Beneath the waves, penguins move gracefully, soaring and swooping through the sea. Above the waves, they wobble like waiters with their legs in a plaster cast.
Is it any wonder, then, that they do better when the sea is covered in less ice? Scientists have found that the Adélie penguin may be a rare beneficiary of climate change, at least for now.
By tagging 175 of the penguins, they found that the birds were more efficient hunters and caught more krill when there was less ice. The findings help explain reports that the penguins raised more chicks in seasons with less ice.
“Counterintuitively for this ice-dependent species, body conditions and breeding success improved in the ice-free environment,” wrote researchers from the Japanese National Institute
