Microplastics may be accumulating at a high rate in endangered Galápagos penguins’ food web
The model predictions showed a rapid increase in microplastic accumulation and contamination across the penguins’ prey organisms resulting in Galápagos penguin displaying the highest level of microplastics per biomass, followed by barracuda, anchovy, sardine, herring, and salema and predatory zooplankton.
Do a deep dive into… The Falkland Gentoo Penguins!
Discover the Falkland gentoo penguin and learn from experts at the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries!
Diving, snacking, laying eggs! What do different hemoglobin levels mean for gentoo penguins?
Gentoo penguins have to food forage before laying eggs. The amount of hemoglobin in their blood may increase diving capacities. Increased diving may mean more tiny penguin chicks.
‘This is a wake-up call for the world’: UBC researchers at the forefront of championing for change
The Galápagos islands are under severe threat from ocean pollution, climate change, and illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing pressures
Darwin’s Eden awash in plastics
Penguin guano from the Galápagos is helping UBC researchers track microplastic pollution from around the globe
PROFILE: Investigating ocean pollution to “provide solutions, not just answers to questions”
“Anthropogenic stressors are reshaping our ocean – it’s not the same ocean we had 30 or 40 years ago. As academics we need to provide solutions, not just answers to questions.”
As penguins dive, their location data takes flight
Data sent from penguins to space and back to UBC could help researchers determine why the species’ breeding population fluctuates so dramatically.