Little penguins take big journeys

By ROSA STUDHOLME - The Timaru Herald

Last updated 05:00 01/09/2010

Oamaru's little blue penguins journey as far as 50 kilometres out to sea in search of food, researchers have discovered.
The Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony employed biologist Philippa Agnew this year to carry out a three-year research project looking at where the penguins journey to on their quest for food and what they do.
Ten time-depth recorders and 10 GPS units were attached to penguins in the colony to record the data used in the research.
Colony manager Jason Gaskill said one surprising result from the research was how far the penguins swim. "One swam in a straight line ... 50km from here, which is a little bit further than we'd expected," he said.
"They're very mobile little things ... their foraging ground is pretty vast, which is good. It's a pretty healthy sign."
The research would provide valuable documented evidence of the penguins' movements, he said.
"We've always had a rough idea, but now we've got it pretty much pinpointed."
The research also showed the penguins dive 20 metres deep around 700 to 800 times a day.
"So they're pretty active," Mr Gaskill said.
He said the research was still in its early days in terms of data gathering.
He hoped more research projects would be done at the colony.
"We've always collected data here and we've always kept a massive database of stuff ... what we're trying to do now is establish a systematic approach."
He expected smaller projects to come out of Ms Agnew's research.
"By the end of the year we'd expect to have a reasonably well-established research reputation."
The most up-to-date figures, as at August 25, showed there were around 180 adult penguins in the colony. There were also 194 eggs, one chick and about 100 breeding pairs.
Mr Gaskill said definite breeding pair numbers would be established this month.
"Over the next couple of weeks we'll have a much better idea of how many breeding pairs we have active in the colony."
Ms Agnew started her research around three months ago. Her work will go towards a PhD in marine biology.
The project is set down for three years so it can document three complete breeding cycles.

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