Scientists have discovered that an annual event when Emperor penguins completely shed and regrow their feathers is putting the birds in peril as Antarctica is transformed by a warming world.
Each year the birds must stay on platforms of floating ice for long enough to replace weather-beaten feathers with new, waterproof coats.
But in 2022-24 Antarctic sea ice shrank significantly, largely down to climate change, depriving the birds of safe places to moult.
Now scientists who track the animals using satellite pictures can no longer find most of the birds.
They fear that thousands of penguins may have frozen in Antarctica’s icy waters.
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