Penguins are key indicators of ocean health

In Betty’s Bay, South Africa, one of the world’s wildlife celebrities, an African penguin, was busy breaking free from the sea. On land, cute and clumsy in equal measure, this ocean princess had a twinkle in her eye. It was late April, during peak breeding season. She ran toward the rocks and bushes beyond the tide line. Here, it would momentarily disappear under a winding boardwalk built to admire tourists before emerging on the other side. Along the shore of the sandy beach were rows of white nesting shelters and, in one of them, her mate.

Nearby, a conservationist proudly pointed out a new walkway designed by scientists with penguins in mind. These flightless birds now used it as their preferred route under the boardwalk and out to sea. Cunningly, this would take them to a state of the art balance telling scientists about the success of these elegant little birds in fishing. African penguins spend a lot of time at sea fishing. When times are good, they can gain a third of their body weight in a day. When fishing is bad, they lose weight and may abandon breeding attempts.

See more information: How to help the fishing industry? Stop fishing so much

So how were they? Well, not good. Sardines and anchovies, penguins’ basic prey, are being removed from the ocean in large quantities for animal feed. Much of the fish must be transformed into fishmeal to feed industrially raised pigs, poultry and fish. Declining fish stocks mean penguins are finding it harder to find enough food for their chicks, putting even more pressure on a species in drastic decline.

Latest projections show that this iconic species could be extinct in the wild by 2035. Once numbering in the millions, African penguins have since declined by 97% in just over a century. The impact of its decline will be felt close to home, especially in the local economy. Famous for attracting crowds, tourist revenue from a similar penguin colony on Cape Town’s Boulders Beach has been estimated at more than R300 million ($16 million) per year.

This ongoing ecological disaster also points to a much wider concern for the environment, with penguins being seen as a key indicator of the broader ecological health of our ocean. Their situation may well be the canary in the coal mine for what needs to happen if we are to preserve life both on land and at sea.

The ocean is life support of our planet and it is what regulates the global climate system. It is the largest ecosystem in the world, home to nearly a million known species and containing vast untapped potential for scientific discovery.

Despite our complete trust in him, we only managed explored around 10% from that. Although we know little about the ocean in comparison to its immense vastness, what we do know is that the consequences of our actions are evident in all its waters.

As the plight of penguins shows, a classic interdependence between land and sea is how we produce food. In recent decades, we have seen the rise of industrial agriculture, often associated with the heavy use of artificial fertilizers, chemical pesticides and poor animal welfare. Farmed animals have essentially been removed from pastures and raised in confinement, causing major impacts on both the welfare of farmed animals and the environment.

Fertilizers are a major source of pollution in the oceans, leading to more than 500 dead zones, areas of the sea where nothing lives. Large amounts of commercial fertilizer containing the “Big 3” primary nutrients: Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K), and manure are applied to soils. Excess nutrients are then washed into rivers and streams and end up in the sea, killing fish and other aquatic life necessary to the broader ecosystem, including seabirds like penguins.

Scientists now fear that the amount of nitrogen pollution emitted by global livestock farming alone is more than the planet can handle. Aimable Uwizeye of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations found that livestock farming is responsible for about a third of all humanity’s nitrogen emissions. Of this total, 68% of emissions are attributable to crops grown to feed animalsfollowed by nitrogen released by manure accumulation and management.

This further aggravates the triple planetary crisis of climate change, the loss of nature and biodiversity and the proliferation of pollution and waste. This crisis is putting the world ecosystems under attack. Billions of hectares of land are degraded, affecting almost half of the world’s population and threatening half of global GDP. Rural communities, small farmers and the extremely poor are hardest hit.

The way we produce and consume food is responsible for more than 80% of biodiversity loss. Pollution from land-based sources and overfishing for animal feed are affecting species in Africa and other parts of the world, just as they are affecting the penguins of Betty’s Bay. Penguins are, unfortunately, one of the most endangered groups of seabirds, with half of the 18 penguin species listed as vulnerable or endangered.

But land restoration can reverse the rising tide of degradation, drought and desertification. Restoration increases livelihoods, reduces poverty and builds resilience to extreme weather. Restoration increases carbon storage and slows climate change. Restore only 15% of land and stop new conversions could avoid up to 60% of expected species extinctions.

We can’t go back in time, but we can cultivate forests, make our cities greener, fish sustainably, harvest rainwater and consume nature-friendly and well-being foods. Governments and the financial sector can promote regenerative and nature-friendly agriculture increase food production and, at the same time, preserve ecosystems. Agricultural, forestry and fishing subsidies can be redirected towards sustainable practices and small-scale farmers. Agriculture can be encouraged to utilize sustainable agricultural practices that do not rely on heavy chemical and animal feed inputs. Farmed animals can be returned to the land as part of balanced, rotational and mixed farming practices that adhere to agroecological and ecological principles. Consumers, in turn, can help by choosing foods that help build a better, more sustainable future.

Only then can we be the generation that finally makes peace with the land and the sea. And in this way, ensure a better future for people like the penguins, the people and all other life forms of Betty’s Bay on Earth.