The Antarctic tundras are home to a range of species that have adapted in fascinating ways to the frozen conditions. The climate crisis means that thousands of penguins are now at risk, but efforts are under way to protect them.
Fieldwork assistant Natacha Planque works daily in -50°C conditions and winds that reach more than 100km per hour, studying the lives of emperor and Adélie penguins on the Pointe Géologie archipelago.
From the Dumont d’Urville (DDU) Station, Planque and her team monitor 25 islands by helicopter and on foot, conducting annual counts of both species of penguins. They work with the Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, Institut Polaire Français, and receive support from WWF. Planque explained that they counted 38,000 nesting Adélie couples and 34,000 chicks in 2024. The numbers have been rising in Pointe Géologie since 1985.
