Antarctica’s second-largest breeding colony of emperor penguins, located in the Weddell Sea, has experienced “catastrophic breeding failure” for the past three years, with nearly all of its chicks failing to survive due to the breakup of sea ice, according to a new study published in the journal Antarctic Science. The colony was once home to 14,000-25,000 breeding pairs a year, representing up to 9 percent of the global emperor penguin population.
Scientists said sea ice at the Halley Bay site had been stable and reliable for nearly 60 years. But in 2016, stormy weather driven by an abnormally strong El Niño, strong winds, and record low sea ice extent caused the ice on which the chicks gather to break up. This happened again in 2017 and 2018. By 2018, just a few hundred adult pairs were present at the breeding site, and almost no chicks survived the ice breakup.
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