Scientists Are Advocating for Improved Safeguards for Young Emperor Penguins

As the U.S. The Fish and Wildlife Service is considering classifying the species under the Endangered Species Act, while the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) is considering increasing the Southern Ocean's network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

One of the rare long-term studies of juvenile emperor penguins-and the only one focusing on a colony in the Weddell Sea-research released today in Royal Society Open Science discovered that the young birds spend over 90% of their time outside of the present and proposed MPAs.

Antarctica's marine protected areas should contain baby emperor penguins

(Photo : Ian Parker/Unsplash)

The study, which followed eight penguins with satellite tags for a year, also discovered that they frequently traveled more than 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) beyond the species range defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which is based on research on adult emperor penguins from a few other colonies, as per ScienceDaily.

Juvenile emperor penguins are more susceptible than adults because they have not completely acquired foraging and predator avoidance skills until they are roughly 4 years old.

As climate change diminishes sea-ice habitat and opens up new parts of the Southern Ocean to commercial fishing, the researchers conclude that considerably enlarged MPAs are critical to protecting this iconic, yet endangered, penguin species at all stages of life.

While everyone is focused on the adult population, the juvenile population, which leaves the relative protection of its parents at approximately five months, is neither watched nor safeguarded, according to WHOI associate scientist Dan Zitterbart.

The present and proposed Southern Ocean MPAs only cover the range of adult emperor penguins, who do not move as far as youngsters.

It's critical for conservation that we know where these kids go. It's another piece of the jigsaw in preserving their aquatic home.

Zitterbart and colleagues from the Centre Scientifique de Monaco (CSM), the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and the Université de Strasbourg in France, as well as the Alfred-Wegener Institute (AWI) in Germany, are conducting a long-term monitoring study of the Atka Bay emperor penguin colony near Neumayer Station III on the Weddell Sea.

The Weddell Sea area is home to one-third of existing emperor penguin colonies, and research reveals that colonies in the region, including the Ross Sea, are less sensitive to climate-induced melting than other locations in Antarctica.

"Some of the Weddell Sea colonies are projected to be there in 50 to 100 years," said Aymeric Houstin, a WHOI postdoctoral researcher and the study's primary author.

According to research, 12 percent of the land under CCAMLR authority is now protected as an MPA, with less than 5 percent designated as a "no-take" zone.

For several years, the CCAMLR's 26 members have been debating three additional MPAs in the region, including the Weddell Sea MPA, which was initially proposed by Germany and submitted by the European Union in 2013.

According to Céline Le Bohec of CNRS/Université de Strasbourg France and the Centre Scientifique de Monaco, the Weddell Sea MPA design, like the other MPAs around Antarctica, should include the distribution at sea of all age classes of the emperor penguin population, not just adults from a few study colonies.

Juveniles are presently obviously unprotected, and their existence in the Northern seas must be recognized in the future, particularly in terms of the growth of fisheries in those areas.

The researchers want to continue tagging both adult and juvenile penguins from the Atka Bay colony for the next few decades to study their travels and behavior as the environment changes.

Houstin thinks that with additional long-term data, a "dynamic MPA" with fluctuating boundaries may be created based on forecasts of penguin movement throughout the year.

Read more: Time is Running Out for the Beloved Emperor Penguin

Emperor Penguin Proposed for U.S. Endangered Species Protection

According to 2021 research conducted by renowned emperor penguin biologists, climate scientists, and policy experts, the emperor penguin should be designated as vulnerable under the Endangered Species Act due to concerns posed by sea-ice loss, as per the Center for Biological Diversity.

Similarly, an 18-penguin expert analysis published in 2020 determined that emperor penguins are facing extinction as a result of the global problem and issued an urgent plea for stronger climate action and legal safeguards for these penguins.

Emperor penguins require consistent sea ice to mate and raise their offspring. With sea ice melting earlier in the year, entire emperor penguin colonies are dwindling or disappearing in regions of Antarctica.

In recent years, colonies in Halley Bay and Cape Crozier have seen catastrophic breeding failures due to sea ice breaking up before chicks were ready to swim, resulting in the drowning of thousands of chicks.

The number of the emperor penguin colony at Point Géologie, which was prominently depicted in the film March of the Penguins, has plummeted by roughly 50%.

Without significant reductions in carbon pollution, scientists predict that 80% of the world's emperor penguins would be extinct by the end of the century.

However, if nations fulfill the Paris Warming Agreement's 1.5 degree Celsius climate target, the penguin population would only drop by 30%, stabilizing by the end of the century.

Melting sea ice, the acidity of the ocean, and commercial fishing have all reduced the availability of krill, a vital food source for emperor penguins.

A listing under the Endangered Species Act would provide essential assistance by boosting attention and resources.

Related article: Humans Visit Emperor Penguin Colony in Antarctica for First Time