July 10, 2008
(From left) Biology researchers Ginger Rebstock, Olivia Kane, Jeff Smith and Dee Boersma display Bondo, a replica penguin constructed for testing purposes.
Photo by Cliff Despeaux.
“You can see how heavy he is,” Boersma said while cradling the model penguin. “That’s why we call him Bondo — because he’s full.”
Bondo may not be a real penguin, but the real-life birds he was designed to mimic have been at the center of Boersma’s research for a quarter of a century. During a typical year, Boersma may take two or three trips to the narrow peninsula of Punta Tombo in Argentina, home to the largest colony of Magellanic penguins in South America.
Under her guidance, a small group of researchers track individual penguins and groups of penguins to collect data as part of the Magellanic Penguin Project.
Read more at the University of Washington’s The Daily.
June 22, 2008
As two major infrastructure projects get underway, the Phillip Island Nature Park is using satellite tracking devices to monitor its penguin colony for any adverse effects the projects will have on the ecosystem and the local food chain. The devices will be attached to seven Little Blues for one foraging trip and then taken off for study.
“Penguins always provide a good focal point for changes in the marine ecosystem … they are toward the top of the food chain, so any adverse effects tend to get multiplied as you go up the food chain.”
Peter Dann, Research Manager at Phillip Island Nature Park
The devices have been used on penguins before but they had never been tracked through winter which is one of their toughest times as they have to travel further to find food.
“This research is very important because we will get more detailed information on critical foraging habitats, which will help us protect and manage the habitat and help us find out more about the marine environment.”
Clare McCutcheon, Researcher
Phillip Island will be visible from the proposed site of the desalination plant and its brine output could have an impact on the penguins’ food source. They say that the penguins have some problems if the nutrient-rich waters from Antarctica fail to arrive on time.
June 10, 2008
The dead bodies of some 100 oil-stained penguins washed up on Uruguay’s southern coast, and the South American country’s naval authorities were investigating their deaths Monday. The animals are Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus Magellanicus), some 70 centimetres tall and weighing about 5 kilogrammes, the authorities said. In the South American winter, these animals, which cannot fly, swim north to southern Brazil from the Patagonian coast.
It seemed likely that the animals got caught in an oil spill that was the result of a crash last week, some 20 kilometres off Montevideo’s coast. Some 14,000 litres of fuel oil leaked into the ocean as a result of a collision between a Greek-flagged ship and a Maltese vessel. However, the connection was not immediately confirmed. Naval authorities assisted by marine fauna experts were investigating the deaths of the animals, washed ashore over a stretch of some 250 kilometres between Montevideo and Rocha.
Man, what a horrible thing to hear. On the brighter side, some of the Megallanics are being washed and cared for by SOS-Marine Life Rescue. Even so, more penguin lives could still be taken.
Photos: Reuters
[via PenguinsLand]
May 21, 2008
A Little Blue penguin chick has found a mothering surrogate after being rejected by its parents. Its parents seemed uninterested in it after it took so long for it to hatch. The penguin team at the aquarium induced the chick into hatching by chipping away small amounts of the shell so it could get out. While they tried to introduce the chick to its parents, they weren’t at all interested in raising it. Usually in the wild when an egg doesn’t hatch on time, the parents will assume it’s, well no offense intended, a dud and abandon it.
When it’s time to go home at the end of the day, New England Aquarium biologists Caitlin Hume and Heather Urquhart take turns taking the baby penguin home with them since they wouldn’t receive any care from the other penguins while they’re away. They say that the penguin is making good progress and will be introduced to the other chicks to join their creche by the end of the month.
[via PenguinsLand]
April 25, 2008
Photo Credit: markren at flickr
On the 25th of every year, the Adelie penguins in the Antarctic begin their annual northward migration. The Adelies start migrating in the Antarctic fall season and won’t return to their colonies until the following spring. In true synchronized fashion, the Adelies dive into the frigid waters answering their Nature’s call to migrate.
They will swim north for only a few hundred miles (around 600km) and stay among icebergs that are floating about, feasting on krill and other penguin delicacies.
So really, these penguins don’t actually go anywhere when they migrate. They’ll bob around in the ocean and rest on the ice until it’s time to head back home to Antarctica.
Actually, the reason they do this is because the days in Antarctica are becoming darker during this time of year. Adelies do not see too well in the dark so they migrate north so they can hunt for food, otherwise they would starve.
Have a wonderful Penguin Day and try to do something penguinish, whether it be reading more about them, go to the zoo or aquarium, or maybe buying up hordes of penguin merchandise.
April 24, 2008
It would seem that a Little Blue has come a long way to visit its distant Blackfooted cousins! A juvenile Fairy penguin was found stranded at Cape Henderson a few weeks ago by a local resident, one Arina Bernstein. Little Blues are only found natively in southern Australia and New Zealand so how this little guy made it all the way to Africa is quite a feat! I’d be very interested to know this penguin’s story.
“It’s half the adult size of our only endemic penguin – the African penguin. This is possibly a first recording along the South African coast for the species … It won’t be available for public viewing until authorities are happy it won’t spread any diseases or have any harmful effect on any of our local species.”
- Kevin Cole, Scientist at the East London Museum in South Africa
[via PenguinsLand]
