A colony of nearly 40,000 of Adelie penguins in Antarctica suffered a catastrophic breeding season with just two chicks surviving, experts have said.

Photos of the aftermath of the tragedy show adult penguins mourning as they examine dead chicks in the Terre Adelie region in East Antarctica.

The disaster for the colony on Petrels Island was down to unusually extensive sea ice late in the summer - despite low ice early in the season - which meant penguins had to travel further for food and the chicks starved.

In the colony of about 18,000 breeding pairs in the region, scientists discovered just two surviving chicks amid thousands of starved chicks and unhatched eggs.

In the wake of the 'devastating' event, conservation group WWF is calling for greater protection for the waters off East Antarctica to ensure penguins do not face added pressure of competition from fishing fleets for their main food source of krill, a small shrimp-like crustacean.

In the colony of about 18,000 breeding pairs in the country's Terre Adelie region, scientists discovered just two surviving chicks amid thousands of starved chicks and unhatched eggs. Pictured above, an adult penguin next to a dead chick

The disaster for the colony on was down to unusually extensive sea ice late in the summer - despite low ice early in the season - which meant penguins had to travel further for food and the chicks starved. Pictured above, dead chicks on the island

Photos of the aftermath of the tragedy show adult penguins mourning as they examine dead chicks across the region

The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), made up 25 member states and the EU, are meeting on Monday to consider a proposal for a new marine protected area for the waters off East Antarctica.

A marine protected area, which would prevent krill fishing, would help to secure a future for the wildlife of East Antarctica, including Adelie and emperor penguins, WWF said.

Adelie penguins, slick and efficient swimmers, are generally faring well in East Antarctica, but declining in the Antarctic peninsula region where climate change is already established, the conservation group said.

But the same colony which failed to breed chicks this year, failed to produce a single chick four years ago from 20,196 adult pairs.

Heavy sea ice, combined with unusually warm weather and rain followed by a rapid drop in temperature, resulted in them becoming saturated and freezing to death.

WWF has been supporting penguin research by French scientists working for the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in the region since 2010.

The same colony which failed to breed chicks this year, failed to produce a single chick four years ago from 20,196 adult pairs (file photo)

Adelie penguins, slick and efficient swimmers, are generally faring well in East Antarctica, but declining in the Antarctic peninsula region where climate change is already established, the conservation group said (file photo)

Rod Downie, head of polar programmes at WWF said: 'Adelie penguins are one of the hardiest and most amazing animals on our planet.

THE ADELIE PENGUIN The Adélie penguin is a species that breeds around the entire Antarctic continent. The species is experiencing population declines along the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), which is one of the most rapidly warming places on Earth, while Adélie populations in other areas around the continent where the climate is stable or even cooling remain steady or increasing. Advertisement

'This devastating event contrasts with the Disney image that many people might have of penguins. It's more like 'Tarantino does Happy Feet', with dead penguin chicks strewn across a beach in Adelie Land.

'The risk of opening up this area to exploratory krill fisheries, which would compete with the Adelie penguins for food as they recover from two catastrophic breeding failures in four years, is unthinkable.

'So CCAMLR needs to act now by adopting a new Marine Protected Area for the waters off East Antarctica, to protect the home of the penguins.'

Yan Ropert-Coudert, senior penguin scientist at the CNRS who leads the Adelie penguin programme at Dumont D'Urville research station adjacent to the colony, said: 'The region is impacted by environmental changes that are linked to the breakup of the Mertz glacier since 2010.

The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), made up 25 member states and the EU, are meeting on Monday to consider a proposal for a new marine protected area for the waters off East Antarctica (file photo)

Hopes are high it will get the green light this time with WWF's head of polar programmes Rod Downie saying it would help secure the future for Adelie penguins (file photo)

'A marine protected area will not remedy these changes but it could prevent further impacts that direct anthropogenic pressures, such as tourism and proposed fisheries, could bring.'

Last year CCAMLR agreed to create the world's largest marine sanctuary covering more than 1.55million square kilometres (600,000 square miles) - roughly the size of Britain, Germany and France combined - in the Ross Sea area of Antarctica.

But time ran out on a second proposed protected area in East Antarctica, covering another one million square kilometre zone, where the penguins died.

Hopes are high it will get the green light this time with WWF's head of polar programmes Rod Downie saying it would help secure the future for Adelie penguins.

'The risk of opening up this area to exploratory krill fisheries, which would compete with the Adelie penguins for food as they recover from two catastrophic breeding failures in four years, is unthinkable,' he said.