Our current position is: Palmer station 64 44'40 south. 64 04'00 west
From: Martina Krueger - Campaigner
8th February 1997
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On Saturday the 8th we had an appointment with an American scientist who works with Adelie Penguins. He showed us around the island and pointed to the deserted and near extinct colonies. It is easier to monitor penguins in comparison to other animals, because penguins can not fly - they tend to stay on the same spot on land when someone tries to count them. And penguins always come back to the same nesting ground - until the end of their life.
When we were there, the chicks were almost ready to leave and were about to loose their downy feathers. Makes them look odd, very punk hairdo's, some completely look as if they are going to a Halloween party.
Penguins have a very interesting strategy of protecting the chicks. In the daytime, when the parents are out in the ocean to feed, some stay behind and watch the chicks in creches. It looks like a kindergarten scenario - some having a watchful eye over a lot of playful behavior. Every once in a while a skua tries to score - but is being scared away by angry picking and flustering.
Of course this tactic gets disturbed once the penguin colony drops below a certain size - there are not enough watchers and the skuas have an easy feast. But how do the colonies get so small in the first place? Prof. Frazer explained this with the higher temperatures, leading to more open water and less sea ice in winter. So instead of dry frost, the region is getting a lot of snow. Burying the Penguins nesting sites. But the Penguins are so focused on their old nesting grounds, that they lay their eggs in the snow - and hatching fails. Combined with the negative effect of diminished sea ice on the Penguins food, higher temperatures are all but good news for the Penguins.