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JOHN WELLER
ADELIE PENGUINS ON THE LONG WALK
FROM CAPE ROYDS
In recent decades, sea ice around the Antarctic
Peninsula is not only much less extensive, but in
some areas it is also retreating a month earlier in
the spring and advancing two full months later in
the fall. But climate change is complicated. In stark
contrast to the Antarctic Peninsula, the extent of
sea ice in the Ross Sea has actually been increasing
in the recent past. This temporary situation can be
traced to stronger katabatic winds, which push sea
ice away from shore, exposing open water, which
then freezes into new sea ice and is pushed out to
sea when the winds pick up again.
Accustomed to walking only a few kilometers to find
open water to hunt, Cape Royds’ Adelie penguins
were forced to walk more than 30 miles in 2009.
Mates waiting with eggs and small chicks started
to starve and had to abandon nests to go find food
themselves. Eighty-five percent of the nests failed.
All creatures in Antarctica are in a race to adapt.