BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-09)

snowandtheracketofthethousandsofbirds

aroundyouandbecomepartofthescenery.

Atanygivenmoment,onlyonethingmatters

• nestornot?”
  Duringa count,eachscientistis allotted
  anarea,whichis thendividedintosmaller
  sections.Nestswithineachsub-section
  arecountedthreetimesusingmechanical
  counters,withthefiguresonlydeemed
  validif thevarianceis lessthan5 percent.
  “Agoodpaceofcountingis 1,000nestsan
  hour,”saysNoah.“That’swhenyou’rereally
  tickingalong.”
  It takestwoweekstosurveyandgeta first
  estimateforthewholeofElephantIsland,
  andtheemergingnumbersconfirmthe
  scientists’suspicions:thechinstrapcolonies
  here have also crashed. There are now just

52,786breedingadultsontheisland, 56 per

centfewerthanintheearly1970s.“Thisis

thebestwindowwehaveintothepast 50

yearsforthesebirds,”saysSteve.“It’sa

verydramaticdeclineandit’stragic.”

DepartingElephantIsland,theteam

weavesaroundtheSouthShetlands,

countingchinstrapnestsat,amongothers,

Low,SnowandKingGeorgeIslands.Every

day,thescientiststrekacrossbeachesand

upcliffs,andeverywherethesamepattern

emerges,withbreedingpopulationsat

abouthalftheirhistoricnumbers.“There

is nosafehaven,”saysSteve.

AccordingtoHeatherLynch,directorof

thepenguinlabatStonyBrookUniversity,

theproblemforthesecharismaticbirdsis

that they exist in a sweet spot in offshore

Antarctica.Furthernorth,theyrunoutof

krill;furthersouth,it is tooicytobuildtheir

stonynests.Heatherthinksthatchinstraps,

considereda speciesofLeastConcern,have

remainedofftheradarbecauseoftheir

abundance.“Peopleassumethatthereis

safetyinnumbers– andthereis,toa point,”

shesays.“Buttherehavebeenspectacular

collapsesofspeciesthatwethoughtwould

neverdisappear,likethepassengerpigeon.

I thinktheterm‘collapse’becomesa pretty

reasonabledescriptionatthispoint– half

ofthepopulation has disappeared in a very

shortperiod.”

Gettingwarm

Thereareseveraltheoriesthatcouldexplain

thedeclineofchinstraps,themostobvious

beingclimatechange.Infossilfuelterms,

oneofeveryeightcarbonmoleculesemitted

bya car’sexhaustendsupintheSouthern

Ocean,changingconditionsforeveryliving

creaturefromplanktontobluewhales.

AroundtheAntarcticPeninsula,ocean

temperatureshaverisenby1°Csince1955,

andthewatersoftheAntarcticCircumpolar

Current– whichflowswesttoeastaround

thecontinent– arewarmingfasterthan

therestoftheglobaloceanasa whole.On

land,thesituationis evenmoredramatic.

TemperaturesontheAntarcticPeninsula

havesoaredbyatleast3°Cbetween 1950

and2000,fivetimesfasterthananywhere

elseonEarth.

Chinstrapsarepartofa groupknown

asthebrush-tails,whichincludesgentoos

(easilyidentifiedbytheircarrot-orangebills),

andAdélies(theclassictuxedoedpenguin

ofthecartoonworld).Brush-tailshavesome

commonalities, including a love of cold water

Protecting

maritime

Antarctica

Nationsarecurrentlyconsidering

a proposaltoprotectthewaters

aroundthewesternAntarctic

Peninsula,wherechinstrapsliveand

forageforkrill.Theproposalfora

marinesanctuarywillbeconsidered

byCCAMLR(theCommissionforthe

ConservationofAntarcticMarine

LivingResources)inDecember2020.

OneofthemaingoalsofCCAMLR

istoestablisha networkofnine

marinesanctuariesintheSouthern

Ocean,toprotectthethousandsof

uniquespeciesthatlivethereand

arefoundnowhereelse– suchas

bioluminescentwormsandpastel

starfishaswellasthebetter-known

sealsandpenguins.

Obit.ly/pew-trust

BBC Wildlife 63

CHINSTRAP PENGUINS

September 2020

“Youhavetohold

poses,balancedon

onetoeonaslope

greased with guano.”