Emperor Penguins Face Crisis During Annual Moult

Emperor penguins live in Antarctica. Every year, they lose all their old feathers and grow new ones. This is called moulting. During this time, the penguins must stay on ice. They cannot go into the water because their new feathers are not ready yet. If they go into cold water, they will die.

In 2022, the ice in Antarctica became very small. This happened because of climate change. The penguins did not have safe places to moult. Scientists looked at pictures from space. They could not find most of the penguins. The scientists think thousands of penguins may have died in the cold water.

Dr. Peter Fretwell is a scientist. He studies Emperor penguins. He says this is very serious. He asks, "Do we have time to save them?" The penguins may disappear by the end of this century.