Photo by. @cristinamittermeier //Adelie penguins may spend hours stacked together on blocks of floating ice, just waiting for the right moment to forage. Ice is their perch, their safe haven from predators, their launch pad. But ice, especially sea ice formed by frozen ocean water, also is essential for krill, staple of the penguin diet. Here near the eastern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, ice often remains thick through summer. But travel across the Antarctic Sound to the western peninsula and ocean circulation and wind patterns are different. There, temperatures warming extremely fast, rapidly melting ice. And there, Adelie populations in many places have dropped by more than half in 30 years.
#onassignment for @natgeo with @paulnicklen, @ladzinski, @andy_mann. Caption by NG assignment writer @craigwelch. To see more images from this @natgeo expedition #follow me at @cristinamittermeier
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