- "These birds will not have time to recover and reproduce and the population will continue to decline."
 |
| Korora penguins. / Wikipedia |
Hundreds of korora penguins, native to New Zealand and considered the smallest in the world, have appeared dead from starvation on the beaches of the North Island of this country since last month, a phenomenon that has been linked to the aggravated warming of the waters. for the climate crisis.
It is estimated that some 500 penguins have died since the beginning of May and although the exact number of deaths is unknown, "certainly the figures reported in those Northern Beaches are higher than is normally expected," said Graeme Taylor, an expert on seabirds from the New Zealand Ministry of Conservation.
The deaths of the Korora, which mainly inhabit the islands off the New Zealand coast but head to the mainland to nest, have been reported since May 2 from Tokerau beach, in the northern part of the North Island, to the Auckland coast.
Almost half of his normal weight
The records of these deaths occur in the period in which the adult birds move to the New Zealand coast to prepare the nests, in an enormous effort for them because they have to walk around 1.5 kilometers and climb 300 meters to find the place. perfect among bushes, holes, or caves and sometimes in houses or sheds.
The New Zealand authorities confirmed that these Eudyptula minor penguins, which measure about 25 centimeters and are bluish in color with a white chest, died of starvation, according to preliminary analyzes carried out on some of the remains and that ruled out these deaths were linked to diseases or toxins.
The penguin carcasses "were almost half their normal weight, they had no fat on their muscles and their muscle mass was reduced. They were in poor condition," Taylor explained, clarifying that the deaths have only occurred in subspecies of the penguin. north and not in the south, where the waters are colder.
Double water heating
The deaths of the korora, a species classified as endangered in New Zealand, especially due to human development in coastal areas and the introduction of new predators such as dogs, have been linked to the double warming of the waters produced by the phenomenon of La Niña and the arrival of tropical waters from the north.
This "rare situation" has had an impact on these penguins, who, being unable to fly, have been unable to follow the fish that have moved towards colder waters to the south or have failed to dive deeper than 30 meters, to find food, stressed the official from the Ministry of Conservation.
This situation in which "the penguins will try to leave or find food elsewhere" with the risk of starvation is expected to continue for a few months until sea temperatures stabilize with the settlement of the southern winter, although in the long run, it points to being a trend, Taylor suspects.
Will continue to decline
"These events are happening more often, I think it's the third in the last five or six years. It used to be rarely once in a decade...and the long-term impact is that these birds won't have time to recover and breed in between." these events and the population will continue to decline," Taylor lamented, referring to heat waves.
The cases of mass deaths, above 1,000 kororas, that the New Zealand authorities have registered in their territory occurred in 1974 when 4,734 penguins died, in 1985 (5,386) and 1998 (3,517), while the data on the deaths of this year are still in the process of collection.