Global News - July 2008

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Penguins 'indicate the potential fate of many other creatures'

Wed 02 July 2008 17:00 UK — Australasia,Birds

US researchers have said that the fate of the world's penguins highlight the human impact on the seas and oceans of Earth.

In an article published in the journal BioScience, Professor Dee Boersma argues that penguins can act as a touchstone for human influence on the world's oceanic environments.

She points to oil pollution, the depletion of fisheries and rampant coastline development as things that are currently threatening global penguin populations.

"Penguins are among those species that show us that we are making fundamental changes to our world," Professor Boersma explained.

"The fate of all species is to go extinct, but there are some species that go extinct before their time and we are facing that possibility with some penguins."

The biologist pointed out that little is known about many of the world's penguin populations, which meant that it was only recently that people noticed numbers were declining rapidly.

As a result, Professor Boersma called for broad international effort to check on the largest colonies of each penguin species regularly.

"We have to be able to understand the world that we live in and depend on. It is the responsibility of governments to gather the information that helps us understand and make it available, but if they can't do it then we need non-governmental organisations to step up."

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