Ocean Sentry
A wrecked ship is threatening to cause an environmental disaster on an island which is home to endangered penguins, conservationists have warned. The vessel has grounded on Nightingale Island, part of the Tristan da Cunha UK overseas territory in the South Atlantic, causing an oil slick around the island which …
March, 2011
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20 March
Thieves stealing penguins for pets
Vandals are regularly climbing security fences at Granite Island, near the South Australian capital Adelaide, to steal penguins from an already dwindling wild population. The number of little penguins on the island — which is located just off the coast 50 miles (80km) south of Adelaide — has dropped from …
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17 March
Japan tsunami: Thousands of seabirds killed near Hawaii
Thousands of albatrosses and other endangered species at a wildlife sanctuary north-west of Hawaii have been killed by the tsunami which devastated Japan, US officials say. Thousands of petrels and fish were also killed as huge waves swept over parts of the remote, low-lying Midway atoll. The sanctuary is home …
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8 March
Antarctic penguin colony vanishes, warming to blame?
A small colony of emperor penguins on an island off the West Antarctic Peninsula is gone, and the most likely culprit is loss of sea ice caused by warming. Although it has been predicted that penguins could suffer greatly because of global warming, this is the first time the disappearance …
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7 March
Researchers find more plastic in the guts of Arctic seabirds
When biologist Jennifer Provencher headed to the Arctic, she signed on to help assess how seabird diets are changing as temperatures climb in the North. She never expected to find plastics on the menu. But she and her colleagues at the Canadian Wildlife Service are pulling remarkable amounts of trash …
February, 2011
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22 February
Southern Rockhopper Penguins Listed as Threatened Species; Climate Change Protections Needed
The Interior Department announced today that the New Zealand-Australia populations of the southern rockhopper penguin, among the world’s smallest penguins, will be listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The listing will raise awareness of the rockhoppers’ plight, increase research and conservation funds, and offer added oversight of …
January, 2011
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21 January
Dying birds stir extinction fears
Little penguins are dying in their hundreds, leading conservationists to fear they are starving as a result of the La Nina weather system. Other seabirds are washing up dead on beaches, raising concerns that species could become extinct if climate change causes extreme weather events to become more frequent. At …
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13 January
‘Unethical’ flipper tags are damaging to penguins
The standard way of tagging penguins for science – putting bands around their flippers – affects their survival and reproduction, a study has found. French researchers, reporting their work in the journal Nature, found king penguins had 40% fewer chicks if they were banded, and lived shorter lives. They say …
October, 2010
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24 October
New Homes Built for Endangered Galápagos Penguins
In an attempt to boost the population of endangered Galápagos penguins, researchers have been building new nests for them on the islands. Biologists hope that the nests will help increase the population of the endangered Galápagos penguins,which have experienced a population decline of more than 50 percent since the 1970s, …
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22 October
Arctic seabirds loaded with environmental poisons
The excrement of Arctic seabirds is a cocktail of dangerous pollutants, according to studies conducted by the Canadian Wildlife Service and Queen”s University in Kingston, Ont. Because nearly all pollution emitted by industrial societies ends up in the ocean eventually, sea creatures are among the most contaminated organisms on the …
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19 October
Seabirds suffer their worst breeding season on record
Seabird populations in the far north of Scotland suffered their worst breeding season on record – with some previously large colonies failing to produce any chicks. A report published by the RSPB today indicates that, while some UK coastal reserves had a successful summer this year, colonies in the far …
September, 2010
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29 September
Vanishing African Penguin, Threatened by Climate Change and Fishing, Wins Protections
The Interior Department announced today that the African penguin, the only nesting penguin on the African continent, will be listed as an endangered species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The decision responds to a 2006 Center for Biological Diversity petition to protect 12 penguin species under the Act as …