Emperor penguin "disaster": Thousands of young people died in Antarctica because their habitat has melted

Satellite image showing the reduction in colony size in Halley Bay

In the last three years, the emperor penguin population in Antarctica has declined considerably. Climate change, specifically the melting of ice in Halley Bay, has severely affected their habitat, resulting in the deaths of thousands of young people.

A scientific study carried out by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) revealed that the "White Continent" was suffering from a serious crisis related to the reproduction of this spice and had warned that violent storms had destroyed the glaciers, which affected the period of incubation of birds.

The emperor penguin (Aptenodytes Forsteri) belongs to the family Spheniscidae, the largest and heaviest among its 18 species. Both male and female have similar plumage and size. They can exceed 120 cm in height and weigh between 20 and 45 kilograms.

The Halley colony, in the Weddell Sea, was until recently the second largest Emperor penguin in the world, with up to 25,000 breeding pairs each year.. However, this has changed in the last three years.

The satellite images studied by BAS showed that in 2016, a year marked by particularly hot and stormy weather, "The ice on which the penguins raise their babies has given way, killing almost all the little ones"says the report.

"The storms of October and November accelerate the process of destruction. Sea ice that was previously stable and reliable is now simply unsustainableexplains Peter Fretwell, one of the scientists in charge of research.

The fragility of the surface causes Emperor Penguin pups to sink and drown before having the wings that allow them to swim. This pattern was repeated in 2017 and again in 2018 and, as a result, this colony has almost disappeared.

"Given the levels of ecological uncertainty, the number of emperor penguins will decline considerably, losing between 50 and 70% of their number by the end of the century.Fretwell added.

However, there is hope. The research team found a marked increase in the size of a nearby colony, the Dawson Lambton, suggesting that many of Halley's iconic birds have migrated to a safer place..

This species has become known worldwide – even for children – with the animated film Happy Feet, released in late 2006.