36,000 PENGUIN CHICKS DIE IN ANTARCTICA

NEW YORK • All but two penguin chicks from an Antarctic colony of 36,000 birds died during a catastrophic breeding season, according to scientists who say Antarctic waters need greater protection.

The disaster was caused by unusually extensive sea ice late in the summer, they said, forcing birds from Terre Adelie in East Antarctica to roam further and further for food.

While parents searched for krill, the tiny shrimplike crustaceans that make up much of their diet, their offspring were dying in extraordinary numbers.

Rod Downie, head of polar programs at WWF said: “Adelie penguins are one of the hardiest and most amazing animals on our planet.

“This devastating event contrasts with the Disney image that many people might have of penguins. It’s more like ‘Tarantino does Happy Feet’, with dead penguin chicks strewn across a beach in Adelie Land.

“The risk of opening up this area to exploratory krill fisheries, which would compete with the Adelie penguins for food as they recover from two catastrophic breeding failures in four years, is unthinkable.”

He called for the creation of a new Marine Protected Area for the waters off East Antarctica to protect the home of the penguins.

Adelie penguins are generally faring well in East Antarctica but declining overall in the Antarctic peninsula region, where climate change is already established, the conservation group said.

In some places, the species has benefited from climate change, which has made it easier to access rock breeding grounds and the sea for feeding.

In other places, the collapse of ice shelves and melting glaciers has forced them to move or die.

ANDY ISAACSON / THE NEW YORK TIMES Unusually extensive sea ice late in the summer spelled disaster for Adelie penguin chicks in Antarctica, scientists say.