Abstract
An unusual mortality event among adult Adélie penguins was observed during November 2001 at breeding colonies in the vicinity of the Australian Antarctic Station of Mawson (67°36′17″S, 62° 52′15″E). The circumstances surrounding this event originally suggested infectious disease as the cause. Although this turned out to be not the case, investigations proceeded as if it were.
This case study sets out the field and clinical investigations undertaken and examines the likely cause of death. Reference is made to steps taken by the Australian Antarctic Division to be better prepared for and respond to any future unusual mortality event among Antarctica’s bird and seal populations.
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References
Australia (2002) Draft Response Plan in the Event that Unusual Animal Deaths are Discovered. XXV ATCM/CEP V Information Paper, IP62
CCAMLR (2004) CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Program: Standard Methods for Monitoring Studies. CCAMLR, Hobart, Australia
Irvine L, Clarke J, Kerry K (2000) Low breeding success of the Adélie penguin at Béchervaise Island in the 1998/99 season. CCAMLR. Science 7:151–167
Kerry K, Clarke J, Else G (1993) The use of an automated weighing and recording system for the study of the biology of Adélie penguins Pygoscelis adeliae. Proc NIPR Symp Polar Biol 6:62–75
Acknowledgements
We thank all the staff at Mawson Station for their understanding and forbearance in refraining from visiting the Adélie penguin colonies over the summer breeding period while being willing to help when required.
We thank veterinary pathologists Dr John Bingham, CSIRO AAHL, and Dr David Obendorf, Tasmania, for undertaking post-mortem examinations. We thank Hugh Jones for suggesting improvements to the manuscript. The Australian Antarctic Division is thanked for permission to publish its response plan (reproduced as Appendix F, this volume) and CCAMLR for permission to publish ‘Protocols for the Protocols for the collection of samples for pathological analysis in the event of disease being suspected among monitored species of birds’ (reproduced as Appendix A, this volume).
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Kerry, K.R., Irvine, L., Beggs, A., Watts, J. (2009). An Unusual Mortality Event Among Adélie Penguins in the Vicinity of Mawson Station, Antarctica. In: Kerry, K.R., Riddle, M. (eds) Health of Antarctic Wildlife. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-93923-8_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-93923-8_6
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