The Penguin Files - Study Cracks Penguin Mystery

All dressed up, and penguins do have a place to go.

For years, zoologists have been trying to figure out where these land-and-sea birds jet off to during their long spells away from home. And now, some French scientists think they've solved the penguin mystery. So where's the secret hideout? The southern Indian Ocean.

A team of scientists from the National Centre for Scientific Research attached tiny monitoring devices (weighing less than an ounce) to the legs of a dozen macaroni penguins just in time for their annual voyage, according to a story on Yahoo! News via the Agence France-Presse.

At the onset of winter, the unsuspecting penguins left the Kerguelen Islands with monitors in tow. The devices tracked location, ambient light and water temperature for six months until the birds returned to Kerguelen to breed.

The birds headed east to the southern Indian Ocean, clocking an average of 8,930 miles during their six months away. 80% of their time was spent between 47 and 49 degrees latitude south, where they gorged on lobsters, shrimps, crabs, and other crustaceans. Come rush hour (the final weeks of migration) the birds covered 1,108 miles in just one month.

This information is priceless to scientists. Macaroni penguins are the most numerous penguin species but their population is thought to be on the decline. Charles-Andre Bost, who led the study, says the findings pinpoint the penguins' key feeding grounds and will help in conservation efforts.

Source

Tags: charles-andre-bost, french, indian-ocean, mystery, penguins, study