Picture a penguin in your mind. Now imagine where you think it lives. Are you thinking of a desert? Probably not--you are most likely thinking of somewhere cold and snowy. But Humboldt penguins actually build their nests in the dry deserts and rocky shores along the Pacific coast of South America. However, the nearby waters where they hunt for their food are quite chilly. They are part of the Humboldt Current, which flows north from Antarctica.

The cold waters of the Humboldt Current are the perfect temperature for ocean plants to grow. There are lots of tiny animals that love to eat these plants. There are lots of kinds of fish that love to eat those tiny animals. And if you guessed that penguins love to eat those fish, you are exactly right. This is called a food chain. Unfortunately, penguins aren’t at the top of the food chain. They can become the meal of leopard seals, fur seals, sea lions, sharks and killer whales.

Humboldt penguins are considered endangered. In addition to their natural predators, they are threatened by weather changes and humans. El Niño is a weather pattern that warms the waters of the Humboldt Current. Ocean plants do not grow as well in these warm temperatures. This means there is not enough food for the tiny animals that feed on them, and those tiny animals die. This, in turn, affects the whole food chain—there is less food for the fish and less food for the penguins and both can die from starvation.

When fish are plentiful, humans also fish for them. Once again this means there are less fish for the penguins and more fishing nets in which penguins can get caught and die. Humans also take away penguin nesting areas. Penguins like to dig their nests in guano, which humans have discovered makes good fertilizer. After humans harvest this guano, there are not as many places where Humboldt penguins are able to lay and protect their eggs.