First observations of emperor penguins on Horseshoe Island, Antarctica

Sinan Yirmibesoglu; Burcu Ozsoy

doi:10.33265/polar.v42.9556

Sinan Yirmibesoglu Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye, Polar Research Institute, Kocaeli, Türkiye https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2328-5243
Burcu Ozsoy Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye, Polar Research Institute, Kocaeli, Türkiye; and Maritime Faculty, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Türkiye https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4320-1796

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v42.9556

Keywords: Aptenodytes forsteri, sea ice, Antarctic Peninsula, Maguerite Island, moult, ice-dependent species

Abstract

This note reports observations of two moulting emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) on Horseshoe Island, West Antarctica, during the Seventh Turkish Antarctic Expedition in February 2023. This is the first time this species has been documented on this island. Emperor penguins largely depend on fast-ice to breed and moult. The Antarctic Peninsula hosts few emperor penguin colonies. Horseshoe Island has become one of the northernmost points along the western Antarctic Peninsula where emperor penguins are documented to moult.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Barbraud C. & Weimerskirch H. 2001. Emperor penguins and climate change. Nature 411, 183–186, doi: 10.1038/35075554.

BirdLife International 2020. Aptenodytes forsteri. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020. Accessed on the internet at https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22697752A157658053.en on 27 March 2023.

Burger J. & Gochfeld M. 2007. Responses of emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) to encounters with ecotourists while commuting to and from their breeding colony. Polar Biology 30, 1303–1313, doi: 10.1007/s00300-007-0291-1.

Cook J. & Furneaux T. 1777. A voyage towards the South Pole, and round the world: performed in His Majesty’s ships the Resolution and Adventure, in the years 1772, 1773, 1774, and 1775. Vols. 1 & 2. 2nd edn. London: W. Strahan and T. Cadell.

Copernicus Open Access Hub 2023. Copernicus Sentinel-2 data, processed by ESA 2002. Accessed on the internet at https://scihub.copernicus.eu/on 26 March 2023.

Coria N.R. & Montalti D. 2000. A newly discovered breeding colony of emperor penguins Aptenodytes forsteri. Marine Ornithology 28, 119–120.

Croxall J.P. & Davis L.S. 1999. Penguins: paradoxes and patterns. Marine Ornithology 27, 1–12.

Fretwell P.T. & Trathan P.N. 2009. Penguins from space: faecal stains reveal the location of emperor penguin colonies. Global Ecology and Biogeography 18, 543–552, doi: 10.1111/j.1466-8238.2009.00467.x.

Fretwell P.T. & Trathan P.N. 2021. Discovery of new colonies by Sentinel2 reveals good and bad news for emperor penguins. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation 7, 139–153, doi: 10.1002/rse2.176.

Fretwell P.T., Trathan P.N., Wienecke B. & Kooyman G.L. 2014. Emperor penguins breeding on iceshelves. PLoS One 9, article no. e85285, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0085285.

Jenouvrier S., Caswell H., Barbraud C., Holland M., Strœve J. & Weimerskirch H. 2009. Demographic models and IPCC climate projections predict the decline of an emperor penguin population. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106, 1844–1847, doi: 10.1073/pnas.0806638106.

Kooyman G.L., Hunke E.C., Ackley S.F., van Dam R.P. & Robertson G. 2000. Moult of the emperor penguin: travel, location, and habitat selection. Marine Ecology Progress Series 204, 269–277, doi: 10.3354/meps204269.

Kooyman G.L., Siniff D.B., Stirling I. & Bengtson J.L. 2004. Moult habitat, pre- and post-moult diet and post-moult travel of Ross Sea emperor penguins. Marine Ecology Progress Series 267, 281–290, doi: 10.3354/meps267281.

Lavergne T., Kern S., Aaboe S., Derby L., Dybkjaer G., Garric G., Heil P., Hendricks S., Holfort J., Howell S., Key J., Lieser J.L., Maksym T., Maslowski W., Meier W., Muñoz-Sabater J., Nicolas J., Özsoy B., Rabe B., Rack W., Raphael M., de Rosnay P., Smolyanitsky V., Tietsche S., Ukita J., Vichi MJ., Wagner P., Willmes S. & Zhao X. 2022. A new structure for the sea ice essential climate variables of the Global Climate Observing System. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 103, E1502–E1521, doi: 10.1175/BAMS-D-21-0227.1.

Matsuoka K., Skoglund A., Roth G., de Pomereu J., Griffiths H., Headland R., Herried B., Katsumata K., Le Brocq A., Licht K., Morgan F., Neff P.D., Ritz C., Scheinert M., Tamura T., Van de Putte A., van den Broeke M., von Deschwanden A., Deschamps-Berger C., Van Liefferinge B., Tronstad S. & Melvær Y. 2021. Quantarctica, an integrated mapping environment for Antarctica, the Southern Ocean, and sub-Antarctic islands. Environmental Modelling & Software 140, article no. 105015, doi: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2021.105015.

NASA Worldview 2022. Corrected reflectance True Color (bands 1-4-3). Accessed on the internet at https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov/ on 26 March 2023.

Newman L., Heil P., Trebilco R., Katsumata K., Constable A., van Wijk E., Assmann K., Beja J., Bricher P., Colemans R., Costa D., Diggs S., Farnet R., Fawcett S., Gille S.T., Hendry K.R., Henley S., Hofmann E., Maksym T., Mazloff M., Meijers A., Meredith M.M., Moreau S., Ozsor B., Robertson R., Schloss I., Schofield O., Shi J.X., Sikes E., Smith I.J., Swart S., Wahlin A., Williams G., Williams M.J.M., Herraiz-Borreguero L., Kern S., Liesers J., Massom R.A., Melbourne-Thomas J., Miloslavich P. & Spreen G. 2019. Delivering sustained, coordinated, and integrated observations of the Southern Ocean for global impact. Frontiers in Marine Science 6, article no. 433, doi: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00433

Pacoureau N., Delord K., Jenouvrier S. & Barbraud C. 2019. Demographic and population responses of an apex predator to climate and its prey: a long‐term study of south polar skuas. Ecological Monographs 89, e01388, doi: 10.1002/ecm.1388.

Schiel R., Güpner F. & Spitzenberger H.J. 2019. Population size and condition of the emperor penguin Aptenodytes forsteri colony of Snow Hill Island, Weddell Sea, Antarctica: observations from 29 December 2018. Marine Ornithology 47, 189–192.

Stonehouse B. 1953. The emperor penguin Aptenodytes forsteri Gray. I. Breeding behavior and development. Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey Scientific Reports 6. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.

Thiebot J.B., Lescroël A., Barbraud C. & Bost C.A. 2013. Three-dimensional use of marine habitats by juvenile emperor penguins Aptenodytes forsteri during post-natal dispersal. Antarctic Science 25, 536–544, doi: 10.1017/S0954102012001198.

Trathan P.N., Fretwell P.T. & Stonehouse B. 2011. First recorded loss of an emperor penguin colony in the recent period of Antarctic regional warming: implications for other colonies. PLoS One 6, article no. e14738, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0014738.

Wienecke B. 2010. The history of the discovery of emperor penguin colonies, 1902–2004. Polar Record 46, 271–276, doi: 10.1017/S0032247409990283.

Yirmibesoglu S., Oktar O. & Ozsoy B. 2022. Review of scientific research conducted in Horseshoe Island where potential place for Turkish Antarctic Base. International Journal of Environment and Geoinformatics 9, 11–23, doi: 10.30897/ijegeo.1018913.

Younger J.L., Clucas G.V., Kao D., Rogers A.D., Gharbi K., Hart T. & Miller K.J. 2017. The challenges of detecting subtle population structure and its importance for the conservation of emperor penguins. Molecular Ecology 26, 3883–3897, doi: 10.1111/mec.14172.