Zavodaski Island is home to around 1.2 million chinstrap penguins.

Scientists fear consequences could be ‘very significant’

One of the largest penguin colonies in the world is at risk from an erupting volcano, according to scientists at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).

Zavodaski Island, a small island in the South Sandwich archipelago, is home to around 1.2 million chinstrap penguins - the largest colony for this species in the world.

Since March 2016, Mount Curry, a volcano located on Zadovaski Island, has been spewing hot ash and smoke, covering one-third to one-half of the island.

Meanwhile, the penguins have been going through their annual moult; shedding their feathers for new ones and therefore unable to leave.

“We don’t know what impact the ash will have on the penguins,” said geographer Dr Peter Fretwell from BAS. “If it has been heavy and widespread it may have a serious effect on the population.

"It’s impossible to say but two scientific expeditions are scheduled to visit the region from later this year and will try to assess the impact of the eruption.”

Zadvaski Island is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands. Recently, BAS remapped this chain of volcanic islands and was alerted to a large (7.2) magnitude earthquake in the vicinity.

After the earthquake, fishing vessels in the area captured photos of the Zadovaski island eruption. They show the main volcano vent is on the western side of the island, but the prevailing wind is blowing the smoke and ash to the east.

Scientists say the ash is being deposited on the lower slopes of the volcano, which is home to the chinstraps, closely packed in large numbers. Some 180,000 macaroni penguins also reside on the island.

“As the images were captured during the moult period for the chinstraps, the consequences could be very significant,” said BAS penguin ecologist Mike Dunn.

“When the penguins return to breed later in the year, it will be interesting to see what impact this event has on their numbers.”

Image (C) Wikimedia commons/Gregory Smith