Scientists believe that climate change has played a role.
More than 500 of the world's smallest penguins have been found dead near shores of New Zealand over the past few months. Experts cannot say for sure what caused the birds' deaths, but they think climate change has played a role, according to Live Science.
Groups of dead little penguins Eudyptula minor, known as corora, have been found on New Zealand's beaches since early May. The largest was a group of 183 dead birds, later 109 more dead penguins were found in the same place. Last week, another group of dead birds was found, consisting of about 100 individuals. According to the New Zealand Department of Conservation, there have been other deaths of penguins that have found from a pair to dozens of the bodies of these birds. No obvious cause of death was found, but experts have noticed that most penguins are significantly underweight. They should weigh about 800 grams – kilograms, but most birds weighed twice as much.
“They simply did not have fat, almost no muscle was visible. When they reach this stage of depletion, they can't dive, “said Graham Taylor, a scientist who studies seabirds. This ultimately causes birds to starve or die from hypothermia because they do not have a protective layer of fat.
Depletion of penguins indicates that they did not get enough fish. This, in turn, can be a sign of overfishing. At the same time, according to Taylor, the rise in ocean surface temperature caused by climate change and La Niña has forced fish to go into deeper waters where penguins cannot reach it.
According to Taylor, these penguins can dive. to a depth of 20 to 30 meters, but not deeper. According to the publication, ironically, the Latin translation of the name of the penguin species translates as “good little diver”.
This hypothesis may explain why penguins from the South Island of New Zealand did not die. The water temperature near the surface there remained much lower than closer to the north.
The New Zealand government considers small penguins to be at risk of declining populations. According to Bird Life International, 500,000 adults now live in the wild. Other threats to this species include dogs, cats and other invasive species that eat bird eggs. In 2021, the entire population of 3,000 little penguins in Tasmania was wiped out by Tasmanian devils brought to the island by animal rights activists.
This is not the first case of mass deaths of little penguins in New Zealand. Such cases occur about once a decade, either due to feeding difficulties or due to severe storms. At the same time, this is the third mass death of these birds in the last 10 years, which is worrying. This is 3,500 kilometers from his native Antarctica.
