More than 60,000 penguins have died on two remote islands off the coast of South Africa. It's a truly tragic statistic, but here's what researchers had to say as far as the cause.
The University of Exeter revealed in a press release the startling number of dead penguins. More than 95 percent of the penguin colonies on Dassen Island and Robben Island have died. They passed away between 2004 to 2012. Researchers believe the birds "starved to death en masse during their moulting season as a result of collapsing food supplies."
Researchers estimated a startling 62,000 birds died.
"Between 2004 and 2011, the sardine stock off west South Africa was consistently below 25% of its peak abundance and this appears to have caused severe food shortage for African penguins, leading to an estimated loss of about 62,000 breeding individuals," said co-author Dr Richard Sherley. "In 2024, African penguins were classified as Critically Endangered, and restoring sardine biomass in key foraging areas would seem to be essential for their long-term survival."
Penguins Dead
The molting process for the penguins on the island contributed to the number of dead birds. The animals stay on land and can't hunt during this period.
"They are evolved to build up fat and then to fast whilst their body metabolises those reserves, and the protein in their muscles, to get them through moult," said Sherley. "They then need to be able to regain body condition rapidly afterwards. So, essentially, if food is too hard to find before they moult or immediately afterwards, they will have insufficient reserves to survive the fast."
Decline in penguin population is likely related to the loss of sardines in the region.
"Changes in the temperature and salinity of the spawning areas off the west and south coasts of South Africa made spawning in the historically important west coast spawning areas less successful, and spawning off the south coast more successful," the researcher continued.
But hope is not lost. The researchers are hopeful that conservation efforts can save the penguins.
"We hope that the recent conservation interventions put in place, together with reduced exploitation rates of sardine when its abundance is less than the 25% of maximum threshold, will begin to arrest the decline and that the species will show some signs of recovery," Sherley concluded.
