It could be true; those birds in the warmer waters have acquired a taste for human flesh, both food-wise as well as for satisfying their libidinous urges. G*d help Amelia and her navigator.
They say that Henry Hudson suffered the same fate when he and his crew were set adrift. A flock of northern penguins, who colonized Hudson's bay when they got lost on their annual migration flight north thousands of years ago, set upon them tooth and claw. The remnants were so appalling when they were found that the British government has kept them hidden away for more than 400 years. Someday the truth will out, and it won't be pretty.