Chinstrap penguin colony at Baily Head on Deception Island. These penguins nest on rocky ice-free areas adjacent to water, and at this point in the late Antarctic spring were just laying their eggs on the high ground of this volcanic island.
Males and females take turns incubating their chicks on a small collection of stones that help insulate them from the cold, damp ground. The birds make a daily commute down to the sea for feeding and launch themselves into the sea on the waves rushing up the black sand beach. A recent census of chinstraps on Baily Head showed approximately 52,000 nests, down from 85,000 in 2003.
Chinstraps colonies on the Antarctic Peninsula region have seen rapid declines due to loss of their principal food, krill. Krill are small shrimp-like crustaceans that feed on marine algae that grow on the bottom of sea ice. Increasing winter water temperatures have decreased sea ice, and there has also been an increasing amount of fishing off krill in the region for use as animal feed.
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- ©2017 George Steinmetz
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- www.GeorgeSteinmetz.com
- Contained in galleries
- Climate Change
