Arctic: Dangerous, Hostile Environment for Penguins, Expert Explains

For penguins to survive, ice is not enough. Why the Arctic is a perilous and hostile environment for the flightless birds is explained by an expert.

Penguins only exist in the Southern Hemisphere, from Antarctica to numerous remote islands in addition to the southern coasts of Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and South America.

An isolated species is only found in the Galápagos Islands near the equator.

Despite popular belief, they aren't particularly dependent on a cold climate; rather, they require nutrient-rich waters that support a productive enough food chain to keep them in fish.

This is provided by deep ocean upwellings in the tropical Galápagos and Peru.

Dangerous and Hostile Arctic

According to marine biologist and BBC producer Ellen Husain, it is likely that penguins haven't migrated further north because they lack the ability to fly and because, moving further north, there are vast areas of tropical waters that are less productive before the next major upwellings.

Due to their ground-nesting habits and restricted habitat due to their inability to fly, penguins would be exposed to foxes, wolves, and polar bears in the Arctic, Discover Wildlife reported.

Penguins

Penguins are primarily found in the Southern Hemisphere.

They include the diminutive blue penguins of New Zealand and Australia, the magnificent emperor penguins of Antarctica, the king penguins that can be found on many sub-Antarctic islands, the critically endangered African penguin, and the Galápagos penguin, which is the only penguin that can be found north of the equator.

Although they are birds, penguins don't have wings; they have flippers.

They can't fly, and when the snow conditions are right, they can slide on their bellies while waddling along the ground.

They are skilled divers and swimmers in the water, and some species can travel at speeds of up to 15 miles per hour, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

The penguin's distinctive coloring, which consists of a black body and a white belly, aids in concealing the bird as it forages in the water for meals of tiny shrimp, fish, crabs, and squid.

IUCN Red List Status

According to the IUCN Red List, the list includes 18 different species of penguin.

For all except one of these, climate change and extreme weather are listed as threats.

There are currently 10 penguin species that face extinction. One of the five threatened species, the African penguin, has largely disappeared from the wild.

There are now only 41,700 mature individuals of the species left in the world, compared to the previous statistics that indicated there were approximately 66,000 individuals.

Meanwhile, there are only about 3000 yellow-eyed penguins left in New Zealand, and only 1200 Galapagos penguins remain.

The biggest threat so far has been brought on by climate change and severe weather.

It is listed by IUCN as habitat shifting and alterations. It is followed closely by the unintentional effects of fishing.

Other threats include invasive species, oil spills, recreational activities, hunting, and floods.