Eastern rockhopper penguin on the sub-Antarctic islands of the Indo-Pacific Ocean: Prince Edward, Crozet, Kerguelen, Heard, Macquarie, Campbell, Auckland, and the Antipodes Islands. Eastern rockhopper penguin The eastern rockhopper penguin ("Eudyptes chrysocome filholi") although genetically different is still often considered a subspecies of the southern rockhopper penguin. This species of penguin is also known to be one of the smallest species of penguins they are approximately 45–55 cm in length, and weighing 2.2–4.3 kg. The adult eastern rockhopper penguins feed on small fish, octopus, squid, and krill-like crustaceans. The rockhopper penguin "Eudyptes chrysocome" is sometimes considered two species, northern and southern rockhopper penguin,
Northern rockhopper penguin drop in the population at Gough Island has been described as equivalent to the loss of 100 birds every day since the 1950s. A study published in 2009 showed that the world population of the northern rockhopper had declined by 90% since the 1950s, possibly because of climate change, changes in marine ecosystems and overfishing for squid and octopus by humans. Other possible factors in the decline include disturbance and pollution from ecotourism and fishing, egg-harvesting, and predation and competition from subantarctic fur seals ("Arctocephalus tropicalis"). Surveys show that the birds are at risk of infection by goose barnacles. House