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Humboldt Penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) in the Northern Hemisphere
Abstract
Penguins, Southern Hemisphere birds, were introduced to the Northern Hemisphere several times in the 1930s. None of the four species introduced became established but some individuals survived for at least a decade. Humboldt Penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) were observed in waters off the west coast of North America several times in the 1970s and 1980s and one was caught in a fishing net in Alaska in 2002. Penguins theoretically might be able to swim to suitable habitat in the Northern Hemisphere, but we argue the most likely explanation for their arrival in the Pacific Northwest was by fishing boat.
... Island, British Columbia; 1985 off the Washington coast; and 2002 off Noyes Island, Alaska (Fig. 2). In May and June 1984, an additional single adult Humboldt Penguin was recorded at Willoughby Rock during weekly shore based seabird and marine mammal counts of the area (Speich and others 1987), which was not included in the Van Buren and Boersma (2007) summary. Van Buren and Boersma (2007) presented compelling arguments to suggest the observations of Humboldt Penguins in the northern hemisphere summarized in their paper were likely the result of penguins being transplanted illegally by fishing boats in the 1970s. ...
... In May and June 1984, an additional single adult Humboldt Penguin was recorded at Willoughby Rock during weekly shore based seabird and marine mammal counts of the area (Speich and others 1987), which was not included in the Van Buren and Boersma (2007) summary. Van Buren and Boersma (2007) presented compelling arguments to suggest the observations of Humboldt Penguins in the northern hemisphere summarized in their paper were likely the result of penguins being transplanted illegally by fishing boats in the 1970s. The passage of the Magnuson-Stevens Act in 1976 reduced or even eliminated the possibility of illegal transplanting of penguins from South America on fishing vessels. ...
... Occasionally an individual or small group will appear in the wild after being transported and released by fishing vessels, such as a Humboldt penguin found in Alaska in 2002 by a fisherman. However, in captivity they have thrived, becoming one of the most common species of penguin in zoos and aquariums worldwide (Van Buren and Boersma 2007). The question becomes, under otherwise healthy conditions in captivity, with the ability to adapt physiologically to the new environment, do the feeding behaviors of the penguins adapt to the new system and result in a dominance structure? ...
In the field of ecology, complex social structures, including dominance hierarchies, have been demonstrated in a variety of fauna, including bird species. While wild Humboldt Penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) do not exhibit a feeding hierarchy, captive penguins are under very different conditions. Humboldt penguins feed on schooling fish in the wild, but in captivity are hand fed from a zookeeper. I investigated whether there is a nonrandom pattern of dominance in the feeding order of the penguins at the Lincoln Children’s Zoo, in Lincoln, NE, USA. Using a camera and tripod, with assistance from four of the zookeepers, I recorded 32 penguin feedings. I then used an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA single factor function in excel) to look for the variance amongst the mean number of fish eaten. I only ranked the penguins for the first nine fish of each feed, because there are nine penguins, thus if it was truly random they should each have averaged one fish per the first nine. I performed this analysis on all 32 feeds, but also ran it in smaller groupings based on the time of the feed (AM/PM), the weather (sunny/cloudy), and the keeper feeding (of four options), to try and account for potential bias or extra factors. The overall analysis of 32 feeds was statistically significant (F = 13.46, df = 8, 279, P < 0.001), and its results were backed up by the majority of the other nine analyses. Only one was not statistically significant, but was close (P = 0.067), and still supported the results of the overall analysis. Two penguins were found to be more dominant, having eaten on average, much more of the fish of the first nine, and two penguins were found to be more submissive. The dominant ones were a male and a female, the male being the largest penguin in the colony. The two submissive were also a male and a female, both of whom were the smallest in the colony. Neither the dominant nor submissive penguins were pair bonded with each other. This indicates that there is a social structure in captivity, and could have implications for husbandry of Humboldt penguins, perhaps in a manner that decreases fighting during feeds. Future study should look at agonistic behavior, instead of average numbers of fish, to determine if it supports the results of this study.
... Though vagrants have been noted as far south as Laysan Island in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (Clapp andGiezentanner 1979, Clapp 1986), they are generally restricted to the cool waters above 30-34°N latitude (Gould and Piatt 1993). Like other alcids, as well as penguins, Tufted Puffins rely on cold water to help dispel body heat produced by underwater "flight," and their energy requirements depend on the high prey densities found in high latitude oceans (Nettleship 1996, Van Buren andBoersma 2007). Warm, low-productivity tropical waters present a dispersal barrier to both groups (Sparks andSoper 1987, Pereira andBaker 2008). ...
Historically, 44 Tufted Puffin nesting colonies were documented in Washington and the bird was considered common in the San Juan Islands, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and particularly along the outer coast of the Olympic Peninsula. The population along the outer coast was conservatively estimated at about 25,000 individuals in the early 1900s, and the statewide population remained in that range for much of the 20th century, with a 1978-1984 minimum estimate of 23,342 birds at 35 known sites. Recent surveys, however, found nesting birds at only 19 sites in 2007-2010 and resulted in a minimum outer coastal population estimate of 2,958 individuals in 2009. Maximum estimates once ranked nine colonies at 1,000 or more individuals each, with two reaching 10,000 or more, but no current breeding sites now hold more than a few hundred birds. Significant average annual rates of decline have been recorded on pelagic surveys west of Westport (13.6%, from 1972 to 2001) and coastal surveys from Cape Flattery to Point Grenville (8.9%, from 2001 to 2012). Taken together these studies strongly suggest that Tufted Puffins in Washington have undergone an order of magnitude population decline, which is ongoing, and a decrease in the number of occupied breeding colonies of 57% since 1886-1977 and 46% since 1978-1984. This declining trend corresponds with a broader geographic pattern of range contraction, population decline, and breeding colony disappearance noted throughout the southern portion of the species’ distribution, including California, Oregon, and Japan. Causes for the decline are unknown, but potentially include a number of historical and recent factors such as reduced prey availability, changing oceanic and climatic conditions, entrapment in fishing nets, mortality from oil spills and chemical contaminants, human disturbance of breeding colonies, impacts from introduced species, and increased Bald Eagle predation. It is recommended that the Tufted Puffin be listed as endangered in Washington.
... Causal explanations for these occurrences generally focus on navigational errors due to severe storms or anomalous ocean currents acting independently, or in concert, with other factors such as young age or poor health. For some penguin species, it is even plausible that these individuals are escapees from captivity or were captured and released at different locations (van Buren and Boersma 2007); however, such scenarios are unlikely in Antarctica. Our high-latitude observations of a macaroni penguin(s) on Avian Island, and further observations of non-breeding individuals along the Palmer Archipelago, may have been the result of vagrancy as Parmelee (1992) considered the species to be uncommon south of its sub- Antarctic breeding range. ...
On 20 and 22 January 2007, we observed macaroni penguins (Eudyptes chrysolophus) on Avian Island, Antarctica, approximately 1° south of the Antarctic Circle along the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP)
near Adelaide Island, a new high-latitude observational record for the species within this region of the continent. Additionally,
we report several extra-limital sightings of macaroni penguins over the last decade at relatively lower latitudes along the
WAP near Anvers Island, including observations of breeding attempts. Although vagrancy cannot be ruled out as a possible causal
factor in our observations, we hypothesize that a climate-induced shift in the species’ bio-geographic range may be in progress.
In this context, our observations are similar to the well-documented range shifts and eventual establishment of breeding populations
by other sub-Antarctic penguin species along the WAP, over the last three decades, in response to regional climate warming.
We highlight that the few observations reported here do not provide conclusive evidence for any putative causal mechanism
explaining the presence of macaroni penguins at locations outside their natural geographic range. However, our observations
are important for developing a better understanding of the natural history of the species along the WAP.
KeywordsBio-geographic range shift-Climate warming-
Eudyptes chrysolophus
-Western Antarctic Peninsula-Vagrancy
Summarizes the result of the second PHVA Worksop on Humboldt Penguin in LIma, Peru, in October 2019
Humboldt penguin (Spheniscus humboldti)
Population and Habitat Viability Assessment Workshop
Final Report
Surface water changes associated with El Niño have been known to affect deleteriously top carnivores along coastal South America.
Data on the breeding strategies of Galápagos penguins and other seabirds indicate that the biological effects of El Niño extend
much farther west. The breeding biology of these seabirds is adapted to frequent changes in productivity which are associated
with El Niño.
We examined the thermoregulatory behaviour (TRB) of roosting Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) in north central Chile during summer and winter, when ambient temperatures (Ta) are most extreme. Each body posture was considered to represent a particular TRB, which was ranked in a sequence that reflected different degrees of thermal load and was assigned an arbitrary thermoregulatory score. During summer, birds exhibited eight different TRBs, mainly oriented to heat dissipation, and experienced a wide range of Ta (from 14 to 31C), occasionally above their thermoneutral zone (TNZ, from 2 to 30C), this being evident by observations of extreme thermoregulatory responses such as panting. In winter, birds exhibited only three TRBs, mainly oriented to heat retention, and experienced a smaller range of Ta (from 11 to 18C), always within the TNZ, even at night. The components of behavioural responses increased directly with the heat load which explains the broader behavioural repertoire observed in summer. Since penguins are primarily adapted in morphology and physiology to cope with low water temperatures, our results suggest that behavioural thermoregulation may be important in the maintenance of the thermal balance in Humboldt penguins while on land.
This undergraduate textbook offers students a firm grounding in the fundamentals of biological oceanography. The comprehensive coverage of this book encompasses the properties of seawater which affect life in the ocean, classification of marine environments and organisms, phytoplankton and zooplankton, marine food webs, larger marine animals, life on the seafloor, and the way in which humans affect marine ecosystems. The second edition has been thoroughly updated. There is also a new chapter on human impacts - from harvesting vast amounts of fish, from pollution, and from deliberately or accidentally transferring marine organisms to new environments.
A phenomenon called the Antarctic Circumpolar Wave (ACW), suggested earlier from fragmentary observational evidence, has been simulated realistically in an extended integration of a Max Planck Institute coupled general circulation model. The ACW both in the observations and in the model constitutes a mode of the coupled ocean-atmosphere-sea-ice system that inhabits the high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere. It is characterized by anomalies of such climate variables as sea surface temperature, sea level pressure, meridional wind, and sea ice that exhibit intricate and evolving spatial phase relations to each other.The simulated ACW signal in the ocean propagates eastward over most of the high-latitude Southern Ocean, mainly advected along in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. On average, it completes a circuit entirely around the Southern Ocean but is strongly dissipated in the South Atlantic and in the southern Indian Ocean, just marginally maintaining statistical significance in these areas until it reaches the South Pacific where it is reenergized. In extreme cases, the complete circumpolar propagation is more clear, requiring about 12-16 yr to complete the circuit. This, coupled with the dominant zonal wavenumber 3 pattern of the ACW, results in the local reappearance of energy peaks about every 4-5 yr.The oceanic component of the mode is forced by the atmosphere via fluxes of heat. The overlying atmosphere establishes patterns of sea level pressure that mainly consist of a standing wave and are associated with the Pacific-South American (PSA) oscillation described in earlier works. The PSA, like its counterpart in the North Pacific, appears to be a natural mode of the high southern latitudes. There is some ENSO-related signal in the ACW forced by anomalous latent heat release associated with precipitation anomalies in the central and western tropical Pacific. However, ENSO-related forcing explains at most 30% of the ACW variance and, generally, much less.It is hypothesized that the ACW as an entity represents the net result of moving oceanic climate anomalies interacting with a spatially fixed atmospheric forcing pattern. As the SST moves into and out of phase with the resonant background pattern it is selectively amplified or dissipated, an idea supported by several independent analyses. A simplified ocean heat budget model seems to also support this idea.
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1.1. Gullet temperature, a better measure of core conditions than cloacal temperature in the Peruvian penguin, usually averaged 39·0°C.2.2. Basal metabolic rate averaged 196 kcal/day for three penguins of mean weight 3·87 kg, and was thus within 1 per cent of the prediction for the resting phase of the diurnal cycle.3.3. Peruvian penguins displayed a wide thermoneutral zone (2–30°C).4.4. Thermal conductance (θ = C−EWL) was computed as 0·81 kcal/m2 × °C × hr; compared to values for other species of similar weight compiled from the literature, this suggests adaptation to cool conditions.