Until now, no one had thought thatpenguinsthey could be in trouble. But in reality they are becoming the new emblem of the devastating effects of climate change. The adelia, in particular, are the best-studied species, thanks to the proximity of the Palmer research station. Experts estimate that there are 2.5 million pairs of oleanders on the entire Antarctic continent, but they predict that, if global temperatures rise by 2ºC, the impact on polar penguins (adelias and emperors) that live farther north than 70 degrees South latitude, or half of all Antarctic penguins, will be absolutely devastating.
It is very likely that these harmless sentinels of the ice who look at me with their white makeup eyes here on Torgersen Island will disappear completely and forever in a few years. It is difficult to embrace this idea without feeling deep sadness.
Penguins are the most anthropomorphic animals. Everyone identifies with them.Why do we respond so emotionally to a penguin?Perhaps because they stand on two legs and walk upright like people. To us they are like little humanoids: a convention of waiters, ten thousand nuns, a nursery for chubby babies in winter coats. They are accartoon of human life. They like company, but they fight with their neighbors. They give their girlfriends beautiful stones for the nest, but they also have infidelities, and they divorce, and remarry. They are affectionate parents and both help raise their children. They live in neighborhoods that look like cities, they are riddled with gangs of teenagers, and they always waddle at full speed, as if they have very important things to do.
Penguins adorn ice cream wrappers, birthday cards, calendars, books, and many other attractive items. Everyone knows what a penguin looks like, but at the same time there are many misunderstandings.They are birds, not mammals or fish.They have feathers, not hair. Ythey don’t live in the South Pole(which is 800 kilometers from the nearest sea and almost 10,000 feet high). They also do not live with Eskimos or polar bears, which inhabit the Arctic. Only four species of penguins live in the Antarctic Peninsula, the rest live south of Africa, Argentina, the Galapagos and other islands.
Hisamusingly awkward on land, but they fly in the water, with incredible agility. And they are among the best divers in the animal kingdom. Their feathers are arranged like the tiles of a roof, and they are so thick that they waterproof their owner. And as unimaginable as it may seem, parents and children recognize each other by their tone of voice in the midst of the hubbub of a colony.
There is usually a limbo between us and animals. They fear us and keep their distance. But penguins are among the few animals to cross that border. It is as if they see us as penguins too, perhaps of a very rare species. After all, we stand on two legs, we move in groups, we talk all the time, and our children sway like them.
In a few days I embark again on theLaurence M Gouldto return to Chile and the heat of my beaches in Miami. I try to imagine Torgersen without his 3,000 penguins. It would be a silent chunk of volcanic rock, except for the soft crystalline crunch of ice against rocks, and the occasional cry of a skua.
Angela Posada-Swafford
For more informationFollow Angela’s journey in “From Antarctica”
