Penguins annual migration to be mapped via satellite

University of Washington scientists plan to attach satellite-tracking devices to the backs of six penguins treated at two centres in northern Argentina after their feathers were fouled with oil, in a bid to have a better understanding of the birds annual migration from their winter feeding grounds back to their breeding colonies along the southern Argentina coast and the Falkland Islands.

Washington, Aug 7 : University of Washington scientists plan to attach satellite-tracking devices to the backs of six penguins treated at two centres in northern Argentina after their feathers were fouled with oil, in a bid to have a better understanding of the bird's annual migration from their winter feeding grounds back to their breeding colonies along the southern Argentina coast and the Falkland Islands.

"We know what happens when they leave the breeding grounds but we don't know what happens on the return trip. We're missing that information," said Elizabeth Skewgar, a University of Washington doctoral student in biology.

"We want to model the energy requirements for these birds so that we understand what it takes to return to the breeding grounds and still have enough energy to reproduce," she said.

The researchers plan to release the birds into the Atlantic Ocean and trace their movements using satellites and the Internet.

"We need to know how penguins use the ocean so we can make their migration route safe through a combination of national marine parks, marine protected areas and ocean zoning," said UW biology professor, Dee Boersma, who has been heading the Magellanic Penguin Project at Punta Tombo, Argentina for the last 25 years.

Punta Tombo is the birds' largest breeding colony in South America.

During the week of Aug. 20, the scientists will select six adult male penguins from rehabilitation centres at San Clemente del Tuyu and Mar del Plata, coastal towns more than 500 miles north of Punta Tombo.

Using epoxy and special tape, they will attach a transmitter to each bird before releasing it into the Atlantic.

The tags are about the size of many common cellular telephones and weigh less than 3.5 ounces.

"We want to put the transmitters on healthy, robust birds that we think are likely to get back and start breeding. The point is to follow them back to their colony and see where they might be running into petroleum," said Prof. Boersma.

The scientists plan to track the birds' movement through late October using the Argos satellite system, operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the French space agency.

A satellite will pass overhead every two hours and chart the penguins' positions; then transmit the information back to the researchers, who will use it to update a public tracking map on the Internet at http://www.penguinstudies.org.

Prof. Boersma said the transmitters would remain active for 36 hours at a stretch, and then switch off for the same duration in order to preserve the two double-A batteries in each transmitter to last the life of the project.

ANI