Penguin chicks miraculously survive tearaway iceberg
The team will now wait for higher-resolution pictures that show exactly how many penguins are there.
Scientists at the British research base at Halley will visit to verify the size and health of the colony.
But Antarctica remains a rapidly changing region affected by our warming planet, as well as natural phenomena that make life difficult there.
The MacDonald Ice rumples where the penguins now live is dynamic and unpredictable, and Antarctic seasonal sea ice levels are close to record lows.
As A83 moved, it changed the ice topography, meaning the penguins’ breeding site is now “more exposed”, Peter says.
Cracks have appeared in the ice and the edge with the sea is getting closer day-by-day.
If the ice breaks up under the chicks before they are able to swim, in around December, Peter warns they will perish.
“They’re such incredible animals. It’s a bit bleak. Like many animals in Antarctica, they live on the sea ice. But it is changing, and if your habitat changes then it’s never good,” he says.
