Rockhopper penguins in sharp, worrying decline.

01/06/2007 00:00:00 Numbers of the Rockhopper penguin, one of the stars of the current blockbuster Happy Feet, have taken a massive tumble, possibly because of climate change, according to the latest survey figures from Falklands Conservation. The survey of penguins in the Falkland Islands 2005/06 reveals a sharp decline since the beginning of this millennium as Rockhopper penguin numbers have tumbled from 298,496 pairs in the islands in 2000 to 210,418 pairs now – almost a 30% decline in just 5 years.
However, figures from 1932 suggest the population of Rockhopper penguins then measured around 1.5 million pairs – a decline of around 85%.

Dr Geoff Hilton, an RSPB biologist who has worked on the decline of the Rockhopper penguin, said: ‘The decline of the Rockhopper penguin in the Falkland Islands suggests a massive shift in the ecology of the Southern Ocean, possibly linked to climate change. It is really alarming that these huge declines – involving the disappearance of literally millions of birds – are happening on islands all round the Southern Ocean, and yet we don’t really know what is going wrong.’ In 2002/2003 the waters around the Falkland Islands were affected by a harmful algal bloom which poisoned many penguins. Surveys have shown that some species, like the Gentoo penguin, have been able to recover from the worst effects of this event, but that the populations of Rockhopper penguins are still struggling.

Nic Huin, of Falklands Conservation, said: ‘Although the factors driving the long-term decline of Rockhopper penguins are a little elusive, these survey results show that this species seems unable to bounce back in good years from the population crashes that happen in bad years. This is gravely worrying for the future of this little bird, which has its most important world population in the Falkland Islands.’