Chinstrap penguins are members of Antarctica’s brush-tailed group of penguins. They’re easily identified by the feature that gives them their name – a black strap that runs from ear to ear below the chin. The species is found mostly in the Western Antarctic Peninsula region, on far-flung isles such as the South Shetland Islands, the South Sandwich Islands and the South Orkney Islands.
Chinstrap penguins are highly specialised predators, feeding on marine crustaceans called Antarctic krill. The birds are still very abundant (estimates suggest there are between 3 million and 4 million breeding pairs). But many of their colonies are unfortunately experiencing population declines. The trend may be linked to krill becoming less available because of climate change, increasing populations of other marine predators (like baleen whales, which also eat krill) and commercial krill fishing.
So, it’s important to understand how much krill chinstrap penguins and other marine predators are consuming. This can help scientists to predict future population trends and inform conservation and ecosystem management strategies.
