Habitat use and diving behaviour of macaroni Eudyptes chrysolophus and eastern rockhopper E. chrysocome filholi penguins during the critical pre-moult period

• Published in: Marine Biology
• Main Authors: Whitehead, T. O., Kato, Akiko, Ropert‐Coudert, Yan, Ryan, Peter G.
• Other Authors: DST/NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town-Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie (DEPE-IPHC), Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC), Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2016
• Subjects: [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Eudyptes chrysolophus; Marion Island
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01291873; https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-015-2794-6

International audience After the breeding season, penguins mustreplenish body condition and accumulate sufficient energystores before their annual moult ashore; failure to do somay lead to starvation. Knowing where and how adultpenguins find adequate resources during this energy-intensivestage is vital to understanding their susceptibility toecosystem changes. GPS and TDR loggers were used totrack movements and record diving behaviour of macaroniEudyptes chrysolophus and eastern rockhopper E. chrysocomefilholi penguins from Marion Island (46°S, 37°E)during the pre-moult foraging trip in 2012, 2013 and 2014.Both species consistently travelled in a southerly directionto forage in cooler (~3.5 °C) Antarctic Zone waters southof the Antarctic Polar Front where they associated withmesoscale eddies and sub-mesoscale filaments. Dives werepredominantly to depths of 30 to 60 m, but macaroni penguinsdived deeper more often. Mean trip durations of both species were similar (33 ± 6 days), but maximum foragingranges of macaroni penguins (903 ± 165 km) were greaterthan eastern rockhopper penguins (696 ± 152 km). Spatialoverlap of core foraging areas between species was high,but a 2- to 3-week difference in departure dates reducedpotential interspecific competition at sea. Trip durationswere longer in 2014 compared to 2013, when decreasedproductivity may have reduced prey availability, forcingpenguins to remain longer at sea. Continued monitoring isvital to understand how crested penguins at Marion Islandadapt to the predicted southward shift of major frontalboundaries.