US EditionIce Melt Threatens Emperor Penguins During Annual Moult: Researchers
Researchers warn shrinking sea ice has reduced moulting habitat by over 80%, forcing penguins into crowded conditions that increase exhaustion, hypothermia, and predation risks.
- Researchers at the British Antarctic Survey analysing seven years of satellite images accidentally discovered moulting colonies along Marie Byrd Land and found only 25 groups visible in 2025, down from more than 100 before 2022.
- In West Antarctica, sea ice extent fell from 2.8m sq km to 1.79m sq km, with regional fast-ice coverage dropping to 100,000 sq km in 2023, forcing habitat loss.
- The birds cannot swim for about four to five weeks while moulting, consuming up to 50% of body mass, raising immediate mortality risks if entering water, Fretwell said.
- Researchers fear thousands may have frozen in Antarctic waters, and Fretwell plans to compare satellite findings with an imminent Ross Sea population count, as the 45% extinction chance looms.
- Some penguins may have moved to East Antarctica to moult, while a few groups adapt on shallow ice shelves, but these shifts disrupt breeding and feeding, and this year only a handful are visible.
25 Articles
25 Articles
Satellites Reveal New Climate Threat to Emperor Penguins
Ice loss in the Antarctic Ocean may be killing the sea birds during their molting season.By Bob BerwynEach year for millennia, emperor penguins have molted on coastal sea ice that remained stable until late summer—a haven during a span of several weeks when it’s dangerous for the mostly aquatic birds to enter the ocean to feed because they are regrowing their waterproof feathers.
Emperor penguins shed all their feathers once a year, a risky ritual that could become deadly in a changing climate as they struggle to survive on shrinking Southern Ocean ice sheets, scientists said Wednesday.
Researchers warn about the dangers of climate change for emperor penguins, particularly vulnerable during their annual moulting Already vulnerable during their period of
These birds, unable to fly, moult each year during the southern summer, but they are increasingly lacking space to renew their plumage.
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