Hong Kong citizen scientists help Antarctic climate change fight
Volunteers sailing to frozen continent help conduct penguin and seabird surveys,monitor ecological changes, take seawater samples and look out for whales and other marine species
Summer is when penguins come ashore in the Antarctic to mate and raise their chicks. And when the wind drops in sheltered Andvord Bay, all that disturbs the water is the occasional raft of cavorting penguins.
SEE ALSO: What a trip to Antarctica teaches sleep-deprived Hong Kong about need for rest
First-time visitors to Antarctica cannot help but be awed by the scene. It is at once magical and hilarious: who wouldn’t crack a smile at the first sight of a penguin waddling along, its fins extended for balance? But people who have been coming to this spot regularly may notice something different about the birds – they aren’t the same penguins that were here five years ago.
SEE ALSO: How tour operators help citizen scientists do research vital to climate, ecology studies
Most penguins that came ashore at Andvord Bay this year – and for the past few years – have been gentoos. They have red bills and are most easily recognised by the white, bonnet-like marking across the top of their heads.
But it wasn’t so long ago when the shores at Andvord were favoured by Adélie penguins.
Recognised by their black head and beak, Adélies are only found in the Antarctic, and like emperor penguins, can tolerate extremely cold weather.
Gentoos, however, are a sub-Antarctic species that breed in ice-free sites and don’t do well in extreme cold.
“What we’ve been seeing over the past five years is that the gentoos are starting to come into areas that used to be just [populated by] Adélies. In other words, it’s getting warm enough for them to be there and the Adélies are being pushed further south,” says Bob Gilmore, citizen science coordinator on the expedition ship Polar Latitudes.