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Experts Believe the Seabirds’ Parents Left Because of the Lack of Food

Cape cormorant chicks eat their lunch of sardines at the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds.
Cape cormorant chicks eat their lunch of sardines at the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds. Photo: Rodger Bosch / AFP (Getty Images)

The foundation’s research department believes that the lack of food could be the main reason the adults abandoned their chicks, although they are still investigating the incident.

“Cape cormorants feed mainly on anchovy (and to a smaller extent on sardines) and these small pelagic fish species are at very low levels at the moment,” said Katta Ludynia, the foundation’s research manager. “We are seeing dramatic population declines in all seabird species that rely on these fish species.”

Ludynia listed the African penguin and the Cape gannet, which are both endangered, as examples of other seabirds being affected by the food shortage.

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