Doomed by iceberg

A United States coastguard, scheduled to arrive yesterday, promised the last chance survival for a celebrated penguin colony.

A couple of massive icebergs in the Ross Sea since 2000 have blocked the sea ice around Ross Island and McMurdo Sound, preventing the Adelie penguins of Cape Royds from having direct access to the sea, and food.

The failure of the sea ice to break up has effectively destroyed the penguins' current breeding season and scientists studying the colony say skua seabirds are now plundering the colony survivors.

Last week University of Auckland's Emma Marks told AFP from New Zealand's Scott Base that only the arrival of icebreakers or a strong southerly storm pushing out the sea ice could save the colony.

Californian ecological consultant David Ainley told the Antarctic Sun newspaper at the US McMurdo Base that the colony's survival was dependent on icebreakers.

"We're in a big race now between hunger and how fast the icebreaker can get here and do it's thing," said Ainley. "Although it's coming to save McMurdo, not penguins."

The southernmost Adelie colony, next to a base built by Briton Ernst Shackleton in 1908, is relatively small by penguin standards but has been a highlight for visiting explorers and dignitaries for nearly a century.

An official at the US logistics base in Christchurch, New Zealand, said the United States Coastguard icebreaker Polar Star had entered the pack ice in Ross Sea and was working on carving a channel through to the base. It was likely to reach there around Thursday.

The US research icebreaker Nathaniel B Palmer, a supply ship and a tanker would follow it in.

The ice channel would be kept clear and, as it passed close to Cape Royds, it would dramatically improve short-term prospects for the penguins.

The official said the ships would only be at McMurdo for a couple of days before being forced out by the ice.

Ainley said last week that the icebreaker could not really save the Adelie chicks because they were hatching too late this year. There was almost no chance they would survive with the onset of winter, he said.