INVESTIGADORES
RAYA REY Andrea Nelida
artículos
Título:
Diving patterns of breeding female rockhopper penguins (Eudyptes chrysocome): Noir Island, Chile
Autor/es:
RAYA REY A; K PÜTZ; LUNA JORQUERA G; B LÜTHI; SCHIAVINI A
Revista:
POLAR BIOLOGY
Editorial:
Springer
Referencias:
Año: 2009 vol. 32 p. 561 - 568
ISSN:
0722-4060
Resumen:
Abstract The diving behaviour of female southern rockhopper
penguins (Eudyptes chrysocome) was studied at
Noir Island (54°30´S73°00´W), Chile, in the southeast
Pacific Ocean. This isolated island is located at the edge of
the continental shelf in an area where the Humboldt Current
originates, and holds a population of more than 150,000
breeding pairs. On 13 December 2005, four TDRs were
successfully attached to females at the end of the brooding
period and recorded diving activity at intervals of 2 s over
the next 4 weeks. In total, 40 complete foraging trips were
recorded. Trip duration was on average 42.4 § 40.1 h and
the proportion of overnight trips (60%) was the highest
value found so far for this species. Mean dive depth and
dive duration was 20.6 § 19.4 m and 63.7 § 36.4 s, respectively.
The diving effort was higher than that of brooding
females from the Indian Ocean and comparable with that of
conspecifics from colonies in the southwest Atlantic in
terms of diving rate (38 § 14.2 dives h¡1), but slightly
lower as regards the proportion of time spent underwater
(61 § 10.5%). This study conWrms that the diving behaviour
of rockhopper penguins varies as a function of the
physical and biological characteristics of the foraging areas
and of the particular stage of the breeding season.