I admit, until recently I hadn’t really given too much thought to penguins. But since finding out that I get to go to Antarctica this year, I’ve suddenly become a lot more interested. There are seven different types of penguin that live on Antarctica or the Antarctic islands, and I’m really hoping I get to see them all.

With my new found interest in penguins I’ve discovered that they are quite fascinating birds! Did you know that in many species of penguins it is the males, rather than females, that incubate the eggs? Or that many species of penguin are monogamous, returning to the same mate season after season? While they’re hunting, penguins ingest a bunch of sea water, so they have a special gland behind their eyes to filter out the saltwater, and then they get rid of it by sneezing!

Penguins are amazing. But they’re also in trouble.

Most scientists agree that climate change is happening, and that global temperatures are slowly increasing. Penguins need the cold to survive – and this increase in global temperatures is already having an impact on penguin populations. Researchers who spend their time studying and tracking penguins (yes, that is a job, and yes, I am considering a career change) have found that the numbers of penguins in Antarctica are decreasing. The Adelie and the chinstrap penguins are the most affected, with numbers halving in some areas of Antarctica. 

Global warming affects penguins in a few different ways. Although they spend most of their time in the water penguins need to be able to hop up onto the ice for protection, a place to hide from predators like seals. As ice becomes thinner this is harder, and it also means that the ice breaks more easily, possibly dumping unprepared penguin chicks into the icy water before they are equipped to survive.

Another big problem for the penguins is the impact that global warming has on their food. As the oceans get warmer the numbers of krill and other small sea creatures are being reduced. Penguins are starting to struggle to find enough food, and hungry penguins will find it harder to escape from predators, be more likely to get diseases, and be less likely to breed successfully.

If temperatures continue to increase more ice will melt, and more icebergs will be released, which causes another issue. Icebergs float around and tend to lodge themselves against the coast of Antarctica. The problem is that this can block penguins from getting from their nesting sites to the open ocean where they find their food. This happened a few years ago at Cape Denison, and over 150 000 Adelie penguins disappeared as a result.

I’m fortunate that on my Antarctic trip there will still be penguins there to see. But if we don’t take action on climate change, will there still be penguins for my grandchildren?