Researchers in South Africa are trying to find a way the African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus), while balancing the needs of the fishing industry.
At the turn of the 20th century, Africa’s only penguin numbered in the millions, but the global population is estimated only about 18,500 pairs now and and could be extinct in the wild by 2035 thanks to poor breeding habitat, disease and reduced availability of food.
Nicky Stander, head of conservation at the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds explains that as specialized predators of anchovy and sardine, penguins play a crucial link in the marine food web and serve as an indicator for when this prey falls below critical levels for other marine predators such as whales, dolphins, seals and linefish.
“Effective long-term measures to manage these fish stocks sustainably, in line with an effective ecosystem approach to fisheries management, has not been forthcoming,” she says, “Implementation of meaningful closures aligned to important penguin foraging areas is recommended as an urgent conservation intervention to alleviate resource competition around African Penguin colonies.”
In a paper published in August 2024 in the ICES Journal of Marine Science, Alistair McInnes and co-authors including Stander looked at the six largest South African penguin colonies, holding over three-quarters of the global population.
The researchers argue that, based on the results of their trade-off analysis, adjusted no-take zones should be implemented, representing an optimal compromise between conservation and the fishing industry at each of the six colonies.
“The availability of prey, mainly sardine and anchovy, has been consistently linked to the survival, breeding success and foraging performance of the African Penguin,” Stander says, adding that undernourished penguins are vulnerable to the range of ongoing threats including predation, oil pollution, vessel noise and disease.
“Protecting this species means taking a stance for global ocean advocacy, and as part of this project, SANCCOB, alongside BirdLife South Africa and Blue Marine Foundation, have launched a petition for the international community to sign,” she says, “By supporting the protection of the African Penguin, we as global citizens can protect our planet.”
From Wales to African Penguins
Stander grew up in Wales, dreaming of living in Africa and working to save wild animals.
“As a young girl, I loaned books from my local library to read from my wildlife “greats”, Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall, I studied Animal Science and tried to determine how to accomplish my dreams,” she says, “The magic happened during a gap year in Botswana; this confirmed my deep connection to Africa and my profound love for wildlife was now burrowed under my skin, and I knew it’s where I belonged.”
Stander later relocated to South Africa and while working at a wildlife rehabilitation facility on the east coast of South Africa, she helped relocate rescued African Penguins to Cape Town where they could continue their rehabilitation at SANCCOB.
“That was 15 years ago: working with birds was never the plan, it was never the dream,” she says, “Now, my biggest dream is to save Africa’s only penguin species from extinction.”
Stander explains the reality of competing priorities relating to socio-economic issues in South Africa presents complex challenges when addressing environmental issues.
“For the last few decades, scientists have revealed the tragic story of crashing fish stocks, and correlating declines in seabird populations,” she says, “In the South African context, marine scientists and NGOs provide the science and the data to inform the government which is intended to improve management practices.”
Chilean Scientists Using Seals As Spies
Another researcher working in southern seas is Chilean oceanographer Andrea Piñones at the Research Center of Dynamics of High Latitude Marine Ecosystems (IDEAL).
The researchers realized that if they could understand the behavior of the crabeater seal, they could understand the future distribution of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) – which has important implications for food chains and the carbon cycle.
“Crabeater seals feed primarily on krill –more than 90% of their diet – so basically if you understand where the predator feeds, you not only understand their feeding behavior but also understand where the prey is,” she says, adding that to track the krill, they first needed to track the seals.
Sensor data from trackers on seals captured and released in Antarctica showed their movements, the depth of the dives, salinity, temperature and density of the sea, among others. The devices directly sent the data to satellites, which researchers were then able to crunch.
“The results obtained by the study suggest that under a climate change scenario crabeater seals will have to take longer and farther trips to feed because there will be a shift in the distribution of their prey,” Piñones says, “There will be a southward and oceanward shift of the distribution of Antarctic krill.”
