--- title: Penguins: Antarctic Population Size a Concern at 12 Million description: A study revealed that there are 12 million penguins in Antartica, but researchers are still concerned about declines in population canonical: https://time.com/4754297/penguin-population-antarctica/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-25T16:38:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:35:38.828Z article:section: Science og:title: With 12 Million Penguins in Antarctica, Population Size Still a Concern og:description: The report was released on Tuesday, which is also World Penguin Day og:url: https://time.com/4754297/penguin-population-antarctica/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57f302af0d99e556/6988ca83bc6cfc00d93e10b2/gettyimages-672178392.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3814 og:image:height: 2145 og:image:alt: penguin-population-size og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: With 12 Million Penguins in Antarctica, Population Size Still a Concern twitter:description: The report was released on Tuesday, which is also World Penguin Day twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57f302af0d99e556/6988ca83bc6cfc00d93e10b2/gettyimages-672178392.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # With 12 Million Penguins in Antarctica, Population Size Still a Concern > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Apr 25, 2017 4:38 PM UTC  ISTANBUL, TURKEY - APRIL 24: Gentoo penguins which are brought from Valencia's Oceanographic to Turkey last year, diving in the water at Istanbul Aquarium, the member of World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), in Istanbul, Turkey on April 24, 2017\. Gentoo penguins are the fastest underwater swimming penguins, reaching speeds of 35 km per hour. It's known that they collected pebble stones to present their chosen female as a gift. (Photo by Veli Gurgah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) ISTANBUL, TURKEY - APRIL 24: Gentoo penguins which are brought from Valencia's Oceanographic to Turkey last year, diving in the water at Istanbul Aquarium, the member of World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), in Istanbul, Turkey on April 24, 2017\. Gentoo penguins are the fastest underwater swimming penguins, reaching speeds of 35 km per hour. It's known that they collected pebble stones to present their chosen female as a gift. (Photo by Veli Gurgah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) Photograph by Veli Gurgah—Getty/Anadolu Agency by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Apr 25, 2017 4:38 PM UTC There are a reported 12 million [penguins](http://time.com/4690760/nhl-penguins-peta/) in Antartica, but that number isn’t enough for researchers. The [“State of Antarctic Penguins”](https://oceanites.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Oceanites-SOAP-Report-4-25-17.pdf) report by Ron Naveen, completed over two decades, revealed that two of the most common penguin species, the Adélies and chinstraps, are in decline due largely to climate change. The report was released on Tuesday, which is also World Penguin Day. “In one generation, I have personally witnessed the precipitous decline of once abundant Adélie and chinstrap penguin populations,” Naveen told [_USA Today_.](https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/sciencefair/2017/04/25/brrrd-count-penguin-population-antarctica-12-million-report-says/100839574/) “These iconic birds are literally canaries in the coal mine.” He added that reduction in [Antarctic](http://time.com/4592866/greenland-ice-sea-level-rise-climate-change/) penguins is “affirmation” that the climate is “changing in a real radical way.” The study does report, however, that the gentoo species has seen an increase in population and that, while the general population has declined, Adélie penguins have seen population growth in certain parts of the Antarctic. Naveen told _USA Today_ that monitoring penguin population is “one of the best way to track the impact of climate change and ocean health in the world’s most pristine scientific laboratory.” “Looking ahead, a number of developments deserve attention, which we’ll follow in future ‘State Of Antarctic Penguins’ reports,” the study reads. “Ultimately, all relate to climate.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4754297/penguin-population-antarctica/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4754297/penguin-population-antarctica/"},"headline":"With 12 Million Penguins in Antarctica, Population Size Still a Concern","datePublished":"2017-04-25T16:38:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:35:38.828Z","description":"The report was released on Tuesday, which is also World Penguin Day","url":"https://time.com/4754297/penguin-population-antarctica/","keywords":["animals","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57f302af0d99e556/6988ca83bc6cfc00d93e10b2/gettyimages-672178392.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lisa Marie Segarra","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57f302af0d99e556/6988ca83bc6cfc00d93e10b2/gettyimages-672178392.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"penguin-population-size","caption":"Gentoo penguins at Istanbul Aquarium","creditText":"Photograph by Veli Gurgah—Getty/Anadolu Agency","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4754297/penguin-population-antarctica/","name":"With 12 Million Penguins in Antarctica, Population Size Still a Concern"}}]}] ```