New Zealand: Hundreds of dead penguins fill the shores.
Who is to blame?
The bodies of small blue penguins "Junior Penguins" have been washed ashore in northern New Zealand in recent weeks, and nature conservation activists fear that climate change is starving the birds.
News agencies
16/06/2022
Thursday, 16 June 2022, 11:00 Updated: 11:08
Share on Facebook
Share on WhatsApp
Share on Twitter
Share on Email
Share on general
Comments
Comments
The bodies of hundreds of small blue penguins have been washed ashore in northern New Zealand in recent weeks, and nature conservation activists fear climate change is starving birds to death.
The Junior Penguin is the smallest of the penguin species.
It lives along the coasts of New Zealand, the Chatham Archipelago, Tasmania and South Australia.
In Australia they are called "Penguin Fairy" because of their small size, and in New Zealand they are called "Little Blue Penguin" or "Blue Penguin" because of the color of its feathers.
In the Maori language they are called "korora" (kororā).
According to the New Zealand Conservation Department, the little bird is threatened by dogs and ferrets but also by cars on the road and beach real estate development.
Hundreds of dead birds are malnourished.
The Blue Penguin (Photo: Official Website, Peter Gaylard from Australia - Wikipedia)
Since May, hundreds of penguins have died en masse and researchers are trying to find the cause.
According to Grimm Taylor, the chief scientific adviser to the New Zealand Conservation Department, based on preliminary laboratory results, malnutrition appears to be the cause of the deaths of 200-250 penguins.
"They probably can't find enough food at sea and are starving," he told CNN.
A heat wave in New Zealand's northern waters combined with the climatic phenomenon that makes it difficult for small birds to find food, he added.
The small bird usually eats anchovies and sardines, and for this purpose dives to a depth of 30 meters.
But rising water temperatures are forcing the fish to move to colder waters that are too deep for the bird, Taylor said.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Earhren (Photo: Reuters)
According to preliminary results from a study of the bodies, the birds lost the belly fat layer, so their health condition when washed ashore was precarious.
New Zealand recorded the hottest year in its history in 2021, with temperatures above 0.5-1.2 degrees Celsius above normal, according to the National Institute for Water and Atmosphere Research.
Water around the country "has risen 3 degrees Celsius recently," the New Zealand Institute for Climate Change Research told CNN.
More on Walla!
Zoom, hybrid work and home tests: this is how the labor market in Israel has changed
In collaboration with ManpowerGroup
news
World news
Asia and the Pacific
Tags
New Zealand
Climate change