SAN DIEGO — Linda Henry might be the only person in Southern California who bundles up to go to work everyday; she is a supervisor at SeaWorld San Diego’s Penguin Encounter.

“It’s the only place in the Western Hemisphere where you can see emperor penguins in a zoological setting like SeaWorld,” Henry said. “People come here from around the world because it’s very difficult to go visit emperor penguins in their natural habitat.” 

What You Need To Know

  • The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to list the emperor penguin as threatened under the Endangered Species Act

  • Climate change, specifically melting sea ice, is the primary threat to the emperor penguin

  • Emperor penguins need sea ice to form breeding colonies, forage for food and avoid predation

  • The emperor penguin is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species. Adults may weigh up to 88 pounds and are as tall as 45 inches (almost 4 feet)

Henry started her SeaWorld career hand-raising penguins in 1983 and is an expert at raising penguins from egg to adult. She has raised thousands of chicks in her life, including countless numbers of emperor penguins.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to list the emperor penguin, a flightless seabird endemic to Antarctica, as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Climate change, specifically melting sea ice, is the primary threat to the species.

Scientists have estimated concerning levels of decline for this species. The proposal to list the emperor penguin as threatened comes while there is still time to prevent them from becoming endangered.

Dr. Ann Bowles is a Senior Research Scientist at Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute. She says emperor penguins needs a “Goldilocks Range” of sea ice: Too little sea ice, and the penguins don’t have enough protection from predators or space for molting; Too much sea ice leaves them far from the water’s edge so they have to travel farther — and expend a lot of energy — to find food.

“This is a bird that lives in such a remote area, the populations have been considered healthy for so long because there wasn’t a lot of human activity going on around them,” Bowles said. “Now it’s clear that our influence over the whole entire planet is starting to impact them even in this remote area.” 

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Even as the emperor penguins’ plight turns deadly, Henry is not giving up hope: She believes small changes by millions of people will save these majestic birds.

“I don’t want to imagine a world without penguins. I don’t want to imagine a world without a lot of the species diversity that we have. I’m a bird nerd, I love all birds,” Henry said. “Our children and I think we have a lot of people that care about the future enough to make these changes, and I’m already seeing wonderful changes.”

SeaWorld San Diego is also opening California’s tallest, fastest and longest dive coaster in March 2022. The dive coaster is named “Emperor” and will mimic this species’ amazing underwater diving ability.