Penguins as oceanographers unravel hidden mechanisms of marine productivity

• Published in: Ecology Letters
• Main Authors: Charrassin, Jean-Benoit, Park, young-Hyang, Maho, yvon Le, Bost, Charles-André
• Other Authors: Centre d'écologie et physiologie énergétiques (CEPE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2002
• Subjects: [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-GEO-PH]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]; Southern Ocean; Kerguelen; Kerguelen Islands; King Penguins
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03692381; https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1461-0248.2002.00341.x

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.