Catastrophic Loss of Emperor Penguin Chicks / A Marine Biologist Reacts

#penguins #kpassionate #climatechange
A marine biologist reacts to the news of a "total breeding failure" in four out of five colonies of emperor penguins.

00:00 - Emperor Penguins
00:30 - Emperor Penguins Movies
00:52 - Do Penguins Mate for Life?
01:34 - Emperor Penguin Migration
02:36 - Why Do Emperor Penguins Breed on Ice
03:30 - Emperor Penguin Breeding Failure
04:37 - Are Emperor Penguins Endangered
04:57 - Species Survival Plan
06:07 - Penguins VS Climate Change

Every year, at the end of Antarctic summer, emperor penguins leave the ocean and march inland to their breeding grounds where they practice seasonal monogamy. Every year brings new penguins that have just grown up and are now looking for a mate. And there is a courtship that happens. Penguins, like a lot of birds, are flirtatious. But once they decide on a mate, and the courtship is successful, the female will lay a single egg.

For emperor penguins, in order for their chicks to survive, both parents need to make several perilous treks across the ice to the ocean in order to feed. Then, they need to march back to their breeding grounds in order to feed their chick.

Penguins are uniquely adapted to life in the ocean. Their feathers are waterproof. But that’s not the case for the chicks. They are born with a different kind of feather called down. This down feather keeps them warm and protects them from the harsh Antarctic climate. But it cannot protect them from the water.

You probably know where this is going and if it’s not for you then I totally understand. Just click on this link up here and it’ll take you to a video that I promise will brighten your day.

As I was saying, the ice on which penguins breed needs to remain stable to ensure successful breeding. But thanks to climate change… that is not what happened. The event occurred in late 2022. On the western coast of Antarctica. And it was recorded by satellites.

The ice underneath the penguin chicks melted and broke apart before they could develop the waterproof feathers needed to survive in the ocean. Of the five breeding sites in the region, all but one experienced a “total breeding failure” before the start of the fledging period. This is the first recorded incident of a widespread breeding failure of emperor penguins that is clearly linked to a loss of sea ice…

We’re talking about tens of thousands of baby penguins. Gone.

And it gets worse. Because of this event, scientists are predicting that more than “90% of emperor penguin colonies are predicted to be all but extinct by the end of the century, as the continent's seasonal sea-ice withers in an ever-warming world.”

Sources:
[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-023-00927-x
[2] https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/24/world/emperor-penguin-breeding-antarctic-sea-ice-climate/index.html
[3] https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66492767

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Music
Cody Martin - Soundstripe

Additional Imagery
Blagoj Klincharski https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cape_Colbeck,_Antarctica.webm
Christopher Michel
Discovering Antartica
ExaStudios - stock.adobe.com
Fabrice BEAUCHENE - stock.adobe.com
Silver - stock.adobe.com
Watanabe S, Sato K, Ponganis P - Public Library of Science
AWorldInMotion - soundstripe.com
Eric Isselée - stock.adobe.com
NASA
San Diego Zoo Safari Park - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAGvwtZbRus
Joseph Brandt/USFWS
Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWV3JYzAFfg
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, National Conservation Training Center, Creative Imagery
Colorado Parks & Wildlife - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqruCkAroyU
malp - stock.adobe.com
Skywardkick_Exclusive - soundstripe.com
Wheat Field - stock.adobe.com
BlackBoxGuild - soundstripe.com
Sergey - stock.adobe.com