Thousands of Emperor Penguin Chicks Die

Due to record low sea ice thousands of Emperor penguin chicks are believed dead in four breeding colonies.  Satellite images show the break up of sea ice before chicks were old enough to have grown waterproof feathers.  The research says that the simultaneous breeding failures in the Bellinghausen Sea  is without precedent, but predicted due to rapidly rising sea temperatures in the Antarctic.  According to a scientist with the British Antarctic Survey, emperors which depend on sea ice to breed face a grim future as the planet continues to warm.  The melting is happening at a much faster rate than expected.   Scientist estimate that as many as 7,000-10,000 chicks may have died by drowning or exposure. 

Emperors cannot just move to the next colony site since the region that lost almost all of its sea ice is 1500 kms long. A colony at Rothschild's Island may have been spared since icebergs may have stabilized the ice long enough for the chicks to fledge from their downy coats that keep them warm during the coldest winters on Earth.  Fortunately emperors have not come under pressure from fishing, hunting or habitat loss until now. 

Thirty percent of the known sixty-two colonies have suffered impacts from global warming.  For the past three years the colony at Haley Bay almost no hatching of chicks has taken place.  It was the second largest colony on Antarctica, providing shelter to 15,000 to 24,000 breeding pairs.  This failure is the largest seen in sixty years.  Scientists once again blame global warming for making ice connected to  shore unstable.  Some of the penguins at Haley Bay may have shifted to the colony at Dawson-Lambton.  Haley Bay, one of the coldest places in the continent, was thought to be a refuge from melting sea ice.  By 2100 as many as 90% of colonies may be too small to prevent the species' extinction.