Biology of King and Emperor Penguins While at Sea

企鹅是南极生态系统的重要组成部分，占南大洋鸟类生物量的88-98%。人们已经收集了大量关于企鹅在种群内活动的信息，但对它们离开种群并在海上觅食后的活动却知之甚少。国王企鹅和帝企鹅的潜水行为和能量学特别有趣，因为这些物种比其他企鹅潜得更深，可能利用不同的食物资源。直到最近才有可能研究这些鸟在海上的行为。Kooyman建议使用他实验室开发的微处理器来研究帝企鹅和王企鹅在海上的潜水行为，以存储潜水时间、潜水深度和游泳速度的数据。信息将获得潜水的日模式，猎物的深度分布，游泳速度在旅行的食物斑块和捕捉猎物。海洋中的能量学将通过首先获得在南极环境温度和不同游泳速度下的氧气消耗和二氧化碳产生的实验室测量来间接确定。使用这些值，将通过使用双重标记水进行能量测定的受控实验室实验来验证能源生产的时间预算估计。行为和能量的结果将用于王企鹅和帝企鹅之间的狩猎策略、成功率和每次旅行的能量输入的物种间比较，并测试一些关于潜水生理学的假设。数据应该对与南极食物网有关的各种广泛计划有价值。

Penguins are an important component of antarctic ecosystems, and represent 88-98% of the bird biomass of the Southern Ocean. Considerable information has been gathered on penguin activities within colonies, but little is known about activities after they have left the colony and are foraging at sea. The diving behavior and energetics of King and Emperor penguins is of specific interest, since these species dive much deeper than other penguins and presumably utilize a distinct food resource. It has been impossible to study the at-sea behavior of these birds until very recently. Kooyman proposes to study the diving behavior of Emperor and King penguins at sea using microprocessors developed in his laboratory to store data on dive duration, dive depth, and swimming velocity. Information will be obtained on the diurnal pattern of dives, prey depth distribution, and swim speeds during travel to food patches and while catching prey. Energetics at sea will be determined indirectly by first obtaining laboratory measurements of oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production at antarctic environmental temperatures and at various swim velocities. Using these values, a time budget estimate of energy production will be validated by conducting a controlled laboratory experiment using doubly labelled water for the energy determination. Both the behavior and energetic results will be used for interspecies comparisons of hunting strategy, success rates, and energy inputs per trip between King and Emperor Penguins, and to test several hypotheses regarding diving physiology. Data should be of value to various broad programs concerned with antarctic food webs.