A newly published study has revealed a devastating truth about one of South Africa’s most beloved seabirds.
Image used for illustrative purposes/Bernd 📷 Dittrich/Unsplash
According to The Guardian, more than 60 000 African penguins starved to death between 2004 and 2012 as their primary food source declined sharply.
A silent die off along the Cape coast
The study focuses on two major breeding sites on Dassen Island and Robben Island. At both locations researchers estimate that around 95 percent of the penguins breeding in 2004 had disappeared by 2012. The losses are linked to a dramatic collapse in sardine numbers. Scientists report that sardine biomass along the west coast fell to about a quarter of historic levels for almost every year during that period.
The timing made the crisis even worse. Penguins undergo an annual moult that leaves them unable to hunt for around three weeks. They need to gain enough weight before this period in order to survive it. When fish became scarce many penguins entered the moult without sufficient reserves and never returned to shore.
Researchers believe that most of the birds died at sea. Their bodies were not found in large numbers which suggests that the scale of the disaster was recorded mainly through population data rather than physical evidence.
A species on the edge
African penguin numbers have dropped by nearly 80 percent in the last three decades. In 2024 the species was reclassified as critically endangered with fewer than 10 000 breeding pairs left along the entire coastline.
Experts warn that the species faces the real possibility of extinction in the wild if the decline in prey continues. The loss of sardines and anchovies is influenced by both environmental change and heavy fishing pressure. Until these fish populations recover the outlook for penguins remains bleak.
Efforts to protect the remaining colonies
Conservation authorities have introduced several measures to support the species. Commercial purse seine fishing has been restricted around the six largest colonies including Dassen Island and Robben Island. Artificial nests have been installed to protect breeding adults from heat and predators. Vulnerable chicks are also being hand reared and returned to the wild.
Although these steps are important many scientists argue that they will not be enough without a strong recovery of sardine and anchovy stocks. Restoring the food chain is seen as the most urgent and decisive step needed to protect the future of African penguins.
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