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Smart Games - Penguins on Ice, Puzzle Game with 100 Challenges, 6+ Years

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The waters around and beneath the sea ice are important to the penguins as an area for feeding and the ice itself is essential as a place for the animals to rest, to shelter during their annual molt and to escape from predators. But the loss of sea ice, due to global heating, threatens the habitat of these penguins, while ocean acidification is diminishing the supply of krill, a key food source. Recent studies suggest that emperor penguin populations will decline in future decades due to climate change [1]– [6]. Current projections suggest that the world population will halve before 2052 [3] with more northerly colonies, above 70°S being lost entirely [6]. This has led the IUCN to re-list the species from “Least Threatened” to “Near Concern” [7]. The primary reason cited for this predicted decline is the species’ reliance on sea-ice, a habitat that is expected to decrease in future years [8], [9]. Sea ice is important to the species in two ways; firstly as a breeding platform and secondly as a foraging environment. A decrease in sea-ice distribution will negatively impact food webs [10], reducing numbers of Krill ( Euphausia superb), and the higher trophic levels which feed on Krill such as glacial squid ( Pleuragramma antarcticum); two species which compose the majority of the emperors diet [11]. A decrease in food availability may negatively affect survival, breeding success, recruitment and therefore population size. The Humboldt penguin is native to the Atacama Desert on South America's coast in Chile and Peru. These species have bare skin patches around their eyes to stay cool amid a warm climate. There are currently 32,000 individuals, and they are listed as Vulnerable. The Emperors are in big trouble,” said Steve Emslie, an expert in Adelie penguins at University of North Carolina Wilmington who was not involved in this research.

Fretwell said: “What’s most devastating for me is that we know this will get worse before it gets better. This is the trajectory that we are on. The largest population of gentoo penguins live on Falkland Island, with more than 121,000 pairs, but they also live on the South Sandwich Islands. Gentoos are known for their bright red bills. The IUCN classifies them as Least Concern.The epic ice capade reportedly occurred while US Coast Guard member Derik M. was on deployment in McMurdo Station in Antarctica in 2017, Newsflare reported. He had reportedly spotted a family of penguins traveling along an ice sheet, when suddenly a piece split off, separating one of the flightless birds from its family. Penguins are among the most social of all birds. All species of penguin are colonial, meaning that they live in large groups. During the breeding season, penguins come ashore and nest in huge colonies called rookeries. Rookeries can consist of hundreds of thousands of birds and span over hundreds of square miles.

The colonies Fretwell observed aren’t large enough for this failed season to have a lasting impact on the species’ overall population, LaRue said. The bigger fear is that this collapse will turn out to be a bellwether for repeated failures in other colonies. Jenouvrier S, Barbraud C, Weimerskirch H (2005) Long term contrasted responses to climate of two Antarctic Seabird species. Ecology 86; 2889–2903. King penguins live in the Falkland Islands, South Georgia Islands, the South Sandwich Islands, Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Islands, the Prince Edward Islands, Macquarie Island, and Heard Island and McDonald Islands. They have the longest breeding cycle of any bird, at 14 to 15 months. King penguins are the second-largest penguin species globally and have the largest penguin population outside of Antarctica, with around 1.6 million breeding pairs. Their current status is Least Concern. The Ruppert Coast colony that has been found located on the edge of an ice shelf in one year is neither in a warm or poor sea-ice location; as yet we have no explanation of why this colony moved to a more elevated location.

Other fans lauded the bowling pin-shaped bird’s surprising athleticism on land, with one commenting, “flightless my ass this mf fly as hell.” An Adelie penguin Getty Images Penguins face several threats to their populations, such as climate change, oil spills, illegal fishing, foreign predators, and plastic pollution. About two-thirds of the penguin species are listed as threatened on the IUCN Red List. Penguins that either live or breed in Oceania are the little penguin, erect-crested penguin, Fiordland-crested penguin, Snares Island penguin, yellow-eyed penguin, and royal penguin. The Fiordland, Snares Island, and yellow-eyed are all native to New Zealand.

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