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"On Christmas Day I'll head over to Gourlay Peninsula on the south-east shores of the island to carry out the almost daily checks on the chinstrap and Adelie penguin colonies to monitor productivity," he said.

Scientists have revealed a 43% decline in a large Adélie penguin population off the east Antarctic coast over the past decade.

"And whenever we've seen sea ice declining or disappearing altogether, then we're seeing corresponding Adelie penguin populations decline substantially."

It is only the third recorded incident of an Adélie penguin being found on New Zealand's coast.

Mr Stracke was shocked to find that the penguin was an Adélie penguin - a species that lives exclusively on the Antarctic peninsula.