Surprise! Antarctic penguins are happier with less sea ice

2 Jul 2020

Surprise! Antarctic penguins are happier with less sea ice

Surprise! Antarctic penguins are happier with less sea icePenguins are found in places that have a lot of ice and snow. So, we would think that they like having a lot of ice and snow around.

Recently, in a surprise finding, researchers found that Adélie penguins in Antarctica prefer reduced sea-ice (frozen sea water) conditions. That too, not just a little bit, but a lot!

This could be good news for this penguin as climate change is making our planet warmer.

Earlier research had shown that Adélie penguins' population increases when there is less sea ice. However, the reason was not known until now.

Researchers electronically tracked 175 Adélie penguins across four seasons with different sea-ice conditions.

The study showed that the penguins are happier when there is less sea ice. They are fast swimmers but walk very slowly. Less snow lets them swim more, walk less and saves energy. This means they can travel further for food. More food means the population can increase faster.

However, all this is true only for those penguins that live on the main, “continental” part of Antarctica. The opposite happens to the penguins that live on the edge of the Antarctic or its islands.

Here is a video on Adélie penguins:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9EbdayGTQQ

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Penguins are found in places that have a lot of ice and snow. So, we would think that they like having a lot of ice […]

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Comments: 2

AABIR says:

3 July 2020 at 9:28 am

How could they be happier when their natural enemy, sea leopards, are getting the advantage?

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- Atu says:
  
  3 July 2020 at 12:09 pm
  
  Hi Aabir
  
  Less sea ice means that the penguins can swim faster and catch more prey. That way, they remain healthier with more energy to run away from predators like sea leopards. Also, Adelie penguins, despite their small size, are known for being quite usually feisty. This is also another advantage they can use, even if it is not always successful.
  
  Stay curious!
  
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