One in particular followed us all the way around the island. In other words, clean the kitchen. Bill is the Chief Scientist at Palmer Station and his work on the Adelie penguin population over the last 20 some odd years has been incredible. He has seen first hand and has long-term data sets that support the impact of climate change on the Adelie penguins. Climate warming trends have impacted the penguins by the decrease in sea ice.
Sea ice is home to algae that feeds krill larvae, Without the sea ice, krill populations diminish.
A decrease in krill means a decrease in the major food source for penguins. To complicate matters for the penguins, it seems that the nesting habitat they select is equally important to their breeding success. For example, on Torgersen Island, site of a major Adelie rookery in the Peninsula, the north and south island colonies fare very differently. The south side of the island receives more snow deposits and therefore, it is harder for penguins to nest and lay their eggs. This seems to delay the hatching time for some of the chicks.