KATASTROFA I TUGA Ovoj karizmatičnoj vrsti prijeti izumiranje

26. 04. 2024. 09:50

The penguins at sunset THE FALKLAND ISLANDS RARE IMAGES of king penguins taking a stroll on the beach and surfing at sunset have been captured in the Falklands and other British south Atlantic islands.
Images show the king penguins waddling along at golden hour before hopping into the sea and riding the waves back to shore.
The king penguin is the second largest species of penguin, smaller, but somewhat similar in appearance to the emperor penguin.
There are two subspecies, A. p. patagonicus and A. p. halli; patagonicus is found in the South Atlantic and halli in the South Indian Ocean and at Macquarie Island.
These images were captured by photographer Brain Matthews (46) from Newcastle, England.
Brain captured the penguins on his trip to the Falklands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands on his Canon EOS Mark five.
“There’s 500,000 penguins at one of the colonies,” said Brian.

“In some cases very close they’ll come right up to you.

“I was in the water with the ones in the water then just next to them in all the others.

“Waited for several hours for this moment. We landed on small inflated boats and then stayed for 3-4 hours.

“I felt very lucky to have thousands of penguins around me, happy to share the water with me. It was very cool.
“Though the fur seals and odd elephant seal in the water near me, could be a shock!
“Seeing these birds swim around me, so fast and with great ease was incredible.
“Being in the water with these birds, I was in a drysuit, very few people have done this and got images like these, I was very lucky to be able to do this with thousands of penguins.”
ENDS,Image: 859973811, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: mediadrumimages/Brian Matthews / Media Drum World / Profimedia

Brian Matthews/Media Drum World /Profimedia

Tisuće mladunaca karizamtične vrste pingvina uginule su prošle godine na Antarktici zbog sve bržeg topljenja leda.

Rekordno niska razina antarktičkog morskog leda krajem 2023. godine dovela je do nemogućnosti razmnožavanja u petini kolonija carskih pingvina na kontinentu, prema institutu British Antarctic Survey (BAS).

Studija je objavljena u časopisu Antarctic Science u četvrtak, na Svjetski dan pingvina. Za istraživanje su korišteni satelitski podaci radi otkrivanja razmjera utjecaja ranog pucanja morskog leda na ciklus razmnožavanja pingvina.

Ako se morski led na kojem se kolonija razmnožava raspadne prije nego što mladuncima naraste vodootporno perje, imaju male šanse za preživljavanje.

ZASTRAŠUJUĆE UBRZANO OTAPANJE Arktik bi već ovog rujna mogao ostati bez leda!

Pilići koji uđu u vodu prije nego im naraste perje imaju visoku ili čak totalnu stopu smrtnosti u koloniji. Čak i ako ostanu na plohi plutajućeg leda koja se odvojila, šanse su im male jer roditelji teško pronalaze hranu za svoje mladunce.

Četrnaest od 66 kolonija bilo je pogođeno 2023. godine, u usporedbi s 19 prethodne godine, prema analizi predstavljenoj u časopisu Antarctic Science. Neuspjesi razmnožavanja izravna su posljedica nezapamćenog gubitka morskog leda u regiji posljednjih godina zbog klimatskih promjena.

Iznimno niska ljetna zaleđenost zabilježena je i 2022. i 2023. godine.

Procjenjuje se da je trenutačno u divljini preostalo nekoliko stotina tisuća carskih pingvina.

Prema predviđanjima, ta bi karizmatična vrsta mogla praktički izumrijeti do kraja stoljeća nastave li emisije stakleničkih plinova rasti sadašnjim tempom.