Four new emperor penguin colonies have been discovered

 Scientists spot previously unknown colonies of emperor penguins in Antarctica

Scientists currently know of 66 emperor penguin colonies. The newly spotted colonies don't greatly change overall population estimates. Emperor penguins, considered “near threatened” with extinction, are the world's largest penguins. They raise their chicks in Antarctic winter. Satellite images have helped to locate four previously unknown colonies of emperor penguins in the Antarctic previously unknown to science. One of the colonies has over 5000 members. During winter, colonies of thousands of emperor penguins live and breed on the frozen sea ice clinging to the Antarctic coast. Now, melting ice is forcing emperor penguin colonies to relocate to more stable breeding grounds, and researchers regularly monitor where they move using satellite photos. Against the bright white snow, the hordes of penguins, and the guano stains they leave behind, stand out as brown splotches on the landscape.

Three of the colonies researchers spotted on the Brunt ice shelf were small, fewer than 100 birds. But the fourth group, a colony that scientists thought had vanished, had more than 5000 birds. This brings the total number of known emperor penguin colonies in Antarctica to 66, but the slight uptick doesn’t tell the full story, says Peter Fretwell at the British Antarctic Survey. “It’s quite ironic that we are still finding colonies as the populations start to be affected by climate change,” he says. Last year, at least 19 penguin colonies had total breeding failures due to ice melt, causing a mass die-off of chicks. Some predict the species could be extinct by the end of the century. “The losses we are seeing through climate change probably outweigh any population gain we get by finding new colonies,” says Fretwell.

                                          

This undated photo provided by the British Antarctic Survey in January 2024 shows adult emperor penguins with a chick near Halley Research Station in Antarctica. Scientists have spotted previously unknown colonies of emperor penguins in new satellite imagery. At least some emperor penguins are moving their colonies as melting ice from climate change threatens breeding grounds. The British Antarctic Survey said that the four newly found colonies likely existed for many years, but scientists hadn’t previously spotted them.

                                         

This combination of satellite images provided by the EU's Copernicus program via the British Antarctic Survey in January 2024 shows four new emperor penguin colony sites in Antarctica. At least some emperor penguins are moving their colonies as melting ice from climate change threatens breeding grounds, according to research released on Wednesday. One penguin colony near Halley Bay appears to have moved around 30 km's (19 miles) to the east, said Peter Fretwell, a researcher at the British Antarctic Survey. He said unstable conditions beginning in 2016 had made the old location perilous. “Emperor penguins have taken it upon themselves to try to find more stable sea ice,” he said.

                                                          

This 2008-2009 photo provided by the British Antarctic Survey in January 2024 shows an adult emperor penguin and chicks on the sea ice at Halley Bay. Emperor penguins, considered “near threatened” with extinction, are the world’s largest penguins. They raise their chicks in Antarctic winter on patches of frozen sea ice. But if the ice breaks up before the chicks have fledged, most will die. The four newly found colonies likely existed for many years, but scientists hadn't previously spotted them, said Fretwell. They are mostly small colonies, with less than 1,000 breeding pairs each, he said. Scientists currently know of 66 emperor penguin colonies. The newly spotted colonies don't greatly change overall population estimates, currently less than around 300,000 breeding pairs, but they help scientists understand where penguins might be moving, said Fretwell.

It's unclear if any of the newly identified colonies could be breakaway groups from other larger colonies, said Daniel Zitterbart, a penguin researcher at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who was not involved in the study. But it's clear the breeding sites are in flux and a warming world means more "penguins will be on the move,” he said.