Penguins are adorable. And they make great documentary subjects. And they are also important indicators of marine life. In today’s New York Times, biologist P. Dee Boersma explains why climate change is threatening their future:
the dwindling numbers [of penguins] do not just mean the birds are suffering, Dr. Boersma writes. Because penguins are marine sentinels, their decline is a blunt message that their marine environment is in trouble, chiefly from overfishing and pollution from offshore oil operations and shipping.
Magellanic penguins can swim almost 100 miles a day, she said in an e-mail message, but to get enough to eat now they must venture as much as 40 miles farther from their nests than they did a decade ago.
Some of the food shortage is fishing-related, Dr. Boersma said, but some appears to be caused by climate change. As glaciers and sea ice retreat, she writes in her article, even small variations can have major consequences for penguins.
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Related:
A New Twist in Penguins’ Already Uncertain Future
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