Erupting volcano in South Atlantic region threatens world’s largest penguin colonies

New Delhi:  A remote volcano in South Atlantic Ocean is slowly coating the largest Chinstrap penguin population in ash.  

Chinstraps are the natives of Zavodovski, one of the South Sandwich islands. Zavodovski island is also home of a stratovolcano  located on Mount curry, that has been erupting smoke and ash since 2016, one-third to one-half of the island in ash.

The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has recently brought this serious environmental issue in front of the world and warned that around 1.3 million birds on Zavodovski Island are threatened by the natural disaster, which has covered the island in toxic smoke and sent ash raining down over half the landmass.

The excess of sulphuric acid that emanates from volcano is making this island one of the smelliest places in the world. The constant erupting volcano and remote location of island are putting penguins at a greater risk.

Their population are either buried alive in ash, burned or suffer breathing difficulties. The experts at BAS are planning an expedition in December 2016 to check on how the ash has affected the colony.