Some Antarctic penguins are “happier” with less sea ice: Study

Team Udayavani, Jun 28, 2020, 4:48 PM IST

As per a study published in Science Advances, Adelie penguins, the most common species of Antarctic penguins, are “happier” with reduced sea ice conditions.

Adelie penguins, which are the most common in Antarctica, have been known to see population increases during years when sea ice is sparse and have shown breeding failures during years when sea ice has seen marked growth.

The research team electronically tagged 175 penguins with GPS devices, accelerometers, and video cameras, so as to observe their walking, swimming, resting, and hunting behaviour, and track their trips across four seasons with different sea-ice conditions.

It is said that when there is less sea-ice, penguins can simply dive-in wherever they want, and even enter the water directly from their nests.