Landfast Ice 🏔️

• Fastened or "stuck" to the shore.
• Doesn’t move with wind or ocean currents.
• Fun Fact: Think of it as the "permanent parking lot" of the Antarctic.

Pack Ice 🧊

• Moves freely and drifts with currents and wind.

General Info

• Species: Aptenodytes forsteri.
• Hunts from the edge of landfast ice into the open ocean.

Why Landfast Ice Matters to Penguins

• Habitat Unpredictability: Changing patterns of ice formation make their habitat inconsistent.
• Food Source Zones: Penguins' meals hang out where the landfast ice meets the ocean. Changes in this ice affect their dinner plans!
• Breeding: Need stable landfast ice. Any mistakes in choosing nesting sites? Bad news for baby penguin survival!
• Real-world Example: In 2018, early landfast ice break-up near Ross Island led to many penguin chicks not making it. 😢

Why are Flat Surfaces Important? Emperor penguins are quite bulky. Imagine trying to lug a big suitcase over a mountain. Penguins feel the same about climbing over rocks with their young ones!