Penguin Stories

Sea eagle snacks (a researcher’s tale).
A team of penguin researchers were camping on a remote windy island in the Great Australian Bight. They were placing tiny satellite trackers on specially selected adult penguins to track their movements. The researchers had no idea where the birds would swim to find fish for their chicks.  On the first day the brave little birds headed out to sea through wintry squalls and rough weather.  Data came back from the satellites many miles above telling them that most birds had headed out more than 30 km and on the second day many had reached 60km. These distances surprised the researchers because this was a huge effort for a 1 kg bird.  Most penguins began to head back towards their chicks the next day, but one did not.  The research team did not get any satellite signal from this bird for a whole day.  What could have happened? The next day the bird was over 120km away! The researchers were quite amazed at the distance this little feathered torpedo had reached, but it soon became evident that the bird was at the end of its journey because it did not move for four weeks, after which the tracker’s battery failed.  The penguin must have climbed onto an island and unfortunately come to a sticky end. 

Some weeks later, the scientists were out on a large research boat and happened to pass near the island where the penguin had met with misfortune.  As the boat neared, the island appeared like a tower with steep sides, which was constantly being pounded by ferocious waves.  The researchers scratched their heads, how could a little penguin, as determined as they are, climb ashore through the rough swell and then scale these huge cliffs?  The boat slowly rocked around the island, searching for a place where the team could land.  The skipper had to shake his head, there was no way the boat could get close enough in such rough conditions.  So out came the binoculars, one, two, and three.  Big black eye lenses searched the island from the back deck. The researchers wished for answers to the story of their little friend. Suddenly a flash of white swooped overhead and a great white-bellied sea eagle eyed the people below.  The eagle sped towards the island’s flat limestone top, where it stalled and landed expertly. After ruffling his wing feathers into place, he stood like a king as his head swung to the right.  What was he gazing at? The three binoculars followed his stare.  He was looking at his mate, who was stooped not 30m away, with a collection of carcasses scattered at her feet.  Using a GPS, the researchers determined that she was, infact standing exactly where our little feathered friend’s tracker had signalled the satellites for a month. 

The last signal the penguin’s tracker had given was 76 km from its colony, and within 24 hours, the bird was on a distant island as part of a bittersweet link in the food chain.  Where did the sea eagle find this meal? Could the eagle have carried a penguin the whole 40km to its nest, we will never know. But this little penguin’s tracks have helped us understand how predator and prey can become linked over such a large expanse of ocean.