Most of the Ross Sea has been designated a marine protected area (MPA), proposed ‘to protect ecosystem structure and function’. To assess effectiveness, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) selected Adélie (
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Abstract Pygoscelis adeliae ) and emperor (Aptenodytes forsteri ) penguins, Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii ) and Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni ) as ecosystem change ‘indicator species’. Stable for decades, penguin and seal populations increased during 1998–2018 to surpass historical levels, indicating that change in ecosystem structure and function is underway. We review historical impacts to population trends, decadal datasets of ocean climate and fishing pressure on toothfish. Statistical modelling for Adélie penguins and Weddell seals indicates that variability in climate factors and cumulative extraction of adult toothfish may explain these trends. These mesopredators, and adult toothfish, all prey heavily on Antarctic silverfish (Pleuragramma antarcticum ). Toothfish removal may be altering intraguild predation dynamics, leading to competitive release of silverfish and contributing to penguin and seal population changes. Despite decades of ocean/weather change, increases in indicator species numbers around Ross Island only began once the toothfish fishery commenced. The rational-use, ecosystem-based viewpoint promoted by CCAMLR regarding toothfish management needs re-evaluation, including in the context of the Ross Sea Region MPA.Free, publicly-accessible full text available September 19, 2025 -
Barrett, S (Ed.)
Like many polar animals, emperor penguin populations are challenging to monitor because of the species' life history and remoteness. Consequently, it has been difficult to establish its global status, a subject important to resolve as polar environments change. To advance our understanding of emperor penguins, we combined remote sensing, validation surveys and using Bayesian modelling, we estimated a comprehensive population trajectory over a recent 10-year period, encompassing the entirety of the species’ range. Reported as indices of abundance, our study indicates with 81% probability that there were fewer adult emperor penguins in 2018 than in 2009, with a posterior median decrease of 9.6% (95% credible interval (CI) −26.4% to +9.4%). The global population trend was −1.3% per year over this period (95% CI = −3.3% to +1.0%) and declines probably occurred in four of eight fast ice regions, irrespective of habitat conditions. Thus far, explanations have yet to be identified regarding trends, especially as we observed an apparent population uptick toward the end of time series. Our work potentially establishes a framework for monitoring other Antarctic coastal species detectable by satellite, while promoting a need for research to better understand factors driving biotic changes in the Southern Ocean ecosystem.
Free, publicly-accessible full text available March 13, 2025 -
Adélie penguins are renowned for their natal philopatry on land-based colonies, requiring small pebbles to be used for nests. We report on an opportunistic observation via aerial survey, where hundreds of Adélie penguins were documented displaying nesting behaviours on fast ice ~3 km off the coast of Cape Crozier, which is one of the largest colonies in the world. We counted 426 Adélie penguins engaging in behaviours of pair formation, spacing similarly to normal nest distributions and lying in divots in the ice that looked like nests. On our first visit, it was noticed that the guano stain was bright pink, consistent with krill consumption, but had shifted to green over the course of ~2 weeks, indicating that the birds were fasting (a behaviour consistent with egg incubation). However, eggs were not observed. We posit four hypotheses that may explain the proximate causes of this behaviour and caution against future high-resolution satellite imagery interpretation due to the potential for confusing ice-nesting Adélie penguins with the presence of emperor penguin colonies.more » « less
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Abstract The impacts of climate change in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean are not uniform and ice‐obligate species with dissimilar life‐history characteristics will likely respond differently to their changing ecosystems. We use a unique data set of Weddell
Leptonychotes weddellii and crabeater seals' (CESs)Lobodon carcinophaga breeding season distribution in the Weddell Sea, determined from satellite imagery. We contrast the theoretical climate impacts on both ice‐obligate predators who differ in life‐history characteristics: CESs are highly specialized Antarctic krillEuphausia superba predators and breed in the seasonal pack ice; Weddell seals (WESs) are generalist predators and breed on comparatively stable fast ice. We used presence–absence data and a suite of remotely sensed environmental variables to build habitat models. Each of the environmental predictors is multiplied by a ‘climate change score’ based on known responses to climate change to create a ‘change importance product’. Results show CESs are more sensitive to climate change than WESs. Crabeater seals prefer to breed close to krill, and the compounding effects of changing sea ice concentrations and sea surface temperatures, the proximity to krill and abundance of stable breeding ice, can influence their post‐breeding foraging success and ultimately their future breeding success. But in contrast to the Ross Sea, here WESs prefer to breed closer to larger colonies of emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri ). This suggests that the Weddell Sea may currently be prey‐abundant, allowing the only two air‐breathing Antarctic silverfish predators (Pleuragramma antarctica ) (WESs and emperor penguins) to breed closer to each other. This is the first basin‐scale, region‐specific comparison of breeding season habitat in these two key Antarctic predators based on real‐world data to compare climate change responses. This work shows that broad‐brush, basin‐scale approaches to understanding species‐specific responses to climate change are not always appropriate, and regional models are needed—especially when designing marine protected areas. -
Abstract Satellites Over Seals (SOS), a project initiated in late 2016, is a crowdsourced method to determine factors behind the presence/absence patterns and to ultimately determine the global population of the Weddell seal (
Leptonychotes weddellii ). An iconic species, the Weddell seal is proposed to be part of the Antarctic Research and Monitoring Program required in the newly designated Ross Sea Region Marine Protected Area. This species is easy to detect via satellite imagery, due to its large size (3–4 m long, 1 m wide) and its dark color contrasting with the Antarctic coastal fast ice, where it aggregates on during breeding season. Using very high‐resolution satellite imagery (VHR; 0.31–0.60 m resolution) and the online platform Tomnod, we used VHR images from November 2010 and 2011 to cover the entirety of available fast ice around Antarctica. Before correcting for time of day or date, we searched for the presence/absence to identify a subset of where abundance estimates should be concentrated. More than 325 000 citizen scientists searched 790 VHR images, covering 268 611 km2of fast ice, to determine the locations of seals. Algorithms ranked searchers to the degree their votes corresponded with others, a measure of searcher relative quality that we used to filter out unreliable searchers. Seal presence was detected on only 0.55% of available maps (totaln = 1 116 058) within fast ice, revealing a sparse, irregular distribution. The rate of false‐negative detections was 1.7%, though false positives were high (67%), highlighting the importance of training for image interpretation to ensure differentiation between seals and landscape features (such as large rocks, ice chunks or depressions/holes in the ice). This approach not only allowed us to assess image resolution and quality, but also training, outreach and the effectiveness of this platform for introducing citizen scientists to the ecology of the Southern Ocean.