Volcanic eruption threatens one of the world's largest penguin colonies

A volcanic eruption on a sub-Antarctic island is threatening one of the world's largest penguin colonies.

According to a press release issued by the British Antarctic Survey, "Zavodovski Island is a small island in the South Sandwich archipelago and its volcano Mt Curry has been erupting since March 2016. The island is home to over one million chinstrap penguins — the largest colony for this species in the world."

The team became aware of a recent earthquake in the area during remapping of the volcanic islands.

The release further stated, "Following the earthquake, fishing vessels in the area...captured photos of the Zavodovski Island eruption. They show the main volcanic vent is on the western side of the island, but the prevailing wind is blowing the smoke and ash to the east, and depositing much of it on the lower slopes of the volcano. These are home to the chinstraps, closely packed in great numbers. In addition there are around 180,000 macaroni penguins."

Images taken by satellite have revealed that up to half of the island is covered in ash.

Dr. Peter Fretwell, a Geographer with the British Antarctic Survey, noted, "We don't know what impact the ash will have on the penguins. 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."

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