Tragedy at Emperor Penguin breeding ground: 15,000 chicks dead... "Starved after iceberg blocked their path"

A tragedy has occurred at Coulman Island, the largest Emperor Penguin breeding colony in the Antarctic Ross Sea, where 70% of the chicks have perished. Analysis suggests the primary cause was a massive iceberg that drifted in and blocked the path between the sea and the breeding ground just before the mothers—who had spent months searching for food before the eggs hatched—could return. The Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) team, led by Senior Researcher Kim Jung-hoon, announced on the 19th that the number of Emperor Penguin chicks on Coulman Island plummeted from about 21,000 last year to approximately 6,700 this year.

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KOPRI researchers Kim Jong-woo and Kim Yu-min confirmed on-site last month that an iceberg roughly 14km long and the size of 5,000 soccer fields had blocked the main access route between the colony and the ocean. Satellite data analysis shows this iceberg broke off from the Nansen Ice Shelf in March this year, drifted north, and jammed the entrance to the breeding ground in late July. Mother penguins typically lay eggs around June, leave them with the males, and head out to hunt, returning in late July or early August when the chicks hatch. The massive iceberg, which wasn't there when the mothers left, drifted in right before their return to block the way.

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While the iceberg has a gentle slope on the seaward side, it created high, steep cliffs along the path to the breeding ground. Drone footage captured traces of waste and hundreds of mother penguins unable to descend the cliffs to return home—evidence of them 'hesitating' for a long time at the blockage. Once the chicks hatch, male penguins survive on stored nutrients to produce 'penguin milk' for the babies until the mothers return. When the mothers fail to return and the stored nutrients run out, the males, who have already fasted for over two months while brooding the eggs, have no choice but to abandon the chicks to survive. Senior Researcher Kim stated, "It seems the surviving 30% of chicks were fed by mothers who found alternative routes not blocked by the iceberg. There's a chance the colony will recover if the ice melts and the iceberg drifts away before next year's breeding season, but if it remains stationary long-term, it could lead to the penguins moving to other colonies."

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The research team plans to officially report this case to international organizations like the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) next year. The Ross Sea is the world's largest marine protected area, home to over a million Adélie penguins, tens of thousands of Emperor penguins, whales, seals, seabirds, and krill. Since 2017, KOPRI has been using a combination of field surveys and remote sensing (satellite/aerial) to analyze long-term population changes of key species and environmental factors. Shin Hyeong-cheol, President of KOPRI, stated, "This incident demonstrates the unpredictable risks climate change poses to the Antarctic ecosystem. We will strengthen satellite observations and field surveys until the next breeding season." - Source: Dong-A Science I happened to see this article on a weekend evening and it really bummed me out. Every year, temperatures rise due to climate change, and the impact is unfolding right before our eyes. Losing 70% of this year's chicks to starvation is a total catastrophe. Emperor penguins take turns raising their young; while the female is out for a whopping two months hunting, the male stays behind, guarding the chick and feeding it by regurgitating food from his own stomach. It breaks my heart to think about the mothers who couldn't reach their babies because of the iceberg, and the fathers who waited desperately for them until their food ran out, watching their chicks starve to death before finally having to give up and leave. I don't think many people will see this article, but I hope it gets shared so we can all take global warming a bit more seriously.