King Penguins
King penguins, the closest cousins of emperor penguins, cluster together on a remote island between Argentina and Antarctica. Though in this image the flightless birds seem numerous, climate change and other human impacts pose an existential threat to king penguins’ survival. At least one study has predicted most of the species’ colonies could vanish by the end of the century.
National Geographic writes:
King penguins crowd together in the viewfinder of Rhez Solano on the beaches of Gold Harbour in South Georgia. The island sits in the remote southern Atlantic Ocean, not far from Antarctica, and hosts some 25,000 breeding pairs of king penguins, along with gentoo penguins, and elephant seals.
