Abstract
During austral spring 2000, the diet of Gentoo penguins, Pygoscelis papua, was studied and compared to prey availability, assessed by trawl and plankton surveys, in waters adjacent to a number of colonies along the coast of West Falkland. There was good agreement in size and abundance of key prey species in the penguin diet and from the plankton and trawl surveys. The diet of birds breeding adjacent to shallow sheltered waters was dominated by demersal species, in particular crustaceans, Munida spp. whilst birds breeding adjacent to deeper exposed waters generally preyed upon pelagic species of fish, Falkland herring Sprattus fuegensis and squid, Moroteuthis ingens. Gentoo penguins generally foraged at depths of up to 30 m, relatively close to the coast, and illustrated a certain degree of selection of prey species where possible, thus providing evidence that they are not fully opportunistic predators.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank FIFD scientists and crewmembers of FPRV Dorada and Sigma for their generous help in conducting this study, and the Director of Fisheries, John Barton and Fortuna Ltd for supporting this work, and Dr. Paul Brickle (FIFD) for valuable consultations related to the statistical analysis.
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Clausen, A.P., Arkhipkin, A.I., Laptikhovsky, V.V. et al. What is out there: diversity in feeding of gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) around the Falkland Islands (Southwest Atlantic). Polar Biol 28, 653–662 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-005-0738-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-005-0738-1