Autonomous Gliders Reveal Features of the Water Column Associated with Foraging by Adelie Penguins
Despite their strong dependence on the pelagic environment, seabirds and other top predators in polar marine ecosystems are generally studied during their reproductive phases in terrestrial environments. As a result, a significant portion of their life history is understudied which in turn has led t...
Published in: | Integrative and Comparative Biology |
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fthighwire:oai:open-archive.highwire.org:icbiol:50/6/1041 2023-05-15T14:02:57+02:00 Autonomous Gliders Reveal Features of the Water Column Associated with Foraging by Adelie Penguins Kahl, L. Alex Schofield, Oscar Fraser, William R. 2010-12-01 00:00:00.0 text/html http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/50/6/1041 https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icq098 en eng Oxford University Press http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/50/6/1041 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icb/icq098 Copyright (C) 2010, The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Advances in Antarctic Marine Biology TEXT 2010 fthighwire https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icq098 2010-11-20T21:17:19Z Despite their strong dependence on the pelagic environment, seabirds and other top predators in polar marine ecosystems are generally studied during their reproductive phases in terrestrial environments. As a result, a significant portion of their life history is understudied which in turn has led to limited understanding. Recent advances in autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) technologies have allowed satellite-tagged Adélie penguins to guide AUV surveys of the marine environment at the Palmer Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site on the western Antarctic Peninsula. Near real-time data sent via Iridium satellites from the AUVs to a centralized control center thousands of miles away allowed scientists to adapt AUV sampling strategies to meet the changing conditions of the subsurface. Such AUV data revealed the water masses and fine-scale features associated with Adélie penguin foraging trips. During this study, the maximum concentration of chlorophyll was between 30 and 50 m deep. Encompassing this peak in the chlorophyll concentration, within the water-column, was a mixture of nutrient-laden Upper Circumpolar Deep (UCDW) and western Antarctic Peninsula winter water (WW). Together, data from the AUV survey and penguin dives reveal that 54% of foraging by Adélie penguins occurs immediately below the chlorophyll maximum. These data demonstrate how bringing together emerging technologies, such as AUVs, with established methods such as the radio-tagging of penguins can provide powerful tools for monitoring and hypothesis testing of previously inaccessible ecological processes. Ocean and atmosphere temperatures are expected to continue increasing along the western Antarctic Peninsula, which will undoubtedly affect regional marine ecosystems. New and emerging technologies such as unmanned underwater vehicles and individually mounted satellite tracking devices will provide the tools critical to documenting and understanding the widespread ecological change expected in polar regions. Text Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula HighWire Press (Stanford University) Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Integrative and Comparative Biology 50 6 1041 1050 |
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Open Polar |
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HighWire Press (Stanford University) |
op_collection_id |
fthighwire |
language |
English |
topic |
Advances in Antarctic Marine Biology |
spellingShingle |
Advances in Antarctic Marine Biology Kahl, L. Alex Schofield, Oscar Fraser, William R. Autonomous Gliders Reveal Features of the Water Column Associated with Foraging by Adelie Penguins |
topic_facet |
Advances in Antarctic Marine Biology |
description |
Despite their strong dependence on the pelagic environment, seabirds and other top predators in polar marine ecosystems are generally studied during their reproductive phases in terrestrial environments. As a result, a significant portion of their life history is understudied which in turn has led to limited understanding. Recent advances in autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) technologies have allowed satellite-tagged Adélie penguins to guide AUV surveys of the marine environment at the Palmer Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site on the western Antarctic Peninsula. Near real-time data sent via Iridium satellites from the AUVs to a centralized control center thousands of miles away allowed scientists to adapt AUV sampling strategies to meet the changing conditions of the subsurface. Such AUV data revealed the water masses and fine-scale features associated with Adélie penguin foraging trips. During this study, the maximum concentration of chlorophyll was between 30 and 50 m deep. Encompassing this peak in the chlorophyll concentration, within the water-column, was a mixture of nutrient-laden Upper Circumpolar Deep (UCDW) and western Antarctic Peninsula winter water (WW). Together, data from the AUV survey and penguin dives reveal that 54% of foraging by Adélie penguins occurs immediately below the chlorophyll maximum. These data demonstrate how bringing together emerging technologies, such as AUVs, with established methods such as the radio-tagging of penguins can provide powerful tools for monitoring and hypothesis testing of previously inaccessible ecological processes. Ocean and atmosphere temperatures are expected to continue increasing along the western Antarctic Peninsula, which will undoubtedly affect regional marine ecosystems. New and emerging technologies such as unmanned underwater vehicles and individually mounted satellite tracking devices will provide the tools critical to documenting and understanding the widespread ecological change expected in polar regions. |
format |
Text |
author |
Kahl, L. Alex Schofield, Oscar Fraser, William R. |
author_facet |
Kahl, L. Alex Schofield, Oscar Fraser, William R. |
author_sort |
Kahl, L. Alex |
title |
Autonomous Gliders Reveal Features of the Water Column Associated with Foraging by Adelie Penguins |
title_short |
Autonomous Gliders Reveal Features of the Water Column Associated with Foraging by Adelie Penguins |
title_full |
Autonomous Gliders Reveal Features of the Water Column Associated with Foraging by Adelie Penguins |
title_fullStr |
Autonomous Gliders Reveal Features of the Water Column Associated with Foraging by Adelie Penguins |
title_full_unstemmed |
Autonomous Gliders Reveal Features of the Water Column Associated with Foraging by Adelie Penguins |
title_sort |
autonomous gliders reveal features of the water column associated with foraging by adelie penguins |
publisher |
Oxford University Press |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/50/6/1041 https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icq098 |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula |
op_relation |
http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/50/6/1041 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icb/icq098 |
op_rights |
Copyright (C) 2010, The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icq098 |
container_title |
Integrative and Comparative Biology |
container_volume |
50 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
1041 |
op_container_end_page |
1050 |
_version_ |
1766273409373700096 |