Download Happy Feet`s Penguins Silenced by Climate Change

Happy Feet’s Penguins Silenced by Climate Change
By Joanie Hilton
Hobart and William Smith Colleges, December 2011
We’ve all seen them, and more importantly, we’ve all heard them: the dancing
feet of Mumble the Emperor Penguin in the movie “Happy Feet”. With the recent arrival
of the sequel out in theaters, Mumble’s tapping feet have once again entered the minds of
children and parents alike. However, after
watching “Happy Feet” or “Happy Feet 2”, little
Johnny might ask his parents where Mumble is
and if they can go and visit him. Unfortunately,
one day, not too long from now, his parents will
have to say that Mumble does not exist anymore.
Yes, sadly, it seems as if Emperor penguins are on the path to extinction, thanks
to a warming climate. The evidence is now surrounding us, the climate throughout the
entire world has been changing, overall becoming warmer. Even though this might seem
nice to those of us who dread winter, it is not so nice for animals that are accustomed to a
cold climate. This is the case for the Emperor Penguins. They depend solely on the cold
and harsh climate of Antarctica to survive, and they will cease to exist if climate change
keeps warming their environment.
Emperor Penguins are one of four species of
penguin that inhabit Antarctica. They are the largest of all
the penguin species, weighing in at about 88 lbs and
standing at 45 inches. They are carnivores, eating primarily
shrimp, krill, and other small fishes. Their life cycle is
directly connected to that of sea ice. Their migration
patterns and breeding times coincide with what type of ice
these penguins are on. Pack ice is where this flightless bird
can be found during the non-breeding season. Pack ice consists of broken, free-floating
ice that is large enough to provide protection from underwater predators but small enough
so that the penguins may hunt in the water very conveniently. However, during the fall
months, these penguins start to migrate to more stable, land-locked ice to breed, where
chicks will be safer than they would be on pack ice. The distance between the breeding
grounds and feeding areas generates a huge dilemma for the Emperors. If you have ever
seen the movie “March of the Penguins”, this is the part where they start to play
depressing yet suspenseful music because the female penguins must face the treacherous
journey back to the ocean after they lay their egg.
While the fathers have a terribly hard duty of protecting
the egg from the harsh Antarctic winter conditions, the
mothers set out to find food. After the females return
(to the sounds of triumphant music in the movie) and
feed their recently hatched chick as well as the father,
the fathers leave on a similar trip. When they return, the
chick is almost fully developed, and the family can
finally head back out to the pack ice together.
While there were seven main colonies left in
Antarctica ten years ago, only two can be found today. One is located on the Antarctic
Peninsula and the other is on an ice shelf in Terre Adelie. It is most likely that some of
the penguins from the five lost colonies have migrated to the two existing colonies.
However, there is good evidence that continued warming will further reduce the penguin
populations. In the early 1970s, warming caused by the Antarctic Circumpolar Wave
Cycle brought about a 50% decline of the population, dropping one particular group from
6000 breeding pairs to only 400. The population has stabilized since, however it has not
recovered.
This kind of warming, already experienced by the Emperor Penguins, affected
several different aspects of their biology to produce such a devastating loss. First,
because these penguins are so dependent upon ice to survive, when ice severely decreases
due to melting, it creates an unsafe environment during both the non-breeding and
breeding seasons. During the non-breeding season on the pack ice, penguins are more
susceptible to predator attacks, and their food is scarce due to an altered food web caused
by low levels of ice. During the breeding season, melting ice means a less stable
environment to raise a chick and rising sea levels coming in closer. Therefore, the chicks
can easily be blown over into the water and drown and are more vulnerable to predators.
Other ways in which warming can affect penguins is by changing their routes to and from
the non-breeding and breeding areas. This happens from the melting ice shifting to
different places, causing new paths to be formed and the destruction of old paths. This
could lead to longer and more energetically costly trips for the mothers, or even complete
abandonment of chicks by parents who cannot find their way. Almost all the aspects of an
Emperor’s lifestyle are connected to the ice, and therefore will immediately be affected
by melting sea ice.
During the warming of the 1970s, all these features of the Emperor Penguin’s
lifestyle were altered, leading to a severe decrease in their population. This could easily
happen again to the population if the temperatures in Antarctica continue to rise, but this
time, it will be more devastating because there are not as many penguins to start with.
Within the next hundred years, it is expected that 93% of the population will be gone, and
Mumble and his dancing feet will have been silenced by climate change. Something
needs to be done, or the Emperor Penguin will be gone.
Photo credits:
1. Warner Bros. “Happy Feet” (accessed at http://collider.com)
2. Barbara Wienecke, (http://www.dogsbreathdivers.com/marinelife/penguins.htm)
3. Mikey Walsh, Edinburgh Zoo
(http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/animals/individuals/KingPenguin.html)