Falkland Island Penguins

Christina Fara

ENC 1101 M/W

November 30th, 2005

Page 1

Fifteen million penguins live in the South Atlantic. A large portion can be found in the Falkland Islands (east of the southern tip of South America ), which contain a certain concentration of Rockhopper penguins and a quarter of the world's Gentoo penguins, with three other breeding species (King, Magellanic, Macaroni). Penguins are among the most popular birds today yet they have been exploited for at least two centuries. Millions were slaughtered for their oil in the late 18th century, and the eggs of all five species have been taken for food since humans first reached the Falklands. Today, the waters surrounding the island are already subject to large scale commercial fisheries. The exploration for oil in the Falkland waters makes the lifestyle of these penguins an urgent priority. Today the coastal breeding sites of these flightless, aquatic birds make the penguins vulnerable to oil pollution, changes in the ecosystem, and entanglement in marine debris. Organizations based on volunteer action and donations are helping make laws to protect these birds from endangerment.

When penguins change their feathers, they loose their insulation, making it impossible to enter the icy cold ocean to feed for about three weeks. Penguins fatten themselves up during February and March, but if food is too scarce during this period, they are in trouble. The total penguin population for the Falkland Islands has declined by 84% in the 1980s and 1990s. This decline is due to a reduction of fish and squid as a result of large-scale commercial fishing around the Falklands. At least 100,000 penguins have died due to starvation during May 2002. The same thing occurred in 1986, when over a million Rockhopper penguins starved to death in exactly the same manner as has occurred this year. In 1998 drilling for oil began around the Falklands, despite warnings that environmental protection was insufficient. Within a month the first of three separate oil spills occurred, killing and contaminating hundreds of penguins. Since then no further oil spills have occurred. Oil exploration is due to restart in the near future, and environmental protection has not been improved. So far the Falkland Islands Government have not done anything for protection, and penguins continue to starve.

In 1982 the Falklands had six million penguins, now there are less than one million. The population of these birds have declined and is suspected to still be declining today. In order to save their lives, new penguins colonies have been established in Argentina and Chile (where penguins are being protected and their numbers are increasing), with the Falkland Islands being the only sources for which they could have come from. During April and May 2002, large areas of the Falkland Islands became littered with bodies. After examination, it was shown that between 25% and 50% of Rockhopper penguins had died and about 10% of Gentoo penguins.

In the Falkland Islands, there are only about 400 breeding pairs of King penguins. This doesn't seem like much compared to the amount in the 1960s when 1,500 breeding pairs were known. 65,000 breeding pairs are all that remain of the Gentoo penguins, 300,000 pairs of Rockhoppers penguins, 100 pairs of the Macaroni penguins, and 100,000 pairs of the Magellanic penguins. For some of these penguins, their population may seem as if their in no immediate danger, but two of these five birds are only found in the Falkland Islands (Gentoo and Rockhopper penguins.)

The King penguin is the largest penguin found in the Falkland Islands (second largest in the world.) It is the only penguin increasing in number, partly fuelled by immigration. Their population is found almost entirely concentrated at one site, Volunteer Point. The King penguins main diet consists of small myctophid fish, but not much work has been done to determine their diet. The Gentoo's main diet consists of fish, crustaceans, and squid. Their diet is causing them to starve because of the commercial fisheries. An overall decline in the Falkland Islands population may be as great as 40% over that