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Foraging movements of emperor penguins at Pointe Géologie, Antarctica

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Abstract

The foraging distributions of 20 breeding emperor penguins were investigated at Pointe Géologie, Terre Adélie, Antarctica by using satellite telemetry in 2005 and 2006 during early and late winter, as well as during late spring and summer, corresponding to incubation, early chick-brooding, late chick-rearing and the adult pre-moult period, respectively. Dive depth records of three post-egg-laying females, two post-incubating males and four late chick-rearing adults were examined, as well as the horizontal space use by these birds. Foraging ranges of chick-provisioning penguins extended over the Antarctic shelf and were constricted by winter pack-ice. During spring ice break-up, the foraging ranges rarely exceeded the shelf slope, although seawater access was apparently almost unlimited. Winter females appeared constrained in their access to open water but used fissures in the sea ice and expanded their prey search effort by expanding the horizontal search component underwater. Birds in spring however, showed higher area-restricted-search than did birds in winter. Despite different seasonal foraging strategies, chick-rearing penguins exploited similar areas as indicated by both a high ‘Area-Restricted-Search Index’ and high ‘Catch Per Unit Effort’. During pre-moult trips, emperor penguins ranged much farther offshore than breeding birds, which argues for particularly profitable oceanic feeding areas which can be exploited when the time constraints imposed by having to return to a central place to provision the chick no longer apply.

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Acknowledgments

Fieldwork was logistically supported by the Institut Polaire Français Paul-Émile Victor (IPEV) and the Terres Australes and Antarctiques Françaises (TAAF). We thank the members of the 54th and 55th mission in Dumont d’Urville, and in particular our colleagues T. Raclot and A. Dervaux for their help in the field, H. Bornemann for helping with the preparation of satellite transmitters and perpetual advice and G. Rohardt for providing the software to present the satellite tracks of studied penguins. This study was approved by the Ethics committee of the French Polar Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, PO Box 120161, 27515, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Ilka Zimmer & Joachim Plötz

  2. Institute of Environmental Sustainability, School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales Swansea, Singleton Park, SA2 8PP, Swansea, Wales, UK

    Rory P. Wilson

  3. IPHC - Département Écologie, Physiologie et Éthologie, UMR7178 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Université Louis Pasteur, 23 rue Becquerel, 67087, Strasbourg, France

    Caroline Gilbert, Michaël Beaulieu & André Ancel

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  1. Ilka Zimmer
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Correspondence to Ilka Zimmer.

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Zimmer, I., Wilson, R.P., Gilbert, C. et al. Foraging movements of emperor penguins at Pointe Géologie, Antarctica. Polar Biol 31, 229–243 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-007-0352-5

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