Penguins as oceanographers unravel hidden mechanisms of marine productivity
International audience A recent concept for investigating marine ecosystems is to employ diving predators as cost-effective, autonomous samplers of environmental parameters (such as sea-temperature). Using king penguins during their foraging trips at sea, we obtained an unprecedented high resolution...
| Published in: | Ecology Letters |
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Other Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
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HAL CCSD
2002
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-03692381 https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1461-0248.2002.00341.x |
| Summary: | International audience A recent concept for investigating marine ecosystems is to employ diving predators as cost-effective, autonomous samplers of environmental parameters (such as sea-temperature). Using king penguins during their foraging trips at sea, we obtained an unprecedented high resolution temperature map at depth off the Kerguelen Islands, Southern Ocean, a poorly sampled but productive area. We found clear evidence of a previously unknown subsurface tongue of cold water, flowing along the eastern shelf break. These new results provide a better understanding of regional water circulation and help explain the high primary productivity above the Kerguelen Plateau. |
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