Near the station "Academician Vernadsky", chicks of Pomarine skuas hatched: unique photos
The National Antarctic Center of Ukraine reported about the chicks of South Polar skuas that hatched on Galindez Island, near the Akademik Vernadsky station.
"This season, 19 chicks were born here in 13 pairs. This is quite an important indicator because last year Ukrainian biologists did not record any babies on Galindez, although there were eggs laid. The breeding of these birds on the surrounding islands was not very successful either," the scientists said in a Facebook post.
Now, according to the observations of Ukrainian scientists, there are chicks on all the islands that have been surveyed. In particular, on Skua, Black, and Shelter Islands, polar explorers counted about two dozen skua nests. Most of them already had two chicks.
This annual monitoring of the breeding success of Antarctic "inhabitants" allows scientists to track the impact of climate change on their lives.
As TravelWise reported earlier, the polar explorers showed "Barbie"-like landscapes in Antarctica.