www.wildlifehealthaustralia.com.au/Portals/0/Documents/Organisation/WHA_position_essential_wildlife_care_services.pdf">Similar recommendations</a> are in place for those working with wildlife in Australia.</p>
<p>Migrating animals that may have picked up COVID-19 from other parts of the world could also spread it to other wildlife in Antarctica. Skuas, for example, migrate to Antarctica from the South American coast, where there are enormous cases of COVID-19.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-wastewater-can-tell-us-where-the-next-outbreak-will-be-139917">Coronavirus: wastewater can tell us where the next outbreak will be</a>
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<p>And then there’s the issue of sewage. Around <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1751-8369.2008.00056.x">37% of bases</a> release untreated sewage directly into the Antarctic ecosystem. Meanwhile, an estimated <a href="https://www.asoc.org/storage/documents/Meetings/ATCM/XXXVI/Discharge_of_sewage_and_grey_water_from_vessels_in_Antarctic_Treaty_waters.pdf">57,000 to 114,000</a> litres of sewage per day is dumped from ships into the Southern Ocean.</p>
<p>Fragments of the COVID virus can be found in <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-wastewater-can-tell-us-where-the-next-outbreak-will-be-139917">wastewater</a>, but these fragments aren’t infectious, so sewage isn’t considered a transmission risk. However, there are other potentially dangerous microbes found in sewage that could be spread to animals, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/humans-are-polluting-the-environment-with-antibiotic-resistant-bacteria-and-im-finding-them-everywhere-150744">antibiotic-resistant bacteria</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383455/original/file-20210210-23-11wzf6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A huge cruise ship in icy Antarctic waters" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383455/original/file-20210210-23-11wzf6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383455/original/file-20210210-23-11wzf6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383455/original/file-20210210-23-11wzf6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383455/original/file-20210210-23-11wzf6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383455/original/file-20210210-23-11wzf6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383455/original/file-20210210-23-11wzf6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383455/original/file-20210210-23-11wzf6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ships dump 114,000 litres of sewage into the water, each day.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We can curb the general risk of microbes from sewage if the Antarctic Treaty formally recognises microbes as invasive species and a threat to the Antarctic ecosystem. This would support better biosecurity practices and environmental control of waste.</p>
<h2>Taking precautions</h2>
<p>In these early stages of the pandemic, scientists are scrambling to understand complexity of COVID-19 and the virus’s characteristics. Meanwhile, the virus <a href="https://theconversation.com/will-coronavirus-really-evolve-to-become-less-deadly-153817">continues to evolve</a>. </p>
<p>Until the true risk of cross-species transmission is known, precautions must be taken to reduce the risk of spread to all wildlife. We don’t want to see the human footprint becoming an epidemic among Antarctic wildlife, a scenario that can be mitigated by better processes and behaviours.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/humans-threaten-the-antarctic-peninsulas-fragile-ecosystem-a-marine-protected-area-is-long-overdue-147671">Humans threaten the Antarctic Peninsula's fragile ecosystem. A marine protected area is long overdue</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154481/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Power receives funding from The Australian Antarctic Division, Australian Research Council and Inspiring Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Meagan Dewar receives funding from Department of Environment and Energy (Australian Antarctic Science) </span></em></p>Over six months, 73,991 tourists visited the continent. The potential to spread coronavirus to penguins, whales and other wildlife is enormous.Michelle Power, Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie UniversityMeagan Dewar, Lecturer, Federation University AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1493252020-11-05T16:49:33Z2020-11-05T16:49:33ZHow we discovered three new species of penguin in the Southern Ocean<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367468/original/file-20201104-15-fj6caa.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">_P. poncetii_ in South Georgia.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gemma Clucas</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When you think of scientists discovering new species, you might imagine searching the Amazon rainforest for new types of <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200114104031.htm">insect</a> or the depths of the ocean for undiscovered <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/meet-the-newly-discovered-ocean-species-plastic">crustaceans</a>. But these days most new species we discover are found hiding in plain sight. </p>
<p>Such “hidden” species can look so similar to their relatives that they aren’t obviously a different species, yet are revealed as such based on differences in their DNA. These discoveries are made not by travelling the globe but in molecular genetics labs.</p>
<p>Thanks to a new abundance of genetic data, science is in the midst of a second wave of biodiversity discovery. In the past ten years, scientists have discovered new species of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-37311716">giraffes</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14921665">dolphins</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1055790317306887">birds</a>, and <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/new-species-of-orangutan-announced">orangutans</a>. And now my colleagues and I have identified three new species of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6973">penguins</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three penguins stood on a rock in front of a wall of ice" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367461/original/file-20201104-13-nsm3ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367461/original/file-20201104-13-nsm3ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367461/original/file-20201104-13-nsm3ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367461/original/file-20201104-13-nsm3ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367461/original/file-20201104-13-nsm3ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367461/original/file-20201104-13-nsm3ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367461/original/file-20201104-13-nsm3ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>P. ellsworthi</em> penguins on the Antarctic Peninsula.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gemma Clucas</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Following analysis of the DNA and morphology (shape) of the gentoo penguin, we’ve found that it’s not one species as previously thought but rather four independent species. This brings the total number of penguin species to 21, <a href="https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/">up from 18</a>, and along with it the potential for further discoveries.</p>
<p>In our study of gentoo penguins, we analysed genetic differences among colonies across the Southern Ocean, including from the Falkland Islands, South Georgia Island, <a href="https://theconversation.com/humans-threaten-the-antarctic-peninsulas-fragile-ecosystem-a-marine-protected-area-is-long-overdue-147671">the Antarctic Peninsula</a>, and Kerguelen Island. We were surprised to find that gentoo penguins from these four regions do not interbreed with each other and have become genetically distinct, to the point that an individual penguin’s origin can be identified by its DNA alone.</p>
<p>We didn’t expect this because other species of penguin, like the larger king penguin that overlaps in range with the gentoo, are known to interbreed between colonies separated by as much as <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mec.14896">7,500km of open ocean</a>. In fact, the degree of genetic divergence between the four gentoo penguin colonies is so great that we should consider them to be evolving independently of each other. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Group of penguins on a beach." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367464/original/file-20201104-21-caeqdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367464/original/file-20201104-21-caeqdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367464/original/file-20201104-21-caeqdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367464/original/file-20201104-21-caeqdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367464/original/file-20201104-21-caeqdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367464/original/file-20201104-21-caeqdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367464/original/file-20201104-21-caeqdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>P. papua</em> in the Falkland Islands.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gemma Clucas</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The four groups of penguins look superficially very similar. But when we measured their skulls, bills, flippers, and legs we found that they were significantly different in size, with those living on the Antarctic Peninsula being smallest and those on the Falkland Islands largest. </p>
<p>These physical and genetic differences are great enough that the former gentoo penguin (<em>Pygoscelis papua</em>) is now recognised as four distinct species: <em>P. papua</em> from the Falkland Islands, <em>P. ellsworthi</em> from the Antarctic Peninsula, <em>P. poncetii</em> from South Georgia, and <em>P. taeniata</em> from Kerguelen Island.</p>
<p>The four species inhabit distinct environmental conditions across a large range of latitudes. <em>P. ellsworthi</em> lives on the cold, icy Antarctic Peninsula at a latitude of around 65° south, in stark contrast to the milder conditions experienced by <em>P. taeniata</em> at 49° south. The four species also consume different diets, with the more southerly species eating more krill and fewer fish. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Penguin crying and flapping its wings on a beach." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367463/original/file-20201104-23-1mt7dtt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367463/original/file-20201104-23-1mt7dtt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367463/original/file-20201104-23-1mt7dtt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367463/original/file-20201104-23-1mt7dtt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367463/original/file-20201104-23-1mt7dtt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367463/original/file-20201104-23-1mt7dtt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367463/original/file-20201104-23-1mt7dtt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>P. poncetii</em> in South Georgia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gemma Clucas</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Now we need to understand how the four species have adapted to their distinct habitats and how they are likely to respond to environmental changes in the future.</p>
<p>The division of gentoo penguins has important implications for conservation. Gentoo penguins are listed as of “<a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22697755/132600694">least concern</a>” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. The total number of gentoo penguins has <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00300-020-02759-3">increased</a> over the past decade and the gentoo was thought to be the penguin species that may benefit most from climate change, even <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1890/11-1588.1">expanding its territory southward</a>.</p>
<p>But this growth in numbers is predominantly within the new species <em>P. ellsworthi</em> on the Antarctic Peninsula. Population assessments have not been done for South Georgia or Kerguelen Island since the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00300-020-02759-3">1980s</a>. As such, the conservation statuses of the new species <em>P. poncetii</em> and <em>P. taeniata</em> are unknown. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Group of penguins on rocks in front of wall of ice." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367465/original/file-20201104-19-1qd0p3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367465/original/file-20201104-19-1qd0p3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367465/original/file-20201104-19-1qd0p3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367465/original/file-20201104-19-1qd0p3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367465/original/file-20201104-19-1qd0p3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367465/original/file-20201104-19-1qd0p3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367465/original/file-20201104-19-1qd0p3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>P. ellsworthi</em> on the Antarctic Peninsula.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gemma Clucas</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Given their location on isolated islands far north of the Antarctic Peninsula, they are almost certainly experiencing different effects of climate change than the prosperous <em>P. ellsworthi</em>. The conservation status of all four species must be urgently assessed given ongoing environmental change <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-threatens-antarctic-krill-and-the-sea-life-that-depends-on-it-138436">across the Southern Ocean</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/emperor-penguins-could-march-to-extinction-if-nations-fail-to-halt-climate-change-126320">Emperor Penguins could march to extinction if nations fail to halt climate change</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<p>Extinctions from climate change and habitat loss are happening at a truly alarming pace. The discovery of three new species of penguin, arguably one of the most beloved animals on Earth, highlights how little we still understand about the amazing diversity of life on this planet. </p>
<p>We must continue to seek out new species to have the best chance of preserving biodiversity for future generations. Without these efforts, we face losing species that we never knew existed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/149325/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Younger receives funding from the British Ecological Society, the National Geographic Society the Linnean Society of London, and the Australian Antarctic Division.</span></em></p>The discovery that gentoo penguins are actually four distinct species has important implications for their conservation.Jane Younger, Research Fellow, Department of Biology & Biochemistry, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1487722020-10-27T21:12:37Z2020-10-27T21:12:37ZGiant ‘toothed’ birds flew over Antarctica 40 million to 50 million years ago<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365550/original/file-20201026-21-t2z6hk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C14%2C3249%2C2013&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Fossil remains indicate these birds had a wingspan of over 20 feet.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brian Choo</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Picture Antarctica today and what comes to mind? Large ice floes bobbing in the Southern Ocean? Maybe a remote outpost populated with scientists from around the world? Or perhaps colonies of penguins puttering amid vast open tracts of snow?</p>
<p>Fossils from Seymour Island, just off the Antarctic Peninsula, are painting a very different picture of what Antarctica looked like 40 to 50 million years ago – a time when the ecosystem was lusher and more diverse. Fossils of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-61973-5">frogs</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03115518.2011.565214">plants</a> such as ferns and conifers indicate Seymour Island was much warmer and less icy, while fossil remains from <a href="https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8268">marsupials and distant relatives of armadillos and anteaters</a> hint at the previous connections between Antarctica and other continents in the Southern Hemisphere.</p>
<p>There were also birds. Penguins were present then, as they are now, but fossil relatives of <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.13679/j.advps.2019.0014">ducks, falcons and albatrosses</a> have also been found in Antarctica. My <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=5CGShQUAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">colleagues</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=XlyfD9QAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">I</a> published an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-75248-6">article in 2020</a> revealing new information about the fossil group that would have dwarfed all the other birds on Seymour Island: the pelagornithids, or “bony-toothed” birds. </p>
<h2>Giants of the sky</h2>
<p>As their name suggests, these ancient birds had sharp, bony spikes protruding from sawlike jaws. Resembling teeth, these spikes would have helped them catch squid or fish. We also studied another remarkable feature of the pelagornithids – their imposing size.</p>
<p>The largest flying bird alive today is the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/group/albatrosses/">wandering albatross</a>, which has a wingspan that reaches 11 ½ feet. The Antarctic pelagornithids fossils we studied have a wingspan nearly double that – about 21 feet across. If you tipped a two-story building on its side, that’s about 20 feet.</p>
<p>Across Earth’s history, very few groups of vertebrates have achieved powered flight – and only two reached truly giant sizes: birds and a group of <a href="https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/pterosaurs-flight-in-the-age-of-dinosaurs/what-is-a-pterosaur">reptiles called pterosaurs</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365561/original/file-20201026-23-p2l76b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A model of an enormous prehistoric bird is mounted outdoor in the middle of a river. The wingspan reaches from bank to bank." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365561/original/file-20201026-23-p2l76b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365561/original/file-20201026-23-p2l76b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365561/original/file-20201026-23-p2l76b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365561/original/file-20201026-23-p2l76b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365561/original/file-20201026-23-p2l76b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365561/original/file-20201026-23-p2l76b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365561/original/file-20201026-23-p2l76b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Full-size model of a Quetzalcoatlus on display at JuraPark in Baltow, Poland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Kecalkoatl_%28Quetzalcoatlus%29_-_Baltow_%281%29.JPG">Aneta Leszkiewicz/Wikimedia</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Pterosaurs ruled the skies during the Mesozoic Era (252 million to 66 million years ago), the same period that dinosaurs roamed the planet, and they reached hard-to-believe dimensions. <a href="https://www.wired.com/2013/11/absurd-creature-of-the-week-quetz/">Quetzalcoatlus</a> stood 16 feet tall and had a colossal 33-foot wingspan.</p>
<h2>Birds get their opportunity</h2>
<p>Birds originated while dinosaurs and pterosaurs were still roaming the planet. But when an <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/dinosaur-killing-asteroid-impact-chicxulub-crater-timeline-destruction-180973075/">asteroid struck the Yucatan Peninsula 66 million years ago</a>, dinosaurs and pterosaurs both perished. Some <a href="https://www.audubon.org/news/how-birds-survived-asteroid-impact-wiped-out-dinosaurs">select birds survived</a>, though. These survivors diversified into the thousands of bird species alive today. Pelagornithids evolved in the period right after dinosaur and pterosaur extinction, when competition for food was lessened. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/spp2.1284">The earliest pelagornithid remains</a>, recovered from 62-million-year-old sediments in New Zealand, were about the size of modern gulls. The first giant pelagornithids, the ones in our study, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-75248-6">took flight over Antarctica about 10 million years later</a>, in a period called the Eocene Epoch (56 million to 33.9 million years ago). In addition to these specimens, fossilized remains from other pelagornithids have been found on every continent. </p>
<p>Pelagornithids lasted for about 60 million years before going extinct just before the Pleistocene Epoch (2.5 million to 11,700 years ago). No one knows exactly why, though, because few fossil records have been recovered from the period at the end of their reign. Some paleontologists cite <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2011.562268">climate change as a possible factor</a>.</p>
<h2>Piecing it together</h2>
<p>The fossils we studied are fragments of whole bones collected by paleontologists from the University of California at Riverside in the 1980s. In 2003, the specimens were transferred to Berkeley, where they now reside in the <a href="https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/">University of California Museum of Paleontology</a>. </p>
<p>There isn’t enough material from Antarctica to rebuild an entire skeleton, but by comparing the fossil fragments with similar elements from more complete individuals, we were able to assess their size. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365552/original/file-20201026-17-1koc1h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Photo of a fossil fragment of a jawbone section that has worn toothlike projections. Line drawing around it illustrates where in the jaw it would have fit." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365552/original/file-20201026-17-1koc1h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365552/original/file-20201026-17-1koc1h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=573&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365552/original/file-20201026-17-1koc1h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=573&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365552/original/file-20201026-17-1koc1h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=573&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365552/original/file-20201026-17-1koc1h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365552/original/file-20201026-17-1koc1h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365552/original/file-20201026-17-1koc1h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In life, the pelagornithid would have had numerous ‘teeth,’ making it a formidable predator.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Peter Kloess</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We estimate the pelagornithid’s skull would have been about 2 feet long. A fragment of one bird’s lower jaw preserves some of the “pseudoteeth” that would have each measured up to an inch tall. The spacing of those “teeth” and other measurements of the jaw show this fragment came from an individual as big as, if not bigger than, the largest known pelagornithids. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Further evidence of the size of these Antarctic birds comes from a second pelagornithid fossil, from a different location on Seymour Island. A section of a foot bone, called a tarsometatarsus, is the largest specimen known for the entire extinct group. </p>
<p>These pelagornithid fossil findings emphasize the importance of natural history collections. Successful field expeditions result in a wealth of material brought back to a museum or repository – but the time required to prepare, study and publish on fossils means these institutions typically <a href="https://theconversation.com/digitizing-the-vast-dark-data-in-museum-fossil-collections-102833">hold many more specimens than they can display</a>. Important discoveries can be made by collecting specimens on expeditions in remote locations, no doubt. But equally important discoveries can be made by simply processing the backlog of specimens already on hand.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148772/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter A. Kloess does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Paleontologists have discovered fossil remains belonging to an enormous ‘toothed’ bird that lived for a period of about 60 million years after dinosaurs.Peter A. Kloess, Doctoral Candidate, Integrative Biology, University of California, BerkeleyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1325272020-03-31T14:05:01Z2020-03-31T14:05:01ZNew discovery: penguins vocalise under water when they hunt<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319244/original/file-20200309-118881-1i3w8wb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">King Penguins at sea.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Dickens</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Penguins, like all seabirds, are known to be highly vocal on land where they come to breed. They use these vocalisations to help them <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rspb.2000.1112">recognise</a> their mate and kin. </p>
<p>Outside of the breeding season, seabirds spend most of their life at sea and are adapted to the marine environment where they feed. Penguins are very unique among seabirds for their extreme diving abilities. They can perform series of dives to depths of between 20 and 500m (depending on the species) in search of fish, krill, or squid.</p>
<p>Given the penguins’ diving abilities, we wanted to know if they produced sound underwater. To do this, our Marine Apex Predator Research Unit <a href="https://mapru.mandela.ac.za">(MAPRU)</a> team at Nelson Mandela University (South Africa) attached small video loggers, with built-in microphones, on the back of three species of penguins: the King penguin, the Gentoo penguin and the Macaroni penguin.</p>
<p>Our study <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/8240/">provides</a> the first evidence that penguins emit sounds under water when they hunt.</p>
<h2>Recording penguins at sea</h2>
<p>Because of recording difficulties, very little was previously known about the vocalisations of penguins when they are at sea. However, thanks to recent developments in technology, such observation <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ibi.12806">becomes accessible</a>, in particular through the use of miniaturised penguin-borne video loggers.</p>
<p>We used video loggers and recorded 203 underwater vocalisations from all three species over almost five hours of underwater footage: 34 from two King penguins, a single one from a Macaroni penguin and 168 from Gentoo penguins. </p>
<p>These species were chosen because they reflect the diversity of feeding strategies in penguins. The King penguin is specialised to feed on fish at a substantial depth (<a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1890/0012-9658%281998%29079%5B1905%3AFSOKPA%5D2.0.CO%3B2">200m</a>), whereas the Macaroni penguin feeds mostly on schooling krill within the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00300-010-0950-5">first 10m of the water column</a>. In contrast, the Gentoo penguin displays a very diverse foraging strategy, feeding on <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00227-017-3113-1">all sorts of prey</a> at <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00227-016-3066-9">all depths</a>.</p>
<p>The birds were caught as they left their breeding colonies at Marion Island (a sub-Antarctic island off South Africa) on the way out to the sea. We then retrieved the cameras after a single foraging trip. </p>
<p>We found that all vocalisations were short and emitted during dives when the penguin was hunting. Most vocalisations (73%) happened during the bottom phase of the dives. This is where penguins <a href="https://jeb.biologists.org/content/213/22/3874.short">mostly</a> catch their food, as opposed to the descent and ascent. </p>
<p>Here is a video showing a full dive by a King penguin, as observed from the penguin-borne video loggers:</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2qp_51XO4ao?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Here is a short clip showing only a few underwater vocalisations associated with prey capture:</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/024DafCNoIg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>More than 50% of the vocalisations were directly associated with a hunting behaviour: immediately after they had accelerated (<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00227-005-0188-x">chasing prey</a>) or immediately after an attempt at catching prey.</p>
<p>Because vocalisations were produced by all three species of penguins, it suggests that underwater vocal behaviour may exist in other penguin species. The vocalisations were also recorded in higher proportion when penguins were feeding on fish, compared to krill and squid. This suggests they could be more common in penguins that feed on fish.</p>
<h2>Unexpected?</h2>
<p>Our findings on their vocal behaviour were totally unexpected, though some of the penguin <a href="https://www.cb.universite-paris-saclay.fr/">acoustics experts</a> on our team in France had their suspicions about what we might discover.</p>
<p>We already knew that the use of vocalisations at the sea surface was related to group formation in the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/g/gentoo-penguin/">Gentoo penguins</a> and that African penguins vocalise from the sea surface <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ibi.12806">mostly when</a> commuting (possibly to keep contact with one another) and foraging on bait-balls (possibly to synchronise their behaviours). </p>
<p>There is also evidence which shows that other air-breathing marine predators – such as <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-1-4612-1150-1_4">dolphins</a>, <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?hl=fr&lr=&id=McNEUgU8Q58C&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=Riedman+M.+1990.+The+Pinnipeds:++Seals,+Sea+Lions,+and+Walruses.+Berkeley:+University+of+California+Press.&ots=hq3uwPw1kM&sig=Wg_UlpgzOHAYF1zJ3eriPUxU-44&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Riedman%20M.%201990.%20The%20Pinnipeds%3A%20Seals%2C%20Sea%20Lions%2C%20and%20Walruses.%20Berkeley%3A%20University%20of%20California%20Press.&f=false">seals</a> and <a href="https://bioone.org/journals/Copeia/volume-105/issue-1/CE-16-407/First-Evidence-of-the-Pig-nosed-Turtle-Carettochelys-insculpta-Vocalizing/10.1643/CE-16-407.short">marine turtles</a> – produce sound under water. So why not penguins as well?</p>
<h2>Door open for future research</h2>
<p>From our observations, new questions have arisen. For example, how are penguins able to produce such sound under water, given the high pressure at depth? And why are they vocalising under water? Are all these vocalisations signalling the same information? Do they produce other underwater vocalisations in different contexts? Are they related to physiological needs for a predator diving and feeding in apnoea – to <a href="https://jeb.biologists.org/content/205/9/1189">adjust buoyancy</a>? Could they have a function in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ibi.12806">social interactions</a>? Could they be part of a hunting technique and be used to <a href="https://afspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1577/1548-8675%281992%29012%3C0667%3AROBHTH%3E2.3.CO%3B2">startle prey</a>? </p>
<p>We hope recent developments in technology will continue to provide more insights into the penguins’ fascinating behaviour.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132527/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andréa Thiebault receives research funding from South Africa's National Research Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pierre Pistorius receives research funding from South Africa's National Research Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Isabelle Charrier and Thierry Aubin do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>This study provides the first evidence that penguins emit sounds underwater when they hunt.Andréa Thiebault, Postdoctoral fellow, Nelson Mandela UniversityIsabelle Charrier, Chercheuse CNRS en bioacoustique, Université Paris-SaclayPierre Pistorius, Professor , Nelson Mandela UniversityThierry Aubin, Senior Scientist, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1285462019-12-11T02:33:48Z2019-12-11T02:33:48ZHappy 6ft: ancient penguins were as tall as people. We’ve discovered the species that started the downsizing trend<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306004/original/file-20191210-95153-yrojtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2074%2C3000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The newly discovered _Kupoupou stilwelli_ would have once swam in the waters around Chatham Island near New Zealand.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Illustration by Jacob Blokland</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A new species of extinct penguin has been discovered. It’s helping us bridge the gap between modern penguins and their counterparts from the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/Paleocene-Epoch">Paleocene epoch</a> - the 10-million-year period following dinosaur extinction.</p>
<p>The world’s oldest known penguins existed only a few million years after the mass-extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs – <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-birds-survived-the-dinosaur-killing-asteroid-97021">except for birds</a>, the only dinosaurs that didn’t go extinct.</p>
<p>Some of these earliest penguins had <a href="http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/mannerings-penguin">longer legs</a> than their living relatives. And some species, including the colossal <em>Kumimanu biceae</em>, would have rivalled the size of you or I. </p>
<p>Published in the journal Palaeontologia Electronica, our <a href="https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2019/2773-chatham-island-penguins">research</a> describes a unique, archaic penguin species that lived alongside these giant early species, between 62.5 and 60 million years ago.</p>
<p>Unlike its huge counterparts, <em>Kupoupou stilwelli</em> was only about the size of a modern <a href="http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/king-penguin">king penguin</a>. It also had leg bone proportions akin to living penguins. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-zealand-discovery-of-fossilised-monster-bird-bones-reveals-a-colossal-ancient-penguin-89028">New Zealand discovery of fossilised 'monster bird' bones reveals a colossal, ancient penguin</a>
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<h2>Agile ancient divers</h2>
<p>Penguins today are well-adapted for a largely aquatic lifestyle. </p>
<p>They’re specialised for flying seamlessly through water – a medium 800 times denser than air. Modern penguins have dense bones to counteract buoyancy, and flat, wide, flipper-like wings with stiffened joints which powerfully propel them underwater.</p>
<p>The oldest penguins we know of had already begun to fly down this watery path.</p>
<p><em>Kupoupou</em> was no exception. Although its flattened wing bones weren’t as wide or stiff as its modern relatives, CT scans of <em>Kupoupou</em> bones reveal they were dense, too. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306018/original/file-20191210-95125-ftapa9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306018/original/file-20191210-95125-ftapa9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306018/original/file-20191210-95125-ftapa9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=856&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306018/original/file-20191210-95125-ftapa9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=856&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306018/original/file-20191210-95125-ftapa9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=856&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306018/original/file-20191210-95125-ftapa9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1076&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306018/original/file-20191210-95125-ftapa9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1076&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306018/original/file-20191210-95125-ftapa9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1076&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An artistic interpretation of <em>Kupoupou stilwelli</em>, swimming in the seas around what would one day be known as Chatham Island.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jacob Blokland / Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Importantly, <em>Kupoupou</em> is the first <em>non-giant</em> penguin species discovered to have relatively short legs, similar to penguins today. </p>
<p>Modern penguins use their short hind limbs for waddling on land. But in water, these short legs allow a hydrodynamic shape that maximises swimming efficiency and helps the bird steer. </p>
<p>It could be <em>Kupoupou</em> used its legs in a similar way, and was likely a good swimmer.</p>
<p>These short legs coincide with the <em>Kupoupou’s</em> stout and short tarsometatarsus (a foot bone unique to birds, made out of fused elements), which is distinctly different from the <a href="http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/mannerings-penguin">longer bones found in the feet of other</a> similar-sized Paleocene species.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/when-mammals-took-to-water-they-needed-a-few-tricks-to-eat-their-underwater-prey-73770">When mammals took to water they needed a few tricks to eat their underwater prey</a>
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<p>Other giant penguins alive at that time had shorter legs like <em>Kupoupou</em>, and their greater mass possibly allowed them to forage even deeper in the aquatic realm.</p>
<p>What makes <em>Kupoupou</em> unique is that it’s the oldest species known to resemble living penguins in <em>both</em> size and leg proportions. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306104/original/file-20191210-95120-oxf7a4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306104/original/file-20191210-95120-oxf7a4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306104/original/file-20191210-95120-oxf7a4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306104/original/file-20191210-95120-oxf7a4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306104/original/file-20191210-95120-oxf7a4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306104/original/file-20191210-95120-oxf7a4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306104/original/file-20191210-95120-oxf7a4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306104/original/file-20191210-95120-oxf7a4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The general evolutionary position of early penguins, including <em>Kupoupou</em>, compared to modern penguins and their closest living relatives, tubenosed birds (such as albatrosses and shearwaters). The right-hand images illustrate differences in wing and foot (tarsometatarsus) bone proportions between typical tubenoses, <em>Kupoupou</em>, and modern penguins. The bones are not to scale.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jacob Blokland / Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How we made our discovery</h2>
<p>In 2003, Monash University Associate Professor Jeffrey Stilwell discovered a variety of fossils on coastal platforms at Chatham Island, a landmass 800km east of New Zealand’s South Island. </p>
<p>An assortment of fossils were <a href="https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/the-lost-world-of-rekohu-unlocking-ancient-secrets-of-the-chatham-islands/">collected during expeditions</a> over the next several years, ranging from isolated bones to partial skeletons encased within hard rock. Some of this material appeared to belong to long-extinct penguins.</p>
<p>Exposed and isolated bones could be studied directly. However, for bones of single individuals surrounded by hard rock, CT scanning was required to virtually reveal what lay inside.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306015/original/file-20191210-95130-1mnnqey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306015/original/file-20191210-95130-1mnnqey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306015/original/file-20191210-95130-1mnnqey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306015/original/file-20191210-95130-1mnnqey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306015/original/file-20191210-95130-1mnnqey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306015/original/file-20191210-95130-1mnnqey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306015/original/file-20191210-95130-1mnnqey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306015/original/file-20191210-95130-1mnnqey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">CT scanning helped us virtually model bone material that lay within hard rock.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jacob Blokland / Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Using these methods, we were able to identify at least two species of ancient penguin from Chatham Island. </p>
<p>The newly named species, <em>Kupoupou stilwelli</em>, was represented by multiple specimens consisting of numerous wing and leg elements. “Kupoupou” means diving bird in Te Re Moriori, while “stilwelli” honours Stilwell, who organised and led the parties involved in the fossil collections. </p>
<p>By today’s standards <em>Kupoupou</em> was large (although likely not exceeding one metre). That said, it was <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25990-extinct-mega-penguin-was-tallest-and-heaviest-ever/">certainly dwarfed</a> by many other fossil penguins from throughout the entire fossil record, with the oldest being around the same age of <em>Kupoupou</em> and the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/2/120227-new-giant-penguins-species-science-ksepka-new-zealand/">youngest</a> living about 25-million-years ago. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/old-bones-reveal-new-evidence-about-the-role-of-islands-in-penguin-evolution-110959">Old bones reveal new evidence about the role of islands in penguin evolution</a>
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<p>However, because we do not have the full skeleton for <em>Kupoupou</em>, and because penguin fossils are often of different proportions to the bones of living penguins, exact size estimates for these ancient birds must be taken with caution.</p>
<p>Other bones revealed <em>Kupoupou</em> lived alongside at least one other penguin on Chatham Island, which is slightly larger and more robust. However, these fossils were not named as a new species because the skeleton was too incomplete. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306045/original/file-20191210-95173-44uza9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306045/original/file-20191210-95173-44uza9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306045/original/file-20191210-95173-44uza9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306045/original/file-20191210-95173-44uza9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306045/original/file-20191210-95173-44uza9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306045/original/file-20191210-95173-44uza9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306045/original/file-20191210-95173-44uza9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306045/original/file-20191210-95173-44uza9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An artistic rendition of early Chatham Island penguins upon a coastal outcrop.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jacob Blokland / Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Another piece of the penguin puzzle</h2>
<p>The ancestors of penguins rapidly radiated into empty oceans following the mass-extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs.</p>
<p>These Chatham Island fossils add to the already large diversity of penguins that lived only a few million years after this event, all of which – apart from <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016699505000768"><em>Crossvallia unienwillia</em> </a> – were from New Zealand. </p>
<p>This massive diversity in the eastern region of New Zealand’s South Island adds to the hypothesis that penguins first evolved in this region. </p>
<p>It also <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00114-017-1441-0">supports the idea</a> that penguins branched from the lineage leading to their closest living relatives, such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procellariiformes">albatrosses and petrels</a>, before dinosaurs went extinct.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128546/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacob Blokland receives funding from The Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship.
</span></em></p>This newly discovered species is the oldest one known to resemble today’s penguins in both size and leg proportions, unlike its giant co-habitants at the time.Jacob C. Blokland, Palaeontology PhD Candidate and Casual Academic, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1263202019-11-07T19:12:34Z2019-11-07T19:12:34ZEmperor Penguins could march to extinction if nations fail to halt climate change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300526/original/file-20191106-12506-1t8jlj1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5607%2C3732&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Emperor Penguin in Antarctica. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephanie Jenouvrier</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The concept of a <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/story-real-canary-coal-mine-180961570/">canary in a coal mine</a> – a sensitive species that provides an alert to danger – originated with British miners, who carried actual canaries underground through the mid-1980s to detect the presence of deadly carbon monoxide gas. Today another bird, the Emperor Penguin, is providing a similar warning about the planetary effects of burning fossil fuels.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://web.whoi.edu/jenouvrier/">seabird ecologist</a>, I develop mathematical models to understand and predict <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=E9vG0JoAAAAJ&hl=en">how seabirds respond to environmental change</a>. My research integrates many areas of science, including the expertise of <a href="https://staff.ucar.edu/users/mholland">climatologists</a>, to improve our ability to anticipate future ecological consequences of climate change. </p>
<p>Most recently, I worked with colleagues to combine what we know about the life history of Emperor Penguins with different potential <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL069563">climate scenarios</a> outlined in the 2015 <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement">Paris Agreement</a>, to combat climate change and adapt to its effects. We wanted to understand how climate change could affect this iconic species, whose unique life habits were documented in the award-winning film “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0428803/">March of the Penguins</a>.” </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14864">newly published study</a> found that if climate change continues at its current rate, Emperor Penguins could virtually disappear by the year 2100 due to loss of Antarctic sea ice. However, a more aggressive global climate policy can halt the penguins’ march to extinction. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300527/original/file-20191106-12521-1x20i4x.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300527/original/file-20191106-12521-1x20i4x.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300527/original/file-20191106-12521-1x20i4x.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300527/original/file-20191106-12521-1x20i4x.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300527/original/file-20191106-12521-1x20i4x.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300527/original/file-20191106-12521-1x20i4x.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300527/original/file-20191106-12521-1x20i4x.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300527/original/file-20191106-12521-1x20i4x.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Emperor Penguins breeding on sea ice in Terre Adélie, Antarctica.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephanie Jenouvrier</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere</h2>
<p>As many scientific reports have shown, human activities are increasing carbon dioxide concentrations in Earth’s atmosphere, which is <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/">warming the planet</a>. Today atmospheric CO2 levels stand at slightly over 410 parts per million, well above anything the planet has experienced in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1692-3">millions of years</a>. </p>
<p>If this trend continues, scientists project that CO2 in the atmosphere could reach 950 parts per million by 2100. These conditions would produce <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/">a very different world</a> from today’s. </p>
<p>Emperor Penguins are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108216">living indicators</a> whose population trends can illustrate the consequences of these changes. Although they are found in Antarctica, far from human civilization, they live in such delicate balance with their rapidly changing environment that they have become modern-day canaries. </p>
<h2>A fate tied to sea ice</h2>
<p>I have spent almost 20 years studying Emperor Penguins’ unique adaptations to the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1890/08-2289.1">harsh conditions of their sea ice home</a>. Each year, the surface of the ocean around Antarctica freezes over in the winter and melts back in summer. Penguins use the ice as a home base for breeding, feeding and molting, arriving at their colony from ocean waters in March or April after sea ice has formed for the Southern Hemisphere’s winter season. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300691/original/file-20191107-10952-133d77a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300691/original/file-20191107-10952-133d77a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300691/original/file-20191107-10952-133d77a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300691/original/file-20191107-10952-133d77a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300691/original/file-20191107-10952-133d77a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300691/original/file-20191107-10952-133d77a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300691/original/file-20191107-10952-133d77a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300691/original/file-20191107-10952-133d77a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">54 known Emperor Penguin colonies around Antarctica (black dots) and sea ice cover (blue color).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephanie Jenouvrier</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In mid-May the female lays a single egg. Throughout the winter, males keep the eggs warm while females make a long trek to open water to feed during the most unforgiving weather on Earth.</p>
<p>When female penguins return to their newly hatched chicks with food, the males have fasted for four months and lost almost half their weight. After the egg hatches, both parents take turns feeding and protecting their chick. In September, the adults leave their young so that they can both forage to meet their chick’s growing appetite. In December, everyone leaves the colony and returns to the ocean. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/k0u67Wk_hJ0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Emperor Penguin fathers incubate a single egg until it hatches.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Throughout this annual cycle, the penguins rely on a sea ice “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02744.x">Goldilocks zone</a>” of conditions to thrive. They need openings in the ice that provide access to the water so they can feed, but also a thick, stable platform of ice to raise their chicks. </p>
<h2>Penguin population trends</h2>
<p>For more than 60 years, scientists have extensively studied one Emperor Penguin colony in Antarctica, called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/35075554">Terre Adélie</a>. This research has enabled us to understand how sea ice conditions affect the birds’ <a href="https://doi.org/10.1890/05-0514">population dynamics</a>. In the 1970s, for example, the population experienced a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2004.2978">dramatic decline</a> when several consecutive years of low sea ice cover caused <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/35075554">widespread deaths</a> among male penguins. </p>
<p>Over the past 10 years, my colleagues and I have combined what we know about these relationships between sea ice and fluctuations in penguin life histories to create a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/10.1086/652436.pdf">demographic model</a> that allows us to understand how sea ice conditions affect the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02744.x">abundance of Emperor Penguins</a>, and to project their numbers based on forecasts of future sea ice cover in Antarctica.</p>
<p>Once we confirmed that our model <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2280">successfully reproduced past observed trends</a> in Emperor Penguin populations around all Antarctica, we expanded our analysis into a species-level threat assessment.</p>
<h2>Climate conditions determine emperor penguins’ fate</h2>
<p>When we used a climate model linked to our population model to project what is likely to happen to sea ice if greenhouse gas emissions continue on their present trend, we found that all 54 known Emperor Penguin colonies would be in decline by 2100, and 80% of them would be quasi-extinct. Accordingly, we estimate that the total number of Emperor Penguins will decline by 86% relative to its <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033751">current size</a> of roughly 250,000 if nations fail to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Without action to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions, sea ice loss (shown in blue) will eradicate most Emperor Penguin colonies by 2100.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephanie Jenouvrier</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, if the global community acts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and succeeds in stabilizing average global temperatures at 1.5 degrees Celsius (3 degrees Faherenheit) above pre-industrial levels, we estimate that Emperor Penguin numbers would decline by 31% – still drastic, but viable.</p>
<p>Less-stringent cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, leading to a global temperature rise of 2°C, would result in a 44% decline. </p>
<p>Our model indicates that these population declines will occur predominately in the first half of this century. Nonetheless, in a scenario in which the world meets the Paris climate targets, we project that the global Emperor Penguin population would nearly stabilize by 2100, and that viable refuges would remain available to support some colonies. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300560/original/file-20191107-12470-tqlnju.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300560/original/file-20191107-12470-tqlnju.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300560/original/file-20191107-12470-tqlnju.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300560/original/file-20191107-12470-tqlnju.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300560/original/file-20191107-12470-tqlnju.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300560/original/file-20191107-12470-tqlnju.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300560/original/file-20191107-12470-tqlnju.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300560/original/file-20191107-12470-tqlnju.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Global action to limit climate change through 2100 could greatly improve Emperor Penguins’ persistence/viability.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephanie Jenouvrier</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In a changing climate, individual penguins may move to new locations to find more suitable conditions. Our population model included complex <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2017.05.017">dispersal processes</a> to account for these movements. However, we find that these actions are not enough to offset climate-driven global population declines. In short, global climate policy has much more influence over the future of Emperor Penguins than the penguins’ ability to move to better habitat.</p>
<p>Our findings starkly illustrate the far-reaching implications of national climate policy decisions. Curbing carbon dioxide emissions has critical implications for Emperor Penguins and an untold number of other species for which science has yet to document such a plain-spoken warning.</p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126320/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Jenouvrier receives funding from the National Science foundation, which supported the work described in this article. </span></em></p>Emperor Penguins thrive in harsh conditions, but a new study shows that their fate depends on human action to slow global warming and associated loss of sea ice.Stephanie Jenouvrier, Associate Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic InstitutionLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1215752019-09-03T13:07:10Z2019-09-03T13:07:10ZShips’ risky fuel transfers are threatening African Penguins<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287153/original/file-20190807-84235-5lpa6u.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An oiled penguin in the aftermath of a spill in the waters of Algoa Bay.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lloyd Edwards</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The African Penguin is in serious trouble. Its population has fallen by <a href="https://doi.org/10.2989/1814232X.2011.572377">more than 95%</a> over the last century and, despite ongoing conservation efforts, its numbers continue to fall. There are now barely 20,000 breeding pairs in the world – and the largest colony is in South Africa, on islands around Algoa Bay in the country’s Eastern Cape province.</p>
<p>There are several reasons for the decline in African Penguin numbers. Historically, <a href="https://doi.org/10.2989/02577618409504370">egg collecting</a> played a major role in decreasing population numbers, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270913000671">guano scraping</a> for fertiliser removed important nesting habitats. But today the main threat the African Penguin faces is a shortage of the small fish it prefers to feed on.</p>
<p>Environmental changes coupled with <a href="https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2011.1145">local overfishing</a> have seen the penguin’s prey shift their range from the west coast upwelling region to South Africa’s south coast. However, there are very few suitable breeding islands off the south coast, and that leaves the penguins with few safe breeding locations. </p>
<p>Now oil spills from a project that’s designed to harness the economic potential of South Africa’s oceans are threatening the world’s largest remaining African Penguin colony. Although there is a need to balance economic development and conservation, the African Penguin is an endangered species and – given that it is home to the largest colony – South Africa is largely responsible for ensuring its survival.</p>
<h2>Oil spills</h2>
<p>The colony is on St Croix Island, next to Coega harbour in Algoa Bay near the city of Port Elizabeth. The harbour is a deep-water, free trade port that’s a key component of <a href="https://www.operationphakisa.gov.za/Pages/Home.aspx">Operation Phakisa</a> – a government drive to promote the “blue” (ocean) economy. </p>
<p>For the last three years ship-to-ship bunkering, which involves the transfer of fuel from one vessel to another at sea, has been permitted in the bay close to this crucial seabird breeding island. In that time there have been two oil spills that have killed penguins and other seabirds in the area.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/prevention-and-combating-pollution-sea-oil-act-20-mar-2015-1108">Marine Pollution (Control and Civil Liability) Act 6 of 1981</a> prohibits such routine bunkering off the South African coast because it is an inherently risky operation. Small leaks in pipelines or tank overflows can cause serious pollution. Once oil has been spilled it is dispersed by currents and the wind. This makes it very difficult to contain.</p>
<p>Oil spills have <a href="https://www.bird-rescue.org/our-work/research-and-education/how-oil-affects-birds.aspx#targetText=Oil%20can%20be%20lethally%20harmful,water%20where%20the%20oil%20sits.&targetText=When%20oil%20sticks%20to%20a,skin%20to%20extremes%20in%20temperature.">severe effects on seabirds</a>. Oil reduces the seabirds’ insulation, leaving them vulnerable to hypothermia. It also causes skin irritation and ulcers. They try to preen oil off their plumage, invariably ingesting some of the highly toxic fuel oil, which disrupts their endocrine systems. Penguins are especially prone to oiling because they are flightless, and so are unable to fly over polluted areas. </p>
<p>Rehabilitation facilities such as the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds <a href="https://sanccob.co.za/">SANCCOB</a> do a tremendous amount to try and mitigate the effects of oil spills. But <a href="https://doi.org/10.1071/MU06028">research shows</a> that oiled African Penguins which are cleaned and released have lower breeding success than unoiled birds.</p>
<p>The two oils spills – one in <a href="https://sanccob.co.za/oil-spill-in-eastern-cape/">2016</a> and the other in <a href="https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2019-07-07-oil-spill-in-algoa-bay/">July this year</a> – near St Croix have affected at least 220 African Penguins and there are about 15,000 in the colony. </p>
<p>In each case, penguin nests containing eggs and chicks were abandoned. <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22696668/132587992">Cape Gannets</a> and <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22696806/132594943">Cape Cormorants</a>, both listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as globally endangered, were also oiled. Fortunately, both spills were relatively minor. A major spill could impact a large proportion of the beleaguered African Penguin population.</p>
<h2>Environmental damage</h2>
<p>This is a hugely worrying situation. No environmental risk assessment has been conducted for the bunkering operations that have led to two oil spills. This is also despite the fact that the bay is a marine biodiversity hotspot, and its seabird breeding islands fall within the recently-declared <a href="https://www.sanparks.org/mpa/addo-marine-protected-area.php">Addo Marine Protected Area</a>.</p>
<p>A number of environmental stakeholders, including <a href="https://www.birdlife.org.za/">BirdLife South Africa</a>, have repeatedly raised concerns about this practice. But their objections have been ignored. </p>
<p>Ship-to-ship bunkering in Algoa Bay should be halted pending a thorough cost-benefit assessment of the practice. We don’t know the benefits to the local economy, but the costs of oil spills are clear: they negatively affect local fisheries and the burgeoning marine tourism sector, as well as several endangered species.</p>
<p><em>Alistair McInnes, Manager of BirdLife Seabird Conservation Programme; Christina Hagen of BirdLife South Africa; and Christian Triay of SANCCOB also contributed to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121575/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katrin Ludynia is affiliated with SANCCOB as the organization's Research Manager. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lorien Pichegru receives funding from National research Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Ryan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Oil spills from a project that’s designed to harness the economic potential of South Africa’s oceans are threatening the world’s largest remaining African Penguin colony.Peter Ryan, Director, FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape TownKatrin Ludynia, Honorary Research Associate and Research Manager at SANCCOB, University of Cape TownLorien Pichegru, Researcher in Marine Ecology, Nelson Mandela UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1211862019-08-05T05:01:24Z2019-08-05T05:01:24ZBuffet buddies: footage reveals that fierce leopard seals work together when king penguin is on the menu<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286426/original/file-20190731-186829-13nrkn0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A wild leopard seal on South Georgia.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Robbins</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Some people don’t like sharing their food – we all have a friend who gets cranky when you steal a chip from their plate. For wild animals, this makes sense, because any food shared is energy lost that could otherwise have been used to pursue more food. </p>
<p>So it was a big surprise to discover wild leopard seals feeding alongside one another while eating king penguins at South Georgia, a remote island in the southern Atlantic Ocean. On top of this, they may have even been cooperating with each other to eat these enormous seabirds. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286420/original/file-20190731-186801-2lqyna.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286420/original/file-20190731-186801-2lqyna.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286420/original/file-20190731-186801-2lqyna.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286420/original/file-20190731-186801-2lqyna.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286420/original/file-20190731-186801-2lqyna.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=625&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286420/original/file-20190731-186801-2lqyna.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=625&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286420/original/file-20190731-186801-2lqyna.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=625&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Location of the study.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Robbins</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We report this fascinating observation in a new study <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00300-019-02542-z">published today in the journal Polar Biology</a>. </p>
<h2>Can’t we just all get along?</h2>
<p>Leopard seals have a ferocious reputation as one of the top predators in the Antarctic ecosystem. They are infamously the “principal enemy of the penguin”, as immortalised in the film <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0f67QE-HP8">Happy Feet</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/when-mammals-took-to-water-they-needed-a-few-tricks-to-eat-their-underwater-prey-73770">When mammals took to water they needed a few tricks to eat their underwater prey</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<hr>
<p>But when they eat penguins, leopard seals are normally highly territorial, scaring off rivals by lunging at them with a fearsome set of teeth. Animal-mounted cameras have even revealed that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20XIu6JCCT8">leopard seals ambush each other to steal captured prey</a>. </p>
<p>But that’s not what was seen when the film crew working on the Netflix documentary series <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/80049832">Our Planet</a> visited South Georgia. Instead, they were astonished to find wild leopard seals floating alongside one another dining together on a king penguin carcass, taking it in turns to tear off pieces of food.</p>
<p><img width="100%" src="https://media.giphy.com/media/W2W4BuOero0TbNtIbk/giphy.gif"></p>
<h2>Too costly to fight</h2>
<p>Given how aggressive leopard seals normally are around food, why were these seals behaving so out of character?</p>
<p>Consider this: if you were at an all-you-can-eat buffet and a stranger sat at your table and began eating your food, would you chase them away or let them share with you, knowing you could easily get more afterwards? </p>
<p>When food is very abundant, it may well be cheaper to share than to fight. Penguin colonies offer a near-constant supply of potential prey, attracting scores of predators. In this case, up to 36 leopard seals were seen near the colony at the same time. </p>
<p>So if a seal paused feeding to scare or fight off a rival, there is a good chance a third seal would sneak in and steal the food. In this situation it makes more sense to focus on eating as much as possible, as fast as possible – tolerating some food theft if necessary so as to avoid wasting energy on fighting that would risk losing the prey altogether. </p>
<p>The seals didn’t get along perfectly all the time. We saw some aggression, but perhaps this is to be expected if they are just tolerating each other out of necessity. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286417/original/file-20190731-186797-xqj7p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286417/original/file-20190731-186797-xqj7p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286417/original/file-20190731-186797-xqj7p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286417/original/file-20190731-186797-xqj7p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286417/original/file-20190731-186797-xqj7p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286417/original/file-20190731-186797-xqj7p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286417/original/file-20190731-186797-xqj7p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286417/original/file-20190731-186797-xqj7p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Even in our observations, the seals didn’t always get along – note the prey item floating in the water where it could easily be stolen by a third seal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dion Poncet</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Do leopard seals cooperate to eat large prey?</h2>
<p>Another explanation for these unexpected observations is that leopard seals might be cooperating to make it easier to consume such large prey.</p>
<p>Unlike northern seals, leopard seals don’t have <a href="https://theconversation.com/sharp-claws-helped-ancient-seals-conquer-the-oceans-92828">clawed paws to help them hold prey</a>. Instead, they have paddle-like flippers with tiny claws, forcing them to vigorously thrash the prey from side to side in their teeth to tear it into pieces small enough to swallow. This energy-intensive eating style is even harder when the prey is large – like adult king penguins.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286427/original/file-20190731-186797-1mzld09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286427/original/file-20190731-186797-1mzld09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286427/original/file-20190731-186797-1mzld09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286427/original/file-20190731-186797-1mzld09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286427/original/file-20190731-186797-1mzld09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286427/original/file-20190731-186797-1mzld09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286427/original/file-20190731-186797-1mzld09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286427/original/file-20190731-186797-1mzld09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Unlike northern seals, leopard seals have a paddle-like flipper that lacks the large claws needed to hold and tear food.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Robbins</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286416/original/file-20190731-186809-1clvh5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286416/original/file-20190731-186809-1clvh5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286416/original/file-20190731-186809-1clvh5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286416/original/file-20190731-186809-1clvh5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286416/original/file-20190731-186809-1clvh5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286416/original/file-20190731-186809-1clvh5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286416/original/file-20190731-186809-1clvh5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286416/original/file-20190731-186809-1clvh5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tools of the trade: Leopard seals use their strong front teeth to kill penguins, while the trident-shaped cheek teeth act as a sieve for trapping tiny krill.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Hocking</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Alternatively, if two animals hold the prey between them, one can act as an anchor while the other tears off a chunk of meat. This saves a lot of energy that would otherwise be wasted shaking the prey around. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286423/original/file-20190731-186797-5zdato.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286423/original/file-20190731-186797-5zdato.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286423/original/file-20190731-186797-5zdato.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286423/original/file-20190731-186797-5zdato.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286423/original/file-20190731-186797-5zdato.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286423/original/file-20190731-186797-5zdato.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286423/original/file-20190731-186797-5zdato.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286423/original/file-20190731-186797-5zdato.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Group feeding behaviours filmed using a drone, showing two leopard seals dining together on an adult king penguin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Illustration by Kai Hagberg. Photos by Silverback Films.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This type of cooperative food processing is actually quite common among aquatic top predators, such as killer whales and crocodiles, that can’t easily hold onto food.</p>
<h2>The unusual case of the sharing seal</h2>
<p>This last possibility made us rethink the interpretation of a famous encounter between a wild leopard seal and <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140311-paul-nicklen-leopard-seal-photographer-viral/">National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen</a>. On entering the water, Nicklen was repeatedly approached by a seal that appeared to be trying to feed him a penguin in an act of unexpected altruism. But perhaps this was not a free gift, but an offer to cooperate.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-birdlife-of-south-georgia-is-handed-another-chance-16105">The birdlife of South Georgia is handed another chance</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The latest discovery is a great example of how new technology can help researchers make close-hand observations of wild animals. By using a camera drone, the film-makers could fly above the animals without disturbing them, allowing them to observe behaviours that have so far gone unnoticed.</p>
<p>The remoteness of Antarctic ecosystems can make it hard to connect with the wildlife there, but these advances in technology are helping to provide new windows into this icy world. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286415/original/file-20190731-186809-4uod0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286415/original/file-20190731-186809-4uod0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286415/original/file-20190731-186809-4uod0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=267&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286415/original/file-20190731-186809-4uod0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=267&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286415/original/file-20190731-186809-4uod0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=267&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286415/original/file-20190731-186809-4uod0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286415/original/file-20190731-186809-4uod0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286415/original/file-20190731-186809-4uod0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wild leopard seal lunging at scavenging seabirds off Bird Island, South Georgia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Robbins</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121186/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alistair Evans receives funding from Monash University and the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Hocking and James Robbins do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Cooperation or theft? New observations show wild leopard seals sharing food when targeting king penguins in Antarctica.David Hocking, Postdoctoral fellow, Monash UniversityAlistair Evans, Associate Professor, Monash UniversityJames Robbins, Visiting researcher, University of PlymouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1178462019-05-30T13:27:16Z2019-05-30T13:27:16ZHow African penguins change their hunting habits when there’s less food<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276974/original/file-20190529-192339-5s93yd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How African penguins hunt and feed their chicks gives insight into the health of the marine ecosystem. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="http://datazone.birdlife.org/sowb/spotseabirds">Seabirds</a> are the world’s most threatened bird group. The latest <a href="https://www.birdlife.org/sites/default/files/attachments/BL_ReportENG_V11_spreads.pdf">State of the World’s Birds</a> shows that there’s a high proportion of threatened species particularly penguins, albatrosses and petrels. One penguin species at risk of extinction is the African Penguin, which is classified as “Endangered” under the <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22697810/132604504">International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List</a>. </p>
<p>Understanding how these seabirds respond to changes in the availability of food is important for preserving them and managing marine ecosystems. It’s vital information for conserving this iconic species. </p>
<p>African penguins are found along the Namibian coast and South Africa’s western seaboard, which means that they forage in the <a href="https://oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/atlantic/benguela.html">Benguela</a> current. This current runs on the eastern boundary of the South Atlantic, starting as a northward flow off the Cape of Good Hope and skirting the western African coast towards the equator. </p>
<p>On land African penguins often face invasive predators like feral cats. At sea they face threats from incidental oil spills, to plastic debris, and potential competition with fisheries. </p>
<p>The Robben Island penguin colony in South Africa is about 10km north-west of Cape Town’s harbour. It’s currently one of the country’s largest African Penguin colonies. </p>
<p>From 2011 to 2013, an experimental fisheries closure zone with a 20km radius was maintained on the island. Commercial fishing could not take place within that area at that time. This provided a rare opportunity to study penguin fishing behaviour and the condition of their young in relation to local fish abundance, without potential interference from commercial fisheries.</p>
<p><a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.13409">Our study</a> tracked the penguins’ movements, their diet and measured the physical condition of their chicks. By attaching GPS-temperature-depth devices to their back feathers with waterproof tape (much like a backpack), we gained insights into the foraging behaviour of breeding adults.</p>
<p>When some of the penguins have to work harder to find food this could be used as an early warning signal to allow conservation efforts to be initiated quickly. This is important because if the penguins struggle to find fish near the colony for extended periods it can have knock-on effects for the health and survival of their chicks. </p>
<h2>The findings</h2>
<p>When comparing years of low and high fish abundance there were differences in penguin foraging behaviour. We found that when food supply was low the penguins made a greater effort and spent more time hunting.</p>
<p>In 2011 there was lower prey availability. By tracking the penguins we were able to observe that they swam further, dived more for longer, and made more wiggles (prey pursuits) than in 2012. In 2011 some individuals worked much harder to find fish to feed their chicks.</p>
<p>During 2012, due to the abundance of fish around the island, the penguins spent 60% less time diving. We also found that chicks got bigger when there was more prey around.</p>
<p>Penguin diet sampling has taken place at Robben Island since 1989 with anchovy as the main prey item at <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2989/1814232X.2011.572377">80%</a>. Surprisingly, in 2011 there was an unusually low percentage of anchovy (40%) in breeding adults’ diets. </p>
<p>In 2011, the penguins changed their diet to eat a large percentage of Cape horse mackerel, which has a lower energy content than anchovy. </p>
<p>The foraging behaviour of the African penguins also indicated that they had to put more effort into finding food for their chicks. The fact that fish supplies influence penguin behaviour and the fitness of their offspring is something that’s often assumed in studies, but difficult to test. </p>
<h2>Going forward</h2>
<p>Finding the balance between minimising costs to fisheries and maintaining sufficient fish resources for marine species will be challenging due to disruptions caused by climate change.</p>
<p>Recently, the Department of Environmental Affairs declared the island has a <a href="https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Robben-Island.pdf">marine protected area</a>. It’s one of several recently established to support marine biodiversity of the ecosystems in the region. This will contribute to the conservation of seabird species that are at risk. </p>
<p>Future studies combining fish surveys with marine predator tracking can provide better understandings of marine dynamics. Technological advances will improve our capacity to follow foraging behaviour and animal movements at sea.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/117846/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Campbell received funding from Ma-Re Marine Research Institute of Cape Town University and the Leiden Conservation Foundation. The South African Research Chair in Marine Ecology and Fisheries also provided bursary funding. She now works as a Conservation Biologist for Environment and Climate Change Canada, Government of Canada.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Sherley works for the University of Exeter. He receives funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Earthwatch Institute, the Zoological Society of San Diego, Bristol Zoological Society and the European Commission. </span></em></p>How African penguins and their chicks’ respond to fish availability informs marine conservation.Kate Campbell, Researcher, University of Cape TownRichard Sherley, Research Fellow, Bristol Zoological Society and University of Exeter, University of ExeterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1128562019-03-04T19:02:37Z2019-03-04T19:02:37ZFor the first time, we can measure the human footprint on Antarctica<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261794/original/file-20190304-110110-1o2c5ev.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Casey Station is part of Australia's permanent outpost in Antarctica.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shaun Brooks</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most people picture Antarctica as a frozen continent of wilderness, but people have been living – and building – there for decades. Now, for the first time, we can reveal the human footprint across the entire continent. </p>
<p>Our research, published today in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/%2010.1038/s41893-019-0237-y">Nature Sustainability</a>, found that while buildings and disturbance cover a small portion of the whole continent, it has an outsized impact on Antartica’s ecosystem.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-any-country-can-and-cant-do-in-antarctica-in-the-name-of-science-105858">Explainer: what any country can and can't do in Antarctica, in the name of science</a>
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<p>Our data show 76% of buildings in Antarctica are within just 0.06% of the continent: the ice-free areas within 5km of the coast. This coastal fringe is particularly important as it provides access to the Southern Ocean for penguins and seals, as well as providing a typically wetter climate suitable for plant life.</p>
<h2>A hard question to answer</h2>
<p>How much land we collectively impact with infrastructure in Antarctica has been a question raised for decades, but until now has been difficult to answer. The good news is it’s a relatively small area. The bigger issue is where it is. Together with our colleagues Dana Bergstrom and John van den Hoff, we have made the first measurement of the “footprint” of buildings and disturbed ice-free ground across Antarctica.</p>
<p>This equates to more than 390,000 square metres of buildings on the icy continent, with a further 5,200,000m² of disturbance just to ice-free land. To put it another way, there is more than 1,100m² of disturbed ground per person in Antarctica at its most populated in summer. This is caused primarily by the 30 nations with infrastructure in Antarctica, along with some presence from the tourism industry.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261791/original/file-20190304-110134-1xjs0bb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261791/original/file-20190304-110134-1xjs0bb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261791/original/file-20190304-110134-1xjs0bb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261791/original/file-20190304-110134-1xjs0bb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261791/original/file-20190304-110134-1xjs0bb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261791/original/file-20190304-110134-1xjs0bb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261791/original/file-20190304-110134-1xjs0bb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261791/original/file-20190304-110134-1xjs0bb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Figure Building footprint density.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nature Sustainability</span></span>
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<p>It has taken until now to find the extent of our impact because of difficulty in gathering the data. Because so many countries are active in Antarctica, getting them to provide data on their infrastructure has been very slow. As two-thirds of research stations were built before the adoption of the <a href="http://www.ats.aq/">Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty</a>, they did not require environmental impact assessments or monitoring, so it is quite likely many of the operators do not have accessible data on their footprints. In addition, due to the inherent difficulty in accessing Antarctica, and the vast distances between each station, it is not possible to conduct field measurements on a continental scale.</p>
<p>To address these problems, our team took an established <a href="https://doi.org/10.1142/S1464333214500379">approach</a> to measuring a single station’s footprint, and applied it to 158 locations across the continent using satellite imagery. The majority of images used were freely sourced from Google Earth, enabled by continually increasing improvements in resolution and coverage. </p>
<p>This process took hours of painstaking “digitisation” – where the spatially accurate images of buildings and disturbed ground were manually mapped within a computer program to create the data.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261797/original/file-20190304-110119-1khs4xj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261797/original/file-20190304-110119-1khs4xj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261797/original/file-20190304-110119-1khs4xj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=289&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261797/original/file-20190304-110119-1khs4xj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=289&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261797/original/file-20190304-110119-1khs4xj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=289&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261797/original/file-20190304-110119-1khs4xj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261797/original/file-20190304-110119-1khs4xj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261797/original/file-20190304-110119-1khs4xj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Davis Station, one of Australia’s three permanent research outposts in Antartica. Researchers used Google Earth images to map the footprint of human infrastructure across the continent.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shaun Brooks</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Interestingly, one of the most difficult sites was the United States’ Amundsen-Scott Station. As this station is located on the geographic South Pole, very few satellites pass overhead. This problem was eventually solved by trawling through thousands of aerial images produced by NASA’s <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/icebridge/index.html">Operation IceBridge</a>, where we found their aircraft had flown over the station in 2010. After capturing these data, we then compared our measurements against existing known building sizes and found our accuracy was within 2%. </p>
<p>Unlike buildings, we didn’t have measurements to compare for disturbed ground such as roadways, airstrips, quarries and the like. We believe we have produced a significant underestimate, due to factors including snow cover and insufficient image resolution obscuring smaller features such as walking tracks.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/antarctic-seas-host-a-surprising-mix-of-lifeforms-and-now-we-can-map-them-99667">Antarctic seas host a surprising mix of lifeforms – and now we can map them</a>
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<h2>Location, location, location</h2>
<p>After mapping the footprint of buildings and ground disturbance our data has yielded some interesting results. For practical reasons, most stations in Antarctica are located within the small ice-free areas spread across the continent, particularly around the coast. In addition to being attractive to us, these areas are essential for <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/43187888">much of Antarctica’s biodiversity</a> by providing nesting sites for seabirds and penguins, substrate for mosses, lichens, and two vascular plants, and habitat for the continent’s invertebrate species. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261795/original/file-20190304-110110-1l1ajh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261795/original/file-20190304-110110-1l1ajh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261795/original/file-20190304-110110-1l1ajh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261795/original/file-20190304-110110-1l1ajh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261795/original/file-20190304-110110-1l1ajh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261795/original/file-20190304-110110-1l1ajh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261795/original/file-20190304-110110-1l1ajh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261795/original/file-20190304-110110-1l1ajh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Adelie penguins need ice-free areas to access the ocean.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shaun Brooks</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Another interesting finding from these data is what they tell us about wilderness on the continent. Although the current footprint covers a very small fraction of the more than 12 million square kilometres of Antarctica, we found disturbance is present in more than half of all large ice-free areas along the coast. Furthermore, by using the building data we captured, along with existing work by <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11343/38369">Rupert Summerson</a>, we were also able to estimate the visual footprint, which amounts to an area similar in size to the total ice-free land across the whole continent.</p>
<p>The release of this research is timely, with significant increases in infrastructure proposed for Antarctica. Currently there are new stations proposed by <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-china-flexes-its-muscles-in-antarctica-science-is-the-best-diplomatic-tool-on-the-frozen-continent-86059">several nations</a>, major rebuilding projects of <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/12/overhaul-works-aging-us-antarctic-station">existing stations</a> underway (including the US’s McMurdo and New Zealand’s Scott Base), and Italy is building a <a href="https://www.ats.aq/documents/EIA/01877enFINAL_CEE.pdf">new runway in ice-free areas</a>.</p>
<p>Australia has proposed Antarctica’s <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/building-paved-runway-antarctica">first concrete runway</a>, which if built would be the continent’s largest. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-antarcticas-sea-ice-cover-is-so-low-and-no-its-not-just-about-climate-change-109572">Why Antarctica's sea ice cover is so low (and no, it's not just about climate change)</a>
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<p>Until now, decisions on expanding infrastructure have been without the context of how much is already present. We hope informed decisions can now be made by the international community about how much building in Antarctica is appropriate, where it should occur, and how to manage the future of the last great wilderness.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112856/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shaun Brooks receives funding from the Australian Government Research Training Program.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julia Jabour does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Buildings and human disturbance in Antartica is clustered in an ice-free zone that is essential to most of the continent’s biodiversity.Shaun Brooks, PhD Candidate, University of TasmaniaJulia Jabour, Leader, Ocean and Antarctic Governance Research Program, University of TasmaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/908642018-01-31T15:26:08Z2018-01-31T15:26:08ZAre seismic surveys driving penguins from their feeding grounds?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204026/original/file-20180130-107679-6xye0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">African penguins appear to move away from areas where seismic underwater surveys are happening.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lorien Pichegru</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Whales, dolphins, squid and fish are among the many marine species that rely on underwater sounds for everything from foraging to communication. By listening to what’s happening in the water around them they able to orientate themselves, locate prey, avoid predators or even select a mate.</p>
<p>But the underwater sonic landscape is changing. It’s being affected by commercial shipping, sonar systems used by the navy, for example, or by fishing industries to locate fish schools and blasting for construction. Marine seismic surveys – which explore subterranean geological features for petroleum, natural gas and mineral deposits – are also becoming more common in response to the world’s growing energy demands. </p>
<p>These extremely loud man made underwater noises can harm marine animals. Seismic surveys <a href="https://www.cabdirect.org/cabdirect/abstract/20103112238">can cause barotrauma</a> in fish, which is the damage of tissues due to rapid changes of pressure following the loud sounds wave travelling through the water. Fish eggs that are laid in the vicinity of seismic surveys are also <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0195">more likely</a> to die off. And recent research has <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0195">shown</a> that more zooplankton dies near seismic surveys. These are the tiny animals that form the base of the marine food chain, underpinning entire oceans’ productivity. All of this means that seismic surveys can have serious consequences on marine ecosystems.</p>
<p>Until now there’s been no evidence about the potential effects of seismic surveys on seabirds. My colleagues and I recently published <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-16569-x">a study</a> that assessed the foraging behaviour of African penguins before, during and after seismic operations conducted within 100 km of their two largest breeding colonies. </p>
<p>Both colonies – St Croix Island and Bird Island – are situated in Algoa Bay near the South African seaport of Port Elizabeth. They are home to <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230595224_Collapse_of_South_Africa%27s_penguins_in_the_early_21st_century&sa=D&ust=1517234492939000&usg=AFQjCNFQLx4fvaHBGwjH6U2Hl3l_rRLfiQ">approximately half</a> of the species’ global population. </p>
<p>We found that African penguins foraging 100 km from active seismic operations showed a clear change of foraging direction during seismic periods. They diverted from their traditional feeding grounds and increased their distance between their feeding area and the seismic vessel’s location. </p>
<p>The vessel’s noise may have chased the penguins into sub-optimal foraging areas, and possibly even damaged their hearing. The extra distance also meant the adult penguins had to use more energy while foraging. For a species that’s already under pressure, these factors can have important consequences for their survival and that of their offspring.</p>
<h2>Tracking penguins’ habits</h2>
<p>We concentrated on penguins for several reasons. Firstly, they are flightless birds and spend much of their time underwater. So they’re expected to be sensitive to loud underwater sounds. </p>
<p>They are also among the most threatened bird families. The world’s population of African penguins has <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.2989/025776195784156403">decreased by 70%</a> since 2004. Oil pollution, climate change and the birds’ increased competition with fisheries are to blame.</p>
<p>Their feeding range was another important factor. During breeding season, which lasts from February to August in Algoa Bay, they forage within 30kms to 40kms of their colonies. That means if seismic surveys are happening in the vicinity, the birds simply can’t get away. If they travel further from their colony, it will take them too long and their chicks won’t survive the time spent waiting for their parents. </p>
<p>To track the birds, we taped GPS recorders to their backs. We then collected 333 complete individual records of where they went to look for schools of anchovies and sardines at sea during over four years: March to May in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, when there was no seismic survey activity, and the same months in 2013 when surveys took place.</p>
<p>We found no change in the Bird Island penguins’ foraging behaviour when the seismic vessel was active. We deduced that they weren’t affected by the seismic activity because their usual foraging route took them more than 100kms away from the 2013 seismic survey area.</p>
<p>On the other hand, we found that the St Croix Island penguins switched their foraging area in 2013. Our deduction here was that their normal foraging areas were close to where the seismic surveys were taking place – within 65kms on average. </p>
<p>The penguins returned to their normal area only once the seismic survey was finished.</p>
<p>This is the first record of seabirds avoiding an area they would have used under normal circumstances.</p>
<h2>Explaining avoidance behaviour</h2>
<p>There are two possible reasons for the penguins’ avoidance behaviour. The first is that they were directly disturbed by the seismic surveys’ noise. The second is that the fish they were hunting moved to different, more distant areas during the 2013 study period. It’s not clear whether the fish moved away because of the noise or for some other unrelated reason.</p>
<p>Our hypothesis is that, rather than follow their prey, the African penguins relocated away from their traditional feeding zones to avoid the disturbance generated by the noise of the seismic vessels. This is supported by the fact that the birds quickly reverted to normal foraging behaviour once the seismic activities had stopped.</p>
<p>This suggests that seismic activity has a relatively short term influence on the behaviour of both African penguins and their prey. But we can’t rule out potential longer term effects on the birds’ hearing. </p>
<p>Based on this study’s findings, we’d suggest that exploratory seismic activities should be banned within at least 100km of African penguins’ breeding colonies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90864/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lorien Pichergu receives funding from the South African National Research Foundation</span></em></p>Loud noise from underwater seismic surveys can drive penguins from their normal foraging grounds.Lorien Pichegru, Researcher in Marine Ecology, Nelson Mandela UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/889812017-12-12T16:11:51Z2017-12-12T16:11:51ZGiant penguin find: remains suggest huge bird was taller than a human<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198583/original/file-20171211-27686-1icv19e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Present day Emperor penguins like this would have been dwarfed by the giant find.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Scientists <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-zealand-discovery-of-fossilised-monster-bird-bones-reveals-a-colossal-ancient-penguin-89028">have discovered</a> a now-extinct species of giant penguin that was taller than most humans. The remains of the bird, perhaps the tallest penguin species ever discovered, help show how quickly giant penguins developed after the extinction of the dinosaurs around 66m years ago.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198590/original/file-20171211-27693-1ih0d1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198590/original/file-20171211-27693-1ih0d1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=913&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198590/original/file-20171211-27693-1ih0d1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=913&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198590/original/file-20171211-27693-1ih0d1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=913&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198590/original/file-20171211-27693-1ih0d1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1147&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198590/original/file-20171211-27693-1ih0d1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1147&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198590/original/file-20171211-27693-1ih0d1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1147&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Bone comparison.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">G. Mayr/Senckenberg Research Institute</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The animal revealed by fossil fragments found in New Zealand was around 1.77m tall and weighed around 101kg. It would have dwarfed the largest penguin alive today, the emperor penguin, which measures <a href="https://www.beautyofbirds.com/penguins.html">1.1m in height and 35kg in weight</a>.</p>
<p>The skeletal remains from a single penguin included parts of the breastbone, shoulders, wings, legs and spine. Its notable features included an unusually thick sternal keel (part of the breast attached to the wings) and an unusually long femur (thigh bone).</p>
<p>These were enough to demonstrate the bird was not only a unique species but also a previously unknown genus (group of species). The species has been named <em>Kumimanu biceae</em>, from the Maori words “kumi”, referring to a large mythical monster, and “manu” meaning bird.</p>
<p>Living penguins all share a set of adaptations such as flipper-like wings, short and smooth feathers that trap air to aid buoyancy, and countershading (a black back and white front) to help avoid predators and increase their own hunting ability through camouflage. While we cannot be certain, it is likely that early penguins such as <em>K. biceae</em> possessed at least some of these adaptations.</p>
<h2>Penguin origins</h2>
<p>There are currently between 17 and 20 species of penguins alive today, depending on the exact classification used, but there have been more species since the group first evolved some time after the dinosaurs went extinct. The earliest species of extinct penguin discovered so far is <a href="https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/23/6/1144/1055321"><em>Waimanu manneringi</em></a>, which lived in New Zealand around 62m years ago. Although this species more closely resembled modern diver birds (or loons), it was already adapted for life in the water and couldn’t fly. Three of the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1096-0031.2006.00116.x/abstract;jsessionid=FB81C4E1D36C1CC4144522BE8F3C7903.f03t02">earliest penguin fossils</a> we have originated from southern New Zealand and Byrd Land, Antarctica, suggesting the birds first appeared in the southern hemisphere. </p>
<p>We previously thought that giant penguins took much longer to evolve. For instance, <a href="http://www.polish.polar.pan.pl/ppr23/ppr23-005.pdf"><em>Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi</em> and <em>Pachydyptes ponderosus</em> </a> were for a long time considered to be the largest-ever penguins and lived during the Eocene epoch 56m to 34m years ago. But the discovery of <em>K. biceae</em> suggests this size shift among penguins first occurred much earlier, shortly after the group became flightless during the Paleocene epoch, some 66m to 56m years ago. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198585/original/file-20171211-27698-14djc3c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198585/original/file-20171211-27698-14djc3c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198585/original/file-20171211-27698-14djc3c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198585/original/file-20171211-27698-14djc3c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198585/original/file-20171211-27698-14djc3c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198585/original/file-20171211-27698-14djc3c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198585/original/file-20171211-27698-14djc3c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Who are you calling giant?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">G. Mayr/Senckenberg Research Institute</span></span>
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<p>This followed the mass extinction that wiped an estimated 75% of life on Earth, including the dinosaurs. It is possible that the animals that survived the extinction were able to thrive and develop because their competitors and predators had disappeared. Many of these species evolved to become much larger, a tendency known as <a href="http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/benton/reprints/2002Copesrule.html">“Cope’s Rule”</a>. Bigger animals are usually better at hunting, attracting a mate, retaining heat and can even be more intelligent.</p>
<p>In the case of penguins, the large reptile predators that dominated the seas during the time of the dinosaurs were wiped out, leaving space for <em>K. biceae</em> and other early penguins to thrive. Once established, they probably grew increasingly large, following Cope’s Rule.</p>
<p>But they would have inevitably faced growing competition from other developing species. As large predatory toothed whales and seals evolved and succeeded, groups such as giant penguins would have no longer been able to compete and ultimately died out, leaving behind only the smaller species of penguins we recognise today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88981/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ben Garrod does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Scientists in New Zealand have discovered an extinct penguin known as Kumimanu biceae that was 1.77m tall.Ben Garrod, Fellow, Animal and Environmental Biology, Anglia Ruskin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/883082017-11-30T19:05:39Z2017-11-30T19:05:39ZPenguins under threat from drowning in fishing nets<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197070/original/file-20171130-12029-4drhxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bycatch: penguins can easily drown in nets designed to ensnare fish.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">NZ Ministry of Fisheries</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fishing nets pose a serious risk to the survival of penguin species, according to a new global review of the toll taken by “bycatch” from commercial fishing. Fourteen of the world’s 18 penguin species have been recorded as fishing bycatch.</p>
<p>Among the species under threat are Tasmania’s <a href="https://australianmuseum.net.au/little-penguin-eudyptula-minor">little penguins</a> and New Zealand’s <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22697800/0">yellow-eyed penguins</a>, as detailed in a review, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00869">published in the journal Endangered Species Research</a>.</p>
<p>The review shows the level of bycatch is of greatest concern for three species: Humboldt and Magellanic penguins, both found in South America, and the endangered New Zealand yellow-eyed penguins. </p>
<p>On New Zealand’s South Island, yellow-eyed penguins are down to fewer than 250 nests. Previous population strongholds have declined by more than 75%. <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/3272/">Conservative population models</a> predict local extinction of yellow-eyed penguins by 2060, if not earlier. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/shrinking-antarctic-glaciers-could-make-adelie-penguins-unlikely-winners-of-climate-change-50851">Shrinking Antarctic glaciers could make Adélie penguins unlikely winners of climate change</a>
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<p>Penguins are among the world’s most iconic and loved birds, despite the fact that many people never get to see one in the wild. Indeed, the opportunities to do so are diminishing, with ten of the 18 penguin species <a href="http://www.birdlife.org/worldwide/news/protect-penguin-today">threatened with extinction</a>. After albatrosses, penguins are the most threatened group of seabirds. And, like albatrosses, bycatch is thought to be a serious issue for some species.</p>
<p>On land, many penguins are now well protected, thanks to the efforts of conservation researchers, government agencies, community groups and tourism operators. Where many penguins were once vulnerable to attack from introduced predators, or to habitat loss from farming or development, today the biggest worry for many penguin chicks is how to get more food out of their parents.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FFIrUujDGK4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Time to eat yet?</span></figcaption>
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<p>But below the waves it’s a different story. Over thousands of years, these keen-eyed seabirds have evolved to catch food in the depths, while avoiding natural predators such as seals and sharks. But they cannot see the superfine nylon fishing nets invented in the 1950s which fishers now set in penguin foraging areas.</p>
<p>Little penguins, whose scientific name <em>Eudyptula minor</em> literally means “good little diver”, typically forage in the upper 20 metres of the ocean, with each dive lasting about 90 seconds. The larger yellow-eyed penguin – <em>Megadyptes antipodes</em>, the “big diver of the south” – prefers to hunt on the seafloor some 80-90m down, holding their breath for 2-3 minutes before coming up for air. If they do not encounter a fishing net, that is.</p>
<p>Gillnets (also called set nets) in particular are very dangerous for penguins. These nets are set in a stationary position rather than being dragged through the water. They are designed to catch fish around their gills, but can just as easily snare a penguin around its neck.</p>
<p>If it gets tangled in a net, a penguin will panic and drown in minutes. In Tasmania, nets with more than 50 drowned little penguins have been found washed ashore. Other penguins are found on beaches with characteristic bruising from net entanglement around their necks.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197099/original/file-20171130-30919-i2cs9w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197099/original/file-20171130-30919-i2cs9w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197099/original/file-20171130-30919-i2cs9w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197099/original/file-20171130-30919-i2cs9w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197099/original/file-20171130-30919-i2cs9w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197099/original/file-20171130-30919-i2cs9w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197099/original/file-20171130-30919-i2cs9w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197099/original/file-20171130-30919-i2cs9w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Nets are deadly to little penguins.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Eric Woehler</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>When a penguin is killed at sea, this has knock-on effects back at the nest. The chicks will die of hunger or fledge underweight, with little chance of surviving their first year at sea. </p>
<p>The breeding partner left behind will probably skip a breeding season; some penguins never find another partner after losing their mate. I have seen them calling plaintively from their nest, or even going down to the shore in the evening to look out to sea, before returning to their nest all alone.</p>
<h2>Declining numbers</h2>
<p>In New Zealand, the endangered yellow-eyed penguin is declining. <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/3272/">Current population models</a> predict their extinction on the New Zealand mainland by 2060, or potentially even earlier. Yellow-eyed penguins are facing many threats mostly because they are simply living too close to humans.</p>
<p>Whereas threats on land are reasonably well managed, threats at sea need urgent attention. Marine habitat degradation by industries that damage the seafloor will take decades to recover. Similarly, pressures from climate change will not have a quick enough fix to save yellow-eyed penguins from local extinction.</p>
<p>There is one thing, however, we can change immediately: the needless death of penguins in fishing nets. This will give already struggling penguin populations a bit of a breather and maybe even the resilience required to deal with the many threats they face in their daily fight for survival.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-behaviour-leaves-antarctic-penguins-on-the-shelf-21849">New behaviour leaves Antarctic penguins on the shelf</a>
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<p>Judging by the number of penguins washed ashore with net injuries, many fishers simply discard penguins’ carcasses at sea rather than reporting bycatch or working towards solutions to mitigate it.</p>
<p>Do we really want penguins to drown for our treat of fish and chips? Less destructive fishing methods are available that do not cause penguin bycatch and the death of other protected species. </p>
<p>But these more selective fishing methods would require fishers to change gear, which costs money. Currently, there is very little legal or commercial incentive for fishers to do anything about penguin bycatch. </p>
<p>But there are a couple of things you can do. Please do not just buy any fish with your chips – ask which species it is and how it has been caught. You can use a sustainable seafood guide, such as New Zealand’s <a href="http://www.forestandbird.org.nz/what-we-%20do/publications/-best-%20fish-guide">Best Fish Guide</a> or Australia’s <a href="http://www.sustainableseafood.org.au/">Sustainable Seafood Guide</a>. That way you can help the penguins snag a safe fish supper of their own.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88308/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ursula Ellenberg receives small research grants from the Global Penguin Society and several other organisations as detailed on our project webpage <a href="http://www.tawaki-project.org/">http://www.tawaki-project.org/</a>
</span></em></p>Penguins in New Zealand, Australia and elsewhere face an uncertain future as a new review documents the number accidentally ensnared in fishing nets.Ursula Ellenberg, Honorary Lecturer, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.