Movements of foraging king penguins through marine mesoscale eddies

• Published in: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
• Main Authors: Cotté, Cédric, Park, Young-Hyang, Guinet, Christophe, Bost, Charles-André
• Other Authors: Centre d'études biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2007
• Subjects: oceanographic features; fronts; marine currents; foraging; mesoscale eddies; king penguin; envir; geo; King Penguins
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2007.0775; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00182821

International audience Despite increasing evidence that marine predators associate with mesoscale eddies, how these marine features influence foraging movements is still unclear. This study investigates the relationship of at-sea movements of king penguins to mesoscale eddies using oceanographic remote sensing and movement data from43individual trips over 4 years. Simultaneous satellite measurements provided information on gradients of sea surface temperature and currents associated with eddies determined from altimetry. Penguins tended to swim rapidly with currents as they traveled towards foraging zones. Swimming speed indicative of foraging occurred within mesoscale fronts and strong currents associated with eddies at the Polar Front. These results demonstrate the importance of mesoscale eddies in directing foraging efforts to allow predators to rapidly get to rich areas where high concentrations of prey are likely to be encountered.When returning to the colony to relieve the incubating partner or to feed the chick, the birds followed a direct and rapid path, seemingly ignoring currents.