Three-dimensional temperature fields of the North Patagonian Sea recorded by Magellanic penguins as biological sampling platforms

SALA, JUAN E.; JUAN P. PISONI; FLAVIO QUINTANA

Congreso; Ornithological Congress of the Americas; 2017

Temperature is a primary determinant of biogeographic patterns and ecosystemprocesses. Standard techniques to study the ocean temperature in situ are, however,particularly limited by their time and spatial coverage, problems which might be partiallymitigated by using marine top predators as biological platforms for oceanographicsampling. We used small archival tags deployed on 33 Magellanic penguins (Spheniscusmagellanicus), and obtained 21,070 geo-localized profiles of water temperature, duringlate spring of 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2013; in a region of the North Patagonian Sea withlimited oceanographic records in situ. We compared our in situ data of sea surfacetemperature (SST) with those available from satellite remote sensing; to describe thethree-dimensional temperature fields around the area of influence of two importanttidal frontal systems; and to study the inter-annual variation in the three-dimensionaltemperature fields. There was a strong positive relationship between satellite- andanimal-derived SST data although there was an overestimation by remote-sensing by amaximum difference of +2 °C. Little inter-annual variability in the 3-dimensionaltemperature fields was found, with the exception of 2012 (and to a lesser extent in 2013)where the SST was significantly higher. This allowed us to describe and betterunderstand the dynamics of the water masses, which, so far, have been mainly studiedby remote sensors and numerical models. Our results highlight again the potential ofusing marine top predators as biological platforms to collect oceanographic data, whichwill enhance and accelerate studies on the Southwest Atlantic Ocean.