In stark contrast to widespread declines along the Scotia Arc, a survey of the South Sandwich Islands finds a robust seabird community ...

• Main Authors: Lynch, Heather J., White, Richard, Black, Andy, Meixler, Marcia S., Fagan, William F., Naveen, Ron
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Rutgers University 2016
• Subjects: Population estimate; Chinstrap Penguin; Macaroni Penguin; Adélie Penguin; King Penguin; Zavodovski Island; Sandwich Islands; South Sandwich Islands; Giganteus; Antarc*; Antarctica; Chinstrap penguin; Eudyptes chrysolophus; Giant Petrels; Macaroni penguin; Macronectes giganteus; Pygoscelis adeliae; Pygoscelis antarctica; Pygoscelis papua
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.7282/t3n58phr; https://scholarship.libraries.rutgers.edu/esploro/outputs/acceptedManuscript/991031549921404646

The South Sandwich Islands, deep in the southernmost reaches of the Atlantic Ocean, are a major biological hotspot for penguins and other seabirds, but their remoteness and challenging coastlines preclude regular biological censuses. Here we report on an extensive faunal survey of the South Sandwich Islands completed through a combination of direct counting, GPS mapping, and interpretation of high-resolution commercial satellite imagery. We find that the South Sandwich Islands hosts 27% of the world’s chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis antarctica) population (1.4 million breeding pairs), as well as c. 95,000 breeding pairs of macaroni penguins (Eudyptes chrysolophus), several thousand breeding pairs of gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua), and an unexpectedly large (≥125,000 breeding pairs) population of Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae). Additionally, we report that nearly 1,900 pairs of southern giant petrels (Macronectes giganteus) breed in the South Sandwich Islands, 4% of the global population, almost all ...