Adelie Peguins and Emperor Penguins
Have A 100% Success Rate for Feeding
in Recent Studies
Summary written by Marshall Grant
Today, scientists from all around the world travel to the thick depths of the Antarctic to study the behaviors of the many species of animals it is home to. We know a lot about the surface interaction of penguins as part of a flock on land through camera study and in-field analysis, but never did scientists ever try to study the interaction of penguins on other organisms in the freezing antarctic waters, until now. Many recent SCUBA divers have filmed the breath taking movements of penguins under ice caps. Though many species of penguin are endangered, the question rises about their success rate while fishing.
A recent study carried out by a Japanese Research Team, have tagged and applied small long range cameras on the back of Adelie Penguins to count and gather data on feeding rates for the penguin species. The same process was carried out by an American Research Team on Emperor penguins to gather their success data. The results pooled by both teams was astonishing. Adelie Penguins were able to capture 2 krill organisms per second and 14 fish organisms every 20 seconds without failing to capture or miss its prey on the approach. The same held true for the Emperor Penguin where it went 100% catch rate in 3 hour feeding period.
Why is this important? Further study is providing us with a better understanding of the feeding behaviors of these agile birds of the Antarctic. It also generates a greater question towards the important of conservation of fish and krill species in order to preserve the Penguin population, as they play a vital role in the ecosystem of the Southern Ocean.
Connection:
Since the topic we cover is animals, a penguin fits the category. In biology class, we are better understanding how animals came to being, and the adaptations that help them accomplish such in certain environments The Penguins of the Southern Ocean are a perfect example of how big our ocean is and how little we have explored from it. Learning more from Penguins and creatures of our world's oceans will better help us as a society preserve and protect the resources and species of this great planet of ours. Further research on animals like the Penguins and what we study in biology class will open new doors to evolution, research, discovery, and innovation.
Have scientists hypothesized any possible adaptations in penguins allowing them to maintain such a high success rate?
ReplyDeleteThe most useful adaptation is the fact that, due to Penguins lack of flying ability, they make up for it in aerodynamic body space and incredible speed from movement and thrust of its flippers. The flippers act as stabilizers to move quickly in certain directions, while their hind feet are the cause for most of the locomotion at incredible speeds.
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