Dec. 9, 2025
Mass penguin die off explained, the shocking truth behind why African penguins are disappearing and what it means for our future
Mass penguin die off explained, a crisis that wiped out ninety five percent of some African penguin colonies, raises a heartbreaking question: how does a thriving species fall to fewer than ten thousand breeding pairs and almost no one sees it happening? This episode uncovers the chain reaction that pushed an entire population toward collapse, from vanishing sardines to the brutal timing of the molt that left tens of thousands of penguins starving. One of the most emotional discoveries in the research was that more than sixty thousand penguins died simply because they did not have enough body fat to survive a three week fast.
African penguin population collapse reveals a deeper story about the ocean. Sardines and anchovies shifted out of reach as warming waters changed plankton patterns, leaving penguins stranded at colonies they could not abandon. Even as conservation groups step in with nest protection, rescues, and fishing closures, the core problem remains that the food web itself has moved. Without a return of sardine abundance, recovery is nearly impossible at scale.
The collapse of the ocean food web illustrates how fragile marine ecosystems can become when climate pressure and overfishing intersect. Listeners will learn why conservation helps slow the decline but cannot reverse it until prey returns, why projections warn of possible extinction in the wild by 2035, and what actions people can take right now to protect one of the most iconic seabirds on Earth.
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Transcript
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What happens when a species that once
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numbered in the tens of
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thousands slips into fewer
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than 10,000 breeding pairs?
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And almost no one notices
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until it's nearly too late.
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New research reveals the silent disaster
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on South Africa's
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coastline, where African penguin
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colonies have collapsed by
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up to 95% in under a decade.
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Underbreeding sites once packed with life
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now sit nearly empty.
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Their disappearance is not a mystery of
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predators or disease.
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It is the story of an ocean food web that
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has failed at the worst possible moment.
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And a lot of it is due to us.
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We're going to talk about that on today's
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episode of the How to
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Protect the Ocean podcast.
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Let's start the show.
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Hey everybody, welcome back to another
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exciting episode of the How
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to Protect the Ocean podcast.
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I'm your host Andrew Lewin, Marine
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Biologists and Science Communicator here
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to tell you what's happening with the
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ocean, how you can speak up for the ocean
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and what you can do to live for a better
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ocean by taking action.
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On today's episode, we're going to be
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talking about what happened to the South
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African penguins or
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African penguins in South Africa.
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This is something that
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has been very tragic.
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It happened from 2004 to 2011.
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95% of the population
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just disappeared, died off.
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And now we know the answer is why.
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And I'm here to explain that.
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And I just want to say before I start to
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explain that I've been
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doing this for 10 years.
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I've been doing on YouTube for on and off
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for quite some time, but really for the
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last year and a half.
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And the reason I do this is because I
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love to hear back from you.
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So if you have comments or any kind of
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questions or anything like that, you want
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me to cover something, let me know in the
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comments below if you've
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been watching this on YouTube.
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And if you've been with me on audio for
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the last 10 years plus, you know, please
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let me know if you have any questions.
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You can DM me at how
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to protect the ocean.
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You can go and you can put up a link for
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you where you can go
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and give me feedback.
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We'll speak up for blue dot
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com forward slash feedback.
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And you can have questions or comments.
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I love to hear from them.
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And if you can hit it like follow in any
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of your watching, if
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you're on YouTube, subscribe.
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If you're on Apple podcast, Spotify,
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Amazon music, you hit that follow button.
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That would make me feel really great.
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Not only do I want to reach more people
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and consistently on a consistent basis.
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I do three episodes a week. I just want
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people to love the ocean just as much as
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I do and find out what's
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happening with this ocean.
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What are we doing to it and how we can
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make it better for the long run for not
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only our health, but the ocean's health.
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And I think that's
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something that's really important.
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I just want to drive this community.
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I want to build this community so that we
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can get together and
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talk about this more often.
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So in the new year, you're going to start
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to see some offerings that I'm going to
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be offering for community so we can
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actually hear from each other and discuss each other.
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You know, on the membership
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sites for YouTube and others.
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So I just want to be a part of that.
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I think it's going to
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be really important.
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So I'm looking forward to doing that.
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Those live sessions.
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It'll be a lot of fun.
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We get together. So
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just look out for that.
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But the biggest thing is, if you've been
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here for a long time or
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you've just started, welcome.
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Thank you for joining us.
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You're always welcome to be here.
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No matter if you agree
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with me or not, who cares?
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Let's just have some fun.
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Let's get to know the ocean.
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Let's make it better. All right.
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That's my that's my PSA for today. Again,
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thank you for being here.
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But let's let's look at this before 2004.
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African penguins had roughly fifty seven
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thousand breeding
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pairs across their range.
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Fifty seven thousand that total today has
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dropped to about ninety nine hundred
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breeding pairs worldwide from fifty seven
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thousand breeding pairs to nine hundred
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nine nine thousand nine
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hundred breeding pairs worldwide.
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That's insane. That should not happen.
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That should be something
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that we never have to deal with.
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But unfortunately it happened. And you
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know, the South Africa holds about eighty
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seven hundred of those pairs and then
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Namibia holds around
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twelve hundred of those pairs.
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So over the last thirty years, their
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population has plummeted more than eighty
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percent with some colonies losing ninety
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five percent of their
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birds in fewer than ten years.
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So now we're trying to find like what's
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going on because now
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they're critically endangered.
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And with those projections, the
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projections, if it continues to show what
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we're seeing, they could go extinct from
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the wild by twenty thirty
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five if the trends continue.
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So that's something we don't want to
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have. So the first question we have to
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ask is like what happened
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to these penguins? Right.
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First, we've got to look at this shocking
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discovery. The fact that we had fifty
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seven thousand breeding pairs and we go
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down to nine nine hundred.
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So there's two major South African
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colonies. There's Dassen Island and Robin
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Island. I hope I'm
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pronouncing it properly.
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They lost up to ninety five percent of
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their breeding pair penguins in under a
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decade. That's the biggest
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biggest loss that we saw.
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More than sixty thousand birds starved
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during their most vulnerable life stage.
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A species that once filled the beaches
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with noise and movements that was nearly
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vanished from the most
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important strongholds.
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The collapse happened quickly and quietly
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and then most people never even heard
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about it until scientists started to
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publish their new findings.
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So what happened? What caused this the
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die offs? Well, the biggest thing was the
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trigger was the dramatic die off like of
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the sardines of the sardine population on
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the west coast of South Africa.
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So sardines are the penguins primary food
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source. They have they provide the best
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energy in the long lasting energy and
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they're not that quick as quit not as
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quick as penguins and they
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can get caught pretty easily.
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And so but a mix of warming seas altered
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salinity disrupted plankton production
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and intense fishing pressure wiped out
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local sardine stocks. The loss happened
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at the worst possible time during the
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penguins annual molt.
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So these sardines disappeared when these
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these penguins molt their feathers that
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keep them from being wet and cold and
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everything. And so when they're land
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bound, they have to stay in land and they
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have to use the reserves. They can't go
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eat and they can't get the energy they
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need. They have to use the reserves. They
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just didn't have as many reserves as
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possible. So when they go out and eat,
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they build up those reserves so that when
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they have to actually molt and they stay
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on land for a little bit, they have to
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use their stored fat. But if they don't
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have enough stored fat to
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eat, they eventually starve.
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And so when they had these sardines to
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build those reserves, tens of thousands
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did not survive and that just continued
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to happen year after year after year for
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10 years. Now why 10 years? Why did these
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penguins not recover? Because even after
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the initial collapse, the sardine
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population did not bounce back. Sardine
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biomass stayed below one quarter of its
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historical maximum for nearly 20 years.
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This sardine population really suffered.
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Anchorvies, which was the next best prey,
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were not abundant enough to in the West
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to feed the whole distribution and their
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distribution actually shifted eastward.
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So far outside the penguin foraging
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range, the penguins can only go so far.
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And when they have their colonies, their
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breeding colonies, they can't move them
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and they can't swim that far. So if the
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sardines are out of range, if the paying
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of the anchovies are out of
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range, then they can't eat.
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Right? They can't move their nesting
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sites. They cannot travel long distances
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while they're raising their chicks. So
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with low energy prey, fewer chicks
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survived. Adults entered molting under
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underweight, right? When they enter that
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molting, they don't have enough the fat
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storage. And the population spiraled
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downward every year.
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Replacement prey species were too fast.
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So the hake and everything else that's
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around her too fast or too scarce or too
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low in fat to support the recovery. So it
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just wasn't enough. Like the anchovies
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and the sardines, especially the sardines
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provided enough for
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these animals to survive.
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Now the shift in distribution of sardines
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and anchovies happen because the shift in
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plankton happened, which is the main food
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source during and after and before
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sardine and anchovy spawning. So if
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climate change shifts the wind patterns
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and shifts the current, it shifts the
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distribution of plankton, which will
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shift the distribution of the predator
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species that eat that prey.
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So you have anchovies, you have sardines
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that will shift their distribution away
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from the colonies. So now these animals
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can't move far because they have chicks
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that they're raising. They have low fat
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storage and they're stuck on land while
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01:08:25,541 --> 01:08:27,000
they molt and they have to use the fat
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reserves and they don't have enough fat
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01:08:28,458 --> 01:08:30,166
reserves. So they start to die and it
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01:08:30,166 --> 01:08:31,833
happens year over year over year.
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So now that we know what the problem is,
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we know why is happening for so long
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because these sardines and anchovies
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01:08:37,916 --> 01:08:40,041
just, you know, the collapse happened for
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01:08:40,041 --> 01:08:42,333
quite some time in that area. What is
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01:08:42,333 --> 01:08:44,208
being done? I should mention before we go
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01:08:44,208 --> 01:08:46,125
into that, we're still seeing fishing
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01:08:46,125 --> 01:08:48,541
pressure on sardines that have stayed
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01:08:48,541 --> 01:08:50,208
around. So even though there's a lower
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01:08:50,208 --> 01:08:51,458
population of sardines that have stayed
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01:08:51,458 --> 01:08:53,125
around, we're still seeing fishing of
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01:08:53,125 --> 01:08:55,500
those sardines. So that adds to the
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01:08:55,500 --> 01:08:57,500
pressure of already dwindling population.
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So now what is being
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01:08:58,791 --> 01:09:00,416
done to help these penguins?
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01:09:01,458 --> 01:09:03,041
Several conservation measures are
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01:09:03,041 --> 01:09:04,541
underway. So governments introduce
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01:09:04,541 --> 01:09:07,166
fishing closures near the key colonies to
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01:09:07,166 --> 01:09:09,583
reduce competition for sardines. Wildlife
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01:09:09,583 --> 01:09:11,708
groups are protecting nests, improving
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01:09:11,708 --> 01:09:14,250
breeding shelters, managing predators and
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01:09:14,250 --> 01:09:16,708
running rescue programs for injured or
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01:09:16,708 --> 01:09:19,333
starving adults and chicks. Some
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01:09:19,333 --> 01:09:22,458
organizations also hand reared abandoned
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01:09:22,458 --> 01:09:24,500
chicks and release them back into the
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01:09:24,500 --> 01:09:26,625
wild. Research teams are tracking penguin
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01:09:26,625 --> 01:09:29,416
movement to identify new foraging
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01:09:29,416 --> 01:09:30,833
hotspots and understand how they're going to be able to get their own species.
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01:09:30,875 --> 01:09:36,166
So there's a lot of stuff that is going
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01:09:36,166 --> 01:09:38,458
on, but are they actually successful? Do
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01:09:38,458 --> 01:09:40,458
these efforts matter? Is it enough to
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01:09:40,458 --> 01:09:42,791
bring their populations back up to the
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01:09:42,791 --> 01:09:45,208
57,000 breeding pairs that they once had?
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01:09:45,541 --> 01:09:47,583
The honest answer is it's actually mixed.
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01:09:48,083 --> 01:09:49,416
These conservation actions have helped
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01:09:49,416 --> 01:09:51,750
individual penguins and improved
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01:09:51,750 --> 01:09:53,875
conditions around some of the nesting
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01:09:53,875 --> 01:09:55,958
sites. However, the underlining issue is
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01:09:55,958 --> 01:09:57,833
the collapse of the sardine stocks. It hasn't been solved. So how do we solve this sardine?
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01:09:57,875 --> 01:10:03,541
Problem, which is really difficult
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01:10:03,541 --> 01:10:04,958
because you're looking at an entire
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01:10:04,958 --> 01:10:07,416
shifting predator price situation and a
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01:10:07,416 --> 01:10:09,875
food web switch. So without a significant
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01:10:09,875 --> 01:10:12,583
recovery of prey availability, penguin
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01:10:12,583 --> 01:10:15,083
numbers cannot rebound at the scale it
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01:10:15,083 --> 01:10:18,541
once was. The species is listed now as
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01:10:18,541 --> 01:10:20,583
critically endangered and projection so
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01:10:20,583 --> 01:10:22,791
that they could disappear from the wild
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01:10:22,791 --> 01:10:23,833
by 2035 if the trends continue to happen. So that's if the sardine populations remain in the wild.
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Efforts are slowing the decline rather
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01:10:32,000 --> 01:10:34,333
than reversing it. So the thing is, is
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01:10:34,333 --> 01:10:35,750
sometimes when we talk about
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01:10:35,750 --> 01:10:37,291
conservation, we talk about the efforts
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01:10:37,291 --> 01:10:39,208
that we put together and sometimes they
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01:10:39,208 --> 01:10:40,958
help locally, but they're not going to
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01:10:40,958 --> 01:10:43,250
help overall because you can only do so
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01:10:43,250 --> 01:10:46,000
much as humans in bringing everything
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01:10:46,000 --> 01:10:48,375
back. One is expensive. It's expensive to
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01:10:48,375 --> 01:10:50,416
do all these efforts and two, it's not
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01:10:50,416 --> 01:10:50,833
going to happen at scale, which is because the the the process is not going to happen at scale.
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01:10:50,875 --> 01:10:54,208
Which is because the the primary problem
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01:10:54,208 --> 01:10:57,166
hasn't been solved. This could help
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01:10:57,166 --> 01:11:00,291
extend their life on this planet by a few
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01:11:00,291 --> 01:11:02,666
years, but it's not going to solve the
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01:11:02,666 --> 01:11:05,291
problem until we can get sardines back in
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01:11:05,291 --> 01:11:08,375
the area or maybe move these colonies to
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01:11:08,375 --> 01:11:09,333
somewhere else, which is a much
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01:11:09,333 --> 01:11:10,833
difficult, much more difficult problem.
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01:11:11,875 --> 01:11:15,416
So like what can you do to help? So even
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01:11:15,416 --> 01:11:16,916
though these these conservation actions
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01:11:16,916 --> 01:11:18,916
may not be the best thing, it is
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01:11:18,916 --> 01:11:20,500
something that we can do in the meantime
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01:11:20,500 --> 01:11:23,208
to kind of give us some time before the
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01:11:23,208 --> 01:11:25,333
sardines population comes back hopefully
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01:11:25,333 --> 01:11:27,416
so you can support any kind of African
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01:11:27,416 --> 01:11:29,458
penguin recovery in
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01:11:29,458 --> 01:11:29,833
several meaningful ways.
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01:11:29,875 --> 01:11:33,000
So support organizations working directly
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01:11:33,000 --> 01:11:35,958
on sardine and penguin conservation share
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01:11:35,958 --> 01:11:38,291
science based information on how climate
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01:11:38,291 --> 01:11:40,000
change and overfishing affect marine
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01:11:40,000 --> 01:11:42,166
life, which doesn't really happen a lot.
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01:11:42,916 --> 01:11:44,125
Choose seafood from sustainable
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01:11:44,125 --> 01:11:45,916
fisheries, of course, and encourage
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01:11:45,916 --> 01:11:48,291
others to do the same and contact your
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01:11:48,291 --> 01:11:50,208
elected officials to support marine
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01:11:50,208 --> 01:11:52,291
protected areas, science driven fish
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01:11:52,291 --> 01:11:54,250
fishing policies and
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01:11:54,250 --> 01:11:54,833
finally amplify this story.
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01:11:54,875 --> 01:11:58,083
Share this story. The African penguin
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01:11:58,083 --> 01:12:01,083
crisis is still invisible to much of the
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01:12:01,083 --> 01:12:03,208
world. And unless we get it in front of
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01:12:03,208 --> 01:12:05,333
their eyes or in front of their ears, we
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01:12:05,333 --> 01:12:07,750
cannot help these penguins at the scale
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01:12:07,750 --> 01:12:08,625
that they need help.
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01:12:09,750 --> 01:12:12,250
Far too long, the decline of the penguins
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01:12:12,250 --> 01:12:14,416
went silent and it's about time that we
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01:12:14,416 --> 01:12:16,291
speak up and we amplify their story.
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01:12:16,291 --> 01:12:17,791
That's what this podcast is all about.
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01:12:18,166 --> 01:12:19,833
That's what this community is all about.
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01:12:19,875 --> 01:12:22,125
I'll tell you one thing, something that
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01:12:22,125 --> 01:12:24,333
happened to me recently. I joined an
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01:12:24,333 --> 01:12:26,083
advocacy group. It was a group on
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01:12:26,083 --> 01:12:27,875
WhatsApp and it's a bunch of science
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01:12:27,875 --> 01:12:29,500
communicators and creators content
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01:12:29,500 --> 01:12:31,916
creators that are to get that work
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01:12:31,916 --> 01:12:34,708
together to get specific campaigns out
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01:12:34,708 --> 01:12:36,666
that we all start or somebody starts as
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01:12:36,666 --> 01:12:37,833
hey, I need someone to help me amplify this.
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01:12:37,875 --> 01:12:40,416
Can you put it on your story? Can you put
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01:12:40,416 --> 01:12:42,583
it on your your Instagram, your TikTok?
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01:12:42,916 --> 01:12:44,625
Can you put on your podcast and let's
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01:12:44,625 --> 01:12:46,625
talk about this story because with this
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01:12:46,625 --> 01:12:48,833
amplification, this style of sharing
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01:12:48,833 --> 01:12:51,250
these stories and putting this on a
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01:12:51,250 --> 01:12:53,625
platform that can be shared with hundreds
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01:12:53,625 --> 01:12:55,750
with thousands with hundreds of thousands
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01:12:55,750 --> 01:12:58,166
of millions, this will help these
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01:12:58,166 --> 01:12:59,833
populations and people will finally understand the plight.
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01:12:59,875 --> 01:13:03,500
These penguins are facing and hopefully
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01:13:03,500 --> 01:13:05,500
we'll get to the point where we can get
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01:13:05,500 --> 01:13:08,750
policy enacted that can help these fish
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01:13:08,750 --> 01:13:11,291
at scale as well as these penguins at
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01:13:11,291 --> 01:13:12,250
scale. That's the
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01:13:12,250 --> 01:13:13,666
important part of this journey.
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01:13:14,666 --> 01:13:16,041
That's what I want to get across by
391
01:13:16,041 --> 01:13:18,000
sharing this story. I hope you share this
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01:13:18,000 --> 01:13:21,000
podcast, whether it's the audio version
393
01:13:21,000 --> 01:13:23,166
or video version. If you have a comment
394
01:13:23,166 --> 01:13:25,083
or a question, it helps with the
395
01:13:25,083 --> 01:13:26,541
algorithm to get to in front of more
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01:13:26,541 --> 01:13:27,833
people. Please let me know.
397
01:13:27,875 --> 01:13:30,833
I want this to go everywhere. I want
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01:13:30,833 --> 01:13:32,333
every story to go everywhere and it's
399
01:13:32,333 --> 01:13:34,958
with the help of you, the community and
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01:13:34,958 --> 01:13:36,458
that we can get together and discuss. I
401
01:13:36,458 --> 01:13:37,958
want to get to know you. I want to hear
402
01:13:37,958 --> 01:13:39,041
your comments. I want to hear your
403
01:13:39,041 --> 01:13:40,083
questions. If you're watching this on
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01:13:40,083 --> 01:13:42,250
YouTube, put your comment in the comment
405
01:13:42,250 --> 01:13:44,208
section below. If you're listening to
406
01:13:44,208 --> 01:13:46,000
this on your favorite podcast app, just
407
01:13:46,000 --> 01:13:47,000
let me know. Just go to
408
01:13:47,000 --> 01:13:48,875
speakupforblue.com forward slash
409
01:13:48,875 --> 01:13:51,208
feedback. Let me know how you feel. You
410
01:13:51,208 --> 01:13:53,500
can also go to speakupforblue.com follow
411
01:13:53,500 --> 01:13:55,250
to follow the podcast on your favorite
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01:13:55,250 --> 01:13:56,666
podcast app. I want to thank
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01:13:56,666 --> 01:13:57,833
you so much for joining me.
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01:13:57,875 --> 01:13:59,625
On today's episode of the how to protect
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01:13:59,625 --> 01:14:01,583
the ocean podcast. I'm your host, Andrew
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01:14:01,583 --> 01:14:03,208
Lune from the true north strong and free.
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01:14:03,500 --> 01:14:04,708
Have a great day. We'll talk to you next
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01:14:04,708 --> 01:14:06,041
time and happy conservation.
01:00:00,166 --> 01:00:02,125
What happens when a species that once
2
01:00:02,125 --> 01:00:03,958
numbered in the tens of
3
01:00:03,958 --> 01:00:05,791
thousands slips into fewer
4
01:00:06,791 --> 01:00:08,541
than 10,000 breeding pairs?
5
01:00:09,291 --> 01:00:10,708
And almost no one notices
6
01:00:10,708 --> 01:00:12,583
until it's nearly too late.
7
01:00:12,958 --> 01:00:15,541
New research reveals the silent disaster
8
01:00:15,541 --> 01:00:17,500
on South Africa's
9
01:00:17,500 --> 01:00:19,458
coastline, where African penguin
10
01:00:19,458 --> 01:00:20,958
colonies have collapsed by
11
01:00:20,958 --> 01:00:24,333
up to 95% in under a decade.
12
01:00:25,333 --> 01:00:27,375
Underbreeding sites once packed with life
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01:00:27,375 --> 01:00:29,458
now sit nearly empty.
14
01:00:30,041 --> 01:00:32,000
Their disappearance is not a mystery of
15
01:00:32,000 --> 01:00:33,458
predators or disease.
16
01:00:34,125 --> 01:00:36,041
It is the story of an ocean food web that
17
01:00:36,041 --> 01:00:38,625
has failed at the worst possible moment.
18
01:00:39,291 --> 01:00:42,083
And a lot of it is due to us.
19
01:00:42,541 --> 01:00:43,708
We're going to talk about that on today's
20
01:00:43,708 --> 01:00:44,625
episode of the How to
21
01:00:44,625 --> 01:00:45,541
Protect the Ocean podcast.
22
01:00:46,166 --> 01:00:46,958
Let's start the show.
23
01:00:51,375 --> 01:00:52,500
Hey everybody, welcome back to another
24
01:00:52,500 --> 01:00:53,791
exciting episode of the How
25
01:00:53,791 --> 01:00:54,666
to Protect the Ocean podcast.
26
01:00:54,958 --> 01:00:56,916
I'm your host Andrew Lewin, Marine
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01:00:56,916 --> 01:00:58,458
Biologists and Science Communicator here
28
01:00:58,458 --> 01:00:59,833
to tell you what's happening with the
29
01:00:59,833 --> 01:01:01,625
ocean, how you can speak up for the ocean
30
01:01:01,625 --> 01:01:03,208
and what you can do to live for a better
31
01:01:03,208 --> 01:01:05,291
ocean by taking action.
32
01:01:05,833 --> 01:01:06,791
On today's episode, we're going to be
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01:01:06,791 --> 01:01:08,458
talking about what happened to the South
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01:01:08,458 --> 01:01:09,250
African penguins or
35
01:01:09,250 --> 01:01:10,708
African penguins in South Africa.
36
01:01:11,291 --> 01:01:11,916
This is something that
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01:01:11,916 --> 01:01:13,208
has been very tragic.
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01:01:13,208 --> 01:01:15,333
It happened from 2004 to 2011.
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01:01:15,875 --> 01:01:17,083
95% of the population
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01:01:17,083 --> 01:01:18,833
just disappeared, died off.
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01:01:19,625 --> 01:01:21,416
And now we know the answer is why.
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01:01:21,416 --> 01:01:22,833
And I'm here to explain that.
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01:01:23,125 --> 01:01:25,166
And I just want to say before I start to
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01:01:25,166 --> 01:01:26,791
explain that I've been
45
01:01:26,791 --> 01:01:27,916
doing this for 10 years.
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01:01:28,375 --> 01:01:30,291
I've been doing on YouTube for on and off
47
01:01:30,291 --> 01:01:31,750
for quite some time, but really for the
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01:01:31,750 --> 01:01:32,708
last year and a half.
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01:01:33,125 --> 01:01:35,125
And the reason I do this is because I
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01:01:35,125 --> 01:01:36,708
love to hear back from you.
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01:01:36,708 --> 01:01:38,791
So if you have comments or any kind of
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01:01:38,791 --> 01:01:40,375
questions or anything like that, you want
53
01:01:40,375 --> 01:01:42,125
me to cover something, let me know in the
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01:01:42,125 --> 01:01:42,958
comments below if you've
55
01:01:42,958 --> 01:01:43,875
been watching this on YouTube.
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01:01:43,875 --> 01:01:46,166
And if you've been with me on audio for
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01:01:46,166 --> 01:01:48,958
the last 10 years plus, you know, please
58
01:01:48,958 --> 01:01:50,833
let me know if you have any questions.
59
01:01:50,875 --> 01:01:52,083
You can DM me at how
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01:01:52,083 --> 01:01:53,041
to protect the ocean.
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01:01:53,500 --> 01:01:57,083
You can go and you can put up a link for
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01:01:57,083 --> 01:01:58,416
you where you can go
63
01:01:58,416 --> 01:01:59,500
and give me feedback.
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01:01:59,500 --> 01:02:00,500
We'll speak up for blue dot
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01:02:00,500 --> 01:02:01,791
com forward slash feedback.
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01:02:02,208 --> 01:02:03,583
And you can have questions or comments.
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01:02:03,875 --> 01:02:05,041
I love to hear from them.
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01:02:05,291 --> 01:02:07,041
And if you can hit it like follow in any
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01:02:07,041 --> 01:02:07,666
of your watching, if
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01:02:07,666 --> 01:02:09,541
you're on YouTube, subscribe.
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01:02:09,541 --> 01:02:11,750
If you're on Apple podcast, Spotify,
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01:02:12,083 --> 01:02:13,625
Amazon music, you hit that follow button.
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01:02:14,000 --> 01:02:15,375
That would make me feel really great.
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01:02:15,375 --> 01:02:17,625
Not only do I want to reach more people
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01:02:17,625 --> 01:02:19,833
and consistently on a consistent basis.
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01:02:19,875 --> 01:02:22,958
I do three episodes a week. I just want
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01:02:22,958 --> 01:02:25,041
people to love the ocean just as much as
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01:02:25,041 --> 01:02:26,416
I do and find out what's
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01:02:26,416 --> 01:02:27,708
happening with this ocean.
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01:02:28,250 --> 01:02:29,833
What are we doing to it and how we can
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01:02:29,833 --> 01:02:32,041
make it better for the long run for not
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01:02:32,041 --> 01:02:33,666
only our health, but the ocean's health.
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01:02:33,666 --> 01:02:34,458
And I think that's
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01:02:34,458 --> 01:02:35,500
something that's really important.
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01:02:35,500 --> 01:02:37,000
I just want to drive this community.
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01:02:37,000 --> 01:02:39,000
I want to build this community so that we
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01:02:39,000 --> 01:02:40,000
can get together and
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01:02:40,000 --> 01:02:42,083
talk about this more often.
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01:02:42,375 --> 01:02:43,666
So in the new year, you're going to start
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01:02:43,666 --> 01:02:45,250
to see some offerings that I'm going to
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01:02:45,250 --> 01:02:47,000
be offering for community so we can
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01:02:47,000 --> 01:02:47,833
actually hear from each other and discuss each other.
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01:02:47,875 --> 01:02:49,916
You know, on the membership
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01:02:49,916 --> 01:02:51,583
sites for YouTube and others.
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01:02:52,083 --> 01:02:54,666
So I just want to be a part of that.
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01:02:54,666 --> 01:02:55,083
I think it's going to
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01:02:55,083 --> 01:02:55,750
be really important.
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01:02:56,000 --> 01:02:57,750
So I'm looking forward to doing that.
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01:02:57,750 --> 01:02:58,625
Those live sessions.
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01:02:59,000 --> 01:02:59,791
It'll be a lot of fun.
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01:02:59,791 --> 01:03:00,875
We get together. So
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01:03:00,875 --> 01:03:01,666
just look out for that.
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01:03:01,666 --> 01:03:03,750
But the biggest thing is, if you've been
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01:03:03,750 --> 01:03:04,958
here for a long time or
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01:03:04,958 --> 01:03:06,458
you've just started, welcome.
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01:03:07,000 --> 01:03:07,958
Thank you for joining us.
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01:03:07,958 --> 01:03:09,458
You're always welcome to be here.
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01:03:09,458 --> 01:03:10,291
No matter if you agree
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01:03:10,291 --> 01:03:12,208
with me or not, who cares?
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01:03:12,208 --> 01:03:13,166
Let's just have some fun.
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Let's get to know the ocean.
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Let's make it better. All right.
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That's my that's my PSA for today. Again,
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thank you for being here.
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But let's let's look at this before 2004.
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African penguins had roughly fifty seven
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thousand breeding
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pairs across their range.
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Fifty seven thousand that total today has
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dropped to about ninety nine hundred
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01:03:35,333 --> 01:03:38,208
breeding pairs worldwide from fifty seven
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01:03:38,208 --> 01:03:40,541
thousand breeding pairs to nine hundred
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01:03:40,541 --> 01:03:41,875
nine nine thousand nine
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01:03:41,875 --> 01:03:43,583
hundred breeding pairs worldwide.
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That's insane. That should not happen.
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That should be something
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that we never have to deal with.
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But unfortunately it happened. And you
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know, the South Africa holds about eighty
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seven hundred of those pairs and then
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Namibia holds around
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twelve hundred of those pairs.
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So over the last thirty years, their
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population has plummeted more than eighty
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percent with some colonies losing ninety
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01:04:04,083 --> 01:04:05,208
five percent of their
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birds in fewer than ten years.
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So now we're trying to find like what's
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going on because now
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they're critically endangered.
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And with those projections, the
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projections, if it continues to show what
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we're seeing, they could go extinct from
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the wild by twenty thirty
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five if the trends continue.
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So that's something we don't want to
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have. So the first question we have to
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ask is like what happened
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to these penguins? Right.
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First, we've got to look at this shocking
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01:04:30,000 --> 01:04:31,750
discovery. The fact that we had fifty
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seven thousand breeding pairs and we go
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down to nine nine hundred.
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So there's two major South African
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colonies. There's Dassen Island and Robin
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Island. I hope I'm
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01:04:39,916 --> 01:04:40,791
pronouncing it properly.
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They lost up to ninety five percent of
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their breeding pair penguins in under a
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decade. That's the biggest
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biggest loss that we saw.
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More than sixty thousand birds starved
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during their most vulnerable life stage.
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A species that once filled the beaches
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with noise and movements that was nearly
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vanished from the most
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01:04:59,041 --> 01:04:59,833
important strongholds.
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The collapse happened quickly and quietly
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and then most people never even heard
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about it until scientists started to
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publish their new findings.
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So what happened? What caused this the
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die offs? Well, the biggest thing was the
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trigger was the dramatic die off like of
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the sardines of the sardine population on
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01:05:20,000 --> 01:05:20,833
the west coast of South Africa.
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So sardines are the penguins primary food
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source. They have they provide the best
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01:05:25,541 --> 01:05:27,666
energy in the long lasting energy and
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they're not that quick as quit not as
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01:05:29,708 --> 01:05:30,500
quick as penguins and they
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can get caught pretty easily.
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And so but a mix of warming seas altered
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salinity disrupted plankton production
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and intense fishing pressure wiped out
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local sardine stocks. The loss happened
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at the worst possible time during the
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penguins annual molt.
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So these sardines disappeared when these
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these penguins molt their feathers that
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01:05:50,166 --> 01:05:52,000
keep them from being wet and cold and
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everything. And so when they're land
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01:05:53,916 --> 01:05:55,750
bound, they have to stay in land and they
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have to use the reserves. They can't go
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01:05:57,416 --> 01:05:59,083
eat and they can't get the energy they
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01:05:59,083 --> 01:06:00,625
need. They have to use the reserves. They
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just didn't have as many reserves as
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possible. So when they go out and eat,
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they build up those reserves so that when
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they have to actually molt and they stay
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on land for a little bit, they have to
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use their stored fat. But if they don't
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have enough stored fat to
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eat, they eventually starve.
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01:06:14,875 --> 01:06:15,458
And so when they had these sardines to
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01:06:15,458 --> 01:06:17,875
build those reserves, tens of thousands
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01:06:17,875 --> 01:06:20,166
did not survive and that just continued
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01:06:20,166 --> 01:06:24,083
to happen year after year after year for
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01:06:24,083 --> 01:06:27,500
10 years. Now why 10 years? Why did these
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penguins not recover? Because even after
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the initial collapse, the sardine
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population did not bounce back. Sardine
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01:06:34,166 --> 01:06:36,833
biomass stayed below one quarter of its
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01:06:36,833 --> 01:06:40,125
historical maximum for nearly 20 years.
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This sardine population really suffered.
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Anchorvies, which was the next best prey,
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were not abundant enough to in the West
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01:06:47,958 --> 01:06:50,000
to feed the whole distribution and their
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01:06:50,000 --> 01:06:52,125
distribution actually shifted eastward.
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So far outside the penguin foraging
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01:06:54,458 --> 01:06:56,541
range, the penguins can only go so far.
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And when they have their colonies, their
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01:06:58,416 --> 01:07:00,375
breeding colonies, they can't move them
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and they can't swim that far. So if the
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sardines are out of range, if the paying
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01:07:05,625 --> 01:07:07,208
of the anchovies are out of
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01:07:07,208 --> 01:07:08,333
range, then they can't eat.
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Right? They can't move their nesting
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01:07:10,916 --> 01:07:12,916
sites. They cannot travel long distances
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while they're raising their chicks. So
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with low energy prey, fewer chicks
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01:07:17,916 --> 01:07:20,666
survived. Adults entered molting under
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01:07:20,666 --> 01:07:22,750
underweight, right? When they enter that
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01:07:22,750 --> 01:07:25,000
molting, they don't have enough the fat
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01:07:25,000 --> 01:07:27,416
storage. And the population spiraled
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01:07:27,416 --> 01:07:28,833
downward every year.
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01:07:29,875 --> 01:07:32,583
Replacement prey species were too fast.
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01:07:32,875 --> 01:07:34,458
So the hake and everything else that's
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01:07:34,458 --> 01:07:38,500
around her too fast or too scarce or too
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01:07:38,500 --> 01:07:40,250
low in fat to support the recovery. So it
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01:07:40,250 --> 01:07:42,708
just wasn't enough. Like the anchovies
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and the sardines, especially the sardines
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01:07:44,291 --> 01:07:46,000
provided enough for
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01:07:46,000 --> 01:07:46,833
these animals to survive.
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01:07:46,875 --> 01:07:49,791
Now the shift in distribution of sardines
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01:07:49,791 --> 01:07:52,333
and anchovies happen because the shift in
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01:07:52,333 --> 01:07:54,875
plankton happened, which is the main food
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01:07:54,875 --> 01:07:57,666
source during and after and before
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01:07:57,666 --> 01:08:00,125
sardine and anchovy spawning. So if
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climate change shifts the wind patterns
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and shifts the current, it shifts the
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distribution of plankton, which will
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shift the distribution of the predator
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species that eat that prey.
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So you have anchovies, you have sardines
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that will shift their distribution away
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from the colonies. So now these animals
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can't move far because they have chicks
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01:08:21,958 --> 01:08:23,625
that they're raising. They have low fat
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01:08:23,625 --> 01:08:25,541
storage and they're stuck on land while
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01:08:25,541 --> 01:08:27,000
they molt and they have to use the fat
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01:08:27,000 --> 01:08:28,458
reserves and they don't have enough fat
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01:08:28,458 --> 01:08:30,166
reserves. So they start to die and it
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happens year over year over year.
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So now that we know what the problem is,
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01:08:33,708 --> 01:08:35,583
we know why is happening for so long
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01:08:35,583 --> 01:08:37,916
because these sardines and anchovies
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01:08:37,916 --> 01:08:40,041
just, you know, the collapse happened for
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01:08:40,041 --> 01:08:42,333
quite some time in that area. What is
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01:08:42,333 --> 01:08:44,208
being done? I should mention before we go
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01:08:44,208 --> 01:08:46,125
into that, we're still seeing fishing
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01:08:46,125 --> 01:08:48,541
pressure on sardines that have stayed
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01:08:48,541 --> 01:08:50,208
around. So even though there's a lower
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01:08:50,208 --> 01:08:51,458
population of sardines that have stayed
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01:08:51,458 --> 01:08:53,125
around, we're still seeing fishing of
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01:08:53,125 --> 01:08:55,500
those sardines. So that adds to the
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01:08:55,500 --> 01:08:57,500
pressure of already dwindling population.
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So now what is being
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01:08:58,791 --> 01:09:00,416
done to help these penguins?
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Several conservation measures are
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01:09:03,041 --> 01:09:04,541
underway. So governments introduce
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fishing closures near the key colonies to
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reduce competition for sardines. Wildlife
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groups are protecting nests, improving
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01:09:11,708 --> 01:09:14,250
breeding shelters, managing predators and
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01:09:14,250 --> 01:09:16,708
running rescue programs for injured or
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01:09:16,708 --> 01:09:19,333
starving adults and chicks. Some
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01:09:19,333 --> 01:09:22,458
organizations also hand reared abandoned
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01:09:22,458 --> 01:09:24,500
chicks and release them back into the
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01:09:24,500 --> 01:09:26,625
wild. Research teams are tracking penguin
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01:09:26,625 --> 01:09:29,416
movement to identify new foraging
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01:09:29,416 --> 01:09:30,833
hotspots and understand how they're going to be able to get their own species.
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So there's a lot of stuff that is going
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01:09:36,166 --> 01:09:38,458
on, but are they actually successful? Do
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01:09:38,458 --> 01:09:40,458
these efforts matter? Is it enough to
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01:09:40,458 --> 01:09:42,791
bring their populations back up to the
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01:09:42,791 --> 01:09:45,208
57,000 breeding pairs that they once had?
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The honest answer is it's actually mixed.
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01:09:48,083 --> 01:09:49,416
These conservation actions have helped
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01:09:49,416 --> 01:09:51,750
individual penguins and improved
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01:09:51,750 --> 01:09:53,875
conditions around some of the nesting
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01:09:53,875 --> 01:09:55,958
sites. However, the underlining issue is
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01:09:55,958 --> 01:09:57,833
the collapse of the sardine stocks. It hasn't been solved. So how do we solve this sardine?
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Problem, which is really difficult
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01:10:03,541 --> 01:10:04,958
because you're looking at an entire
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01:10:04,958 --> 01:10:07,416
shifting predator price situation and a
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01:10:07,416 --> 01:10:09,875
food web switch. So without a significant
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01:10:09,875 --> 01:10:12,583
recovery of prey availability, penguin
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01:10:12,583 --> 01:10:15,083
numbers cannot rebound at the scale it
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01:10:15,083 --> 01:10:18,541
once was. The species is listed now as
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01:10:18,541 --> 01:10:20,583
critically endangered and projection so
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01:10:20,583 --> 01:10:22,791
that they could disappear from the wild
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by 2035 if the trends continue to happen. So that's if the sardine populations remain in the wild.
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Efforts are slowing the decline rather
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01:10:32,000 --> 01:10:34,333
than reversing it. So the thing is, is
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sometimes when we talk about
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conservation, we talk about the efforts
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that we put together and sometimes they
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01:10:39,208 --> 01:10:40,958
help locally, but they're not going to
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01:10:40,958 --> 01:10:43,250
help overall because you can only do so
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01:10:43,250 --> 01:10:46,000
much as humans in bringing everything
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01:10:46,000 --> 01:10:48,375
back. One is expensive. It's expensive to
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01:10:48,375 --> 01:10:50,416
do all these efforts and two, it's not
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01:10:50,416 --> 01:10:50,833
going to happen at scale, which is because the the the process is not going to happen at scale.
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Which is because the the primary problem
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01:10:54,208 --> 01:10:57,166
hasn't been solved. This could help
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01:10:57,166 --> 01:11:00,291
extend their life on this planet by a few
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01:11:00,291 --> 01:11:02,666
years, but it's not going to solve the
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01:11:02,666 --> 01:11:05,291
problem until we can get sardines back in
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01:11:05,291 --> 01:11:08,375
the area or maybe move these colonies to
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01:11:08,375 --> 01:11:09,333
somewhere else, which is a much
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01:11:09,333 --> 01:11:10,833
difficult, much more difficult problem.
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01:11:11,875 --> 01:11:15,416
So like what can you do to help? So even
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01:11:15,416 --> 01:11:16,916
though these these conservation actions
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01:11:16,916 --> 01:11:18,916
may not be the best thing, it is
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01:11:18,916 --> 01:11:20,500
something that we can do in the meantime
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01:11:20,500 --> 01:11:23,208
to kind of give us some time before the
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01:11:23,208 --> 01:11:25,333
sardines population comes back hopefully
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01:11:25,333 --> 01:11:27,416
so you can support any kind of African
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01:11:27,416 --> 01:11:29,458
penguin recovery in
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01:11:29,458 --> 01:11:29,833
several meaningful ways.
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01:11:29,875 --> 01:11:33,000
So support organizations working directly
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01:11:33,000 --> 01:11:35,958
on sardine and penguin conservation share
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01:11:35,958 --> 01:11:38,291
science based information on how climate
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01:11:38,291 --> 01:11:40,000
change and overfishing affect marine
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01:11:40,000 --> 01:11:42,166
life, which doesn't really happen a lot.
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01:11:42,916 --> 01:11:44,125
Choose seafood from sustainable
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01:11:44,125 --> 01:11:45,916
fisheries, of course, and encourage
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01:11:45,916 --> 01:11:48,291
others to do the same and contact your
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01:11:48,291 --> 01:11:50,208
elected officials to support marine
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01:11:50,208 --> 01:11:52,291
protected areas, science driven fish
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01:11:52,291 --> 01:11:54,250
fishing policies and
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01:11:54,250 --> 01:11:54,833
finally amplify this story.
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01:11:54,875 --> 01:11:58,083
Share this story. The African penguin
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01:11:58,083 --> 01:12:01,083
crisis is still invisible to much of the
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01:12:01,083 --> 01:12:03,208
world. And unless we get it in front of
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01:12:03,208 --> 01:12:05,333
their eyes or in front of their ears, we
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01:12:05,333 --> 01:12:07,750
cannot help these penguins at the scale
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01:12:07,750 --> 01:12:08,625
that they need help.
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01:12:09,750 --> 01:12:12,250
Far too long, the decline of the penguins
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01:12:12,250 --> 01:12:14,416
went silent and it's about time that we
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01:12:14,416 --> 01:12:16,291
speak up and we amplify their story.
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01:12:16,291 --> 01:12:17,791
That's what this podcast is all about.
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01:12:18,166 --> 01:12:19,833
That's what this community is all about.
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01:12:19,875 --> 01:12:22,125
I'll tell you one thing, something that
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01:12:22,125 --> 01:12:24,333
happened to me recently. I joined an
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01:12:24,333 --> 01:12:26,083
advocacy group. It was a group on
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01:12:26,083 --> 01:12:27,875
WhatsApp and it's a bunch of science
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01:12:27,875 --> 01:12:29,500
communicators and creators content
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01:12:29,500 --> 01:12:31,916
creators that are to get that work
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01:12:31,916 --> 01:12:34,708
together to get specific campaigns out
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01:12:34,708 --> 01:12:36,666
that we all start or somebody starts as
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01:12:36,666 --> 01:12:37,833
hey, I need someone to help me amplify this.
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01:12:37,875 --> 01:12:40,416
Can you put it on your story? Can you put
375
01:12:40,416 --> 01:12:42,583
it on your your Instagram, your TikTok?
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01:12:42,916 --> 01:12:44,625
Can you put on your podcast and let's
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01:12:44,625 --> 01:12:46,625
talk about this story because with this
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01:12:46,625 --> 01:12:48,833
amplification, this style of sharing
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01:12:48,833 --> 01:12:51,250
these stories and putting this on a
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01:12:51,250 --> 01:12:53,625
platform that can be shared with hundreds
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01:12:53,625 --> 01:12:55,750
with thousands with hundreds of thousands
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01:12:55,750 --> 01:12:58,166
of millions, this will help these
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populations and people will finally understand the plight.
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These penguins are facing and hopefully
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we'll get to the point where we can get
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policy enacted that can help these fish
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at scale as well as these penguins at
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scale. That's the
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important part of this journey.
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That's what I want to get across by
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sharing this story. I hope you share this
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podcast, whether it's the audio version
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01:13:21,000 --> 01:13:23,166
or video version. If you have a comment
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or a question, it helps with the
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01:13:25,083 --> 01:13:26,541
algorithm to get to in front of more
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people. Please let me know.
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I want this to go everywhere. I want
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01:13:30,833 --> 01:13:32,333
every story to go everywhere and it's
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with the help of you, the community and
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that we can get together and discuss. I
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01:13:36,458 --> 01:13:37,958
want to get to know you. I want to hear
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your comments. I want to hear your
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questions. If you're watching this on
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01:13:40,083 --> 01:13:42,250
YouTube, put your comment in the comment
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section below. If you're listening to
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this on your favorite podcast app, just
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01:13:46,000 --> 01:13:47,000
let me know. Just go to
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01:13:47,000 --> 01:13:48,875
speakupforblue.com forward slash
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01:13:48,875 --> 01:13:51,208
feedback. Let me know how you feel. You
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01:13:51,208 --> 01:13:53,500
can also go to speakupforblue.com follow
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01:13:53,500 --> 01:13:55,250
to follow the podcast on your favorite
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01:13:55,250 --> 01:13:56,666
podcast app. I want to thank
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you so much for joining me.
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On today's episode of the how to protect
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01:13:59,625 --> 01:14:01,583
the ocean podcast. I'm your host, Andrew
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Lune from the true north strong and free.
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01:14:03,500 --> 01:14:04,708
Have a great day. We'll talk to you next
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01:14:04,708 --> 01:14:06,041
time and happy conservation.
