A huge colony of Adélie penguins in Antarctica is at risk after an international commission founded to preserve wildlife at the South Pole refused to establish a Marine Protection Area, despite pleas from conservationists.
The 18,000 pairs of penguins in Terre Adélie suffered a catastrophic breeding failure at the start of 2017 with only two chicks surviving.
It was hoped that The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) - which is meeting in Australia - would impose greater maritime restrictions on fisheries.
Australia and the EU have been calling for a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in East Antarctic waters since 2010 but when put to a vote on Friday the proposal did not gain the necessary consensus to pass.
Rod Downie, Head of Polar Programmes at WWF said: “It is hugely disappointing that, despite almost a decade of negotiations, CCAMLR member states have once again failed to reach agreement on a new Marine Protected Area for East Antarctica.
"Following the recent catastrophic breeding failures at an Adélie penguin colony in the region, WWF and our many supporters across the world had hoped that all CCAMLR members would recognize the urgent need to protect critical feeding areas.
"As millions of people across the UK sit in front of their TV’s at home, amazed by the incredible marine life of our ‘Blue Planet’, one of its most awe-inspiring regions remains at risk in East Antarctica. The work must start now to secure a deal at next year’s meeting on meaningful and lasting protection for the home of the penguins.”
Surviving mostly on a diet of krill, a small shrimp-like crustacean, Adélie penguins were thought to be faring well in East Antarctica, but declining in the Antarctic Peninsula region where climate change is well established.
However, the colony was unusually extensive sea ice late in the summer, meant the adult penguins had to travel further to forage for food for their chicks this year, and as a result the chicks starved.
The carnage was so bad, that WWF dubbed it ‘Tarantino does Happy Feet’.
The MPA proposal called for krill fisheries to be banned from the D’Urville Sea Mertz region to protect the foraging and breeding grounds of Adélie penguins.
Yan Ropert-Coudert, a senior penguin scientist at the CNRS who leads the Adélie penguin programme at Dumont D’Urville research station, adjacent to the colony, said: "The region is impacted by environmental changes that are linked to the breakup of the Mertz glacier since 2010.
"An MPA will not remedy these changes but it could prevent further impacts that direct anthropogenic pressures, such as tourism and proposed fisheries, could bring".
The 18,000 pairs of penguins in Terre Adélie suffered a catastrophic breeding failure at the start of 2017 with only two chicks surviving.
It was hoped that The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) - which is meeting in Australia - would impose greater maritime restrictions on fisheries.
Australia and the EU have been calling for a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in East Antarctic waters since 2010 but when put to a vote on Friday the proposal did not gain the necessary consensus to pass.
Rod Downie, Head of Polar Programmes at WWF said: “It is hugely disappointing that, despite almost a decade of negotiations, CCAMLR member states have once again failed to reach agreement on a new Marine Protected Area for East Antarctica.
"Following the recent catastrophic breeding failures at an Adélie penguin colony in the region, WWF and our many supporters across the world had hoped that all CCAMLR members would recognize the urgent need to protect critical feeding areas.
"As millions of people across the UK sit in front of their TV’s at home, amazed by the incredible marine life of our ‘Blue Planet’, one of its most awe-inspiring regions remains at risk in East Antarctica. The work must start now to secure a deal at next year’s meeting on meaningful and lasting protection for the home of the penguins.”
Surviving mostly on a diet of krill, a small shrimp-like crustacean, Adélie penguins were thought to be faring well in East Antarctica, but declining in the Antarctic Peninsula region where climate change is well established.
However, the colony was unusually extensive sea ice late in the summer, meant the adult penguins had to travel further to forage for food for their chicks this year, and as a result the chicks starved.
The carnage was so bad, that WWF dubbed it ‘Tarantino does Happy Feet’.
The MPA proposal called for krill fisheries to be banned from the D’Urville Sea Mertz region to protect the foraging and breeding grounds of Adélie penguins.
Yan Ropert-Coudert, a senior penguin scientist at the CNRS who leads the Adélie penguin programme at Dumont D’Urville research station, adjacent to the colony, said: "The region is impacted by environmental changes that are linked to the breakup of the Mertz glacier since 2010.
"An MPA will not remedy these changes but it could prevent further impacts that direct anthropogenic pressures, such as tourism and proposed fisheries, could bring".