British scientists are eager to map penguin colonies in the inhospitable and hard to access region as climate change threatens to melt their habitat.

Penguins rely on sea ice - frozen ocean water floats on top of the sea - to breed and rear chicks.

But the area of sea ice is shrinking, and a separate study last year warned of "catastrophic breeding failure" in four colonies after the winter sea ice melted before chicks had fledged.

In a study published today in Antarctic Science, researchers said they have discovered a colony in Halley Bay - which was thought to have vanished but has in fact re-established itself - and three new colonies.

Dr Peter Fretwell, who uses satellite imagery to monitor penguin populations at British Antarctic Survey (BAS), said: "These newly identified locations fill in almost all the gaps in the known distribution of these iconic birds."

It brings the total known emperor penguin colonies to 66.

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Future remains 'stark'

However, the BAS warned predictions about the future of emperor penguins remain "stark".

Dr Fretwell said the discoveries were "overshadowed by the recently reported breeding failures due to the early and fast ice loss".

His team studied images from the European Commission's Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite mission, which were compared with and confirmed by high resolution images from the Maxar WorldView-3 satellite.

Scientists fear climate change is finally catching up with the frozen continent, which influences global weather patterns and sea levels.

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Winter ice at record low

Last year, winter sea ice a new record low, and in 2022 it recorded the most extreme heatwave anywhere in the world.

Emperor penguins have previously responded to melting sea ice by moving to more stable sites the following year.

But this strategy won't hold if sea ice is affected across an entire region, BAS warned.