Southern Rockies at Marion Island

Every summer thousands of Southern Rockhopper penguins return to Marion Island after six months at sea.

They mate, lay eggs and raise chicks, and during this time head out to sea every day to forage for krill (and sometimes squid and fish). Prior to 2011, nobody knew anything about where these penguins were going, but thanks to recent technological advances and the miniaturisation of GPS devices, I could track penguins from a small colony at Kildalkey during the summer period. I will be analysing this data, as well as diving data, as part of my MSc.

Unfortunately, the population of Southern Rockhopper penguins at Marion Island has decreased dramatically over the last few decades which is why it is vital that we start understanding more about their foraging ecology in these waters.

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Phytoplankton and Penguins

Phytoplankton are perhaps the most important group of organisms on our planet. They are microscopic, single-celled galaxies that come in many different shapes and sizes. They are the movers and shakers of our marine ecosystems that transfer energy into food webs. Without them, there would be no krill, fish, penguins, seals or albatrosses. Basically, phytoplankton use nutrients from the water and, together with sunshine, create energy (via photosynthesis) that enables them to grow and multiply. When conditions are just right, phytoplankton are capable of erupting into enormous blooms. Below is a satellite image of a phytoplankton bloom associated with upwelling along the edge of a meso-scale eddy north of South Georgia: The focus of my PhD is all about understanding the at-sea movements of two penguin species from Marion Island (the larger of the Prince Edward Islands). Because these penguins feed on krill, and krill feed on phytoplankton, peng...

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The Wild I See

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