Antarctica’s wildlife go hungry as krill disappear

Gentoo penguins and a seal in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctic. Conservationists want restrictions on krill fishing in areas with penguin colonies. Photo: AFP

Waddling over the rocks, legions of penguins hurl themselves into the icy waters of Antarctica, foraging to feed their young. Like seals and whales, they eat krill, an inch-long shrimp-like crustacean which forms the basis of the Southern Ocean food chain.

But penguin watchers say the krill are getting scarcer here around the western Antarctic peninsula, under threat from climate change and fishing.