Climate change linked to 60% decline in chinstrap penguin nests on Zavodovski Island
Scientists link a fall of more than 60% in occupied chinstrap penguin nests on Zavodovski Island since 2011 to warming seas pushing krill away.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Scientists are warning that climate change is driving a sharp decline in chinstrap penguins on Zavodovski Island, a remote active volcano in the South Sandwich Islands in the Southern Atlantic. The island was once home to the world's largest penguin colony. New aerial studies suggest the number of occupied nests has fallen by more than 60% since 2011. The loss has been described as over half a million chinstrap penguins.
Researchers link the drop to warming in the Southern Atlantic. Warmer sea temperatures are pushing krill, the penguins' main food, away from their usual habitat. Chinstrap penguins are krill specialists and rely on it heavily during the breeding season. Rapid regional warming has caused krill stocks to contract southwards, leaving much less food available around the South Sandwich Islands. That lack of food is probably driving the population decline.
The surveys were carried out by the British Antarctic Survey. The findings suggest the changes at Zavodovski are the biggest ever observed at a single location in Antarctica. Zavodovski is a bleak volcanic landscape that supports hundreds of thousands of penguins, but life there is precarious. Earlier research on the Antarctic Peninsula showed how rising sea temperatures affect some of the region's largest marine animals.
Not all species on the island are declining. Macaroni penguins, which have an orange crest and nest alongside chinstraps, have increased in numbers. Scientists say this species is more adaptable and does not depend on very cold water and krill. In this remote environment, rising temperatures appear to be shifting the balance of nature.
The group of islands is home to around 30% of the world's chinstrap penguin population. Scientists fear the decline could lead to the species being classified as endangered. The findings have added to concern among researchers working in the Antarctic, where warming is changing food webs and wildlife populations.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Reported by all 2 channels | ||
| Warmer sea temperatures are driving the penguins' main krill food source away from their usual habitat. | ||
| Zavodovski Island chinstrap penguin colony has lost over half a million penguins and occupied nests have fallen by more than 60% since 2011. | ||
| Only on one channel | ||
| Numbers of macaroni penguins nesting on Zavodovski have increased. | Not reported by ITV | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
ITV1 treated the story as alarming and accessible, leading with survival fears and the loss of over half a million penguins. It focused on climate change as the cause, warmer sea temperatures pushing krill away, and the risk that the species could be classified as endangered. It did not mention the British Antarctic Survey, the macaroni penguin increase, or the contraction of krill stocks southwards.
- “Scientists are now fearing for the survival of what was once the world's largest colony of penguins and it's all down to climate change.”
- “Sadly there's been a loss of over half a million chin strap penguins from the Zavodovski Island which is an active volcano in the Southern Atlantic Ocean.”
- “The warmer sea temperatures is pushing krill fish, their main source of food away from their natural habitat.”
BBC ONE West gave the story more scientific context, attributing the aerial studies to the British Antarctic Survey and explaining the krill food chain in detail. It reported that the decline is the biggest ever observed at a single location in Antarctica and added a contrast with macaroni penguins, whose numbers have risen because they are less dependent on krill and cold water. It omitted the half-million bird figure, the 30% global population share, and any endangered classification warning.
- “Almost two-thirds of the population of chin-strap penguins have disappeared from a remote volcanic island near Antarctica.”
- “Due to rapid regional warming, krill stocks have contracted southwards and chin-straps are very much a krill specialist, it's virtually all they eat during the breeding season in particular.”
- “At the same time though, the macaroni penguins that nest here with their crest of orange feathers have increased in numbers.”
Broadcast Timeline
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