>>Halley Bay has long been home to one of the largest emperor penguin colonies in Antarctica, second only to Coulman Island in the Ross Sea. Over the past 60 years that researchers have been observing the Halley Bay colony, between 14,300 and 23,000 pairs have flocked to the site’s sea ice to breed. But since 2016, breeding failures have been “catastrophic” and the penguins appear to have abandoned what was once a reliable haven, according to a new study published in Antarctic Science.
The trend was reported by Peter Fretwell and Philip Trathan of the British Antarctic Survey, who studied high-resolution satellite images of Halley Bay, looking for clues—like poop stains and shadows—that point to population size. The researchers think the trouble started in 2015, after the strongest El Niño in decades began disrupting Halley Bay’s “fast ice,” or sea ice that is anchored to the shore or ocean floor. Between April and December, the penguins depend on fast ice to provide stable ground for mating, incubating eggs and caring for chicks. But in 2016, reports the BBC’s Jonathan Amos, the ice broke apart before the baby penguins would have developed the feathers they needed to swim. Thousands of them appear to have drowned.<<
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/one-antarcticas-largest-emperor-penguin-colonies-has-suffered-three-years-catastrophic-breeding-failures-180972043/