Exploration during early life: distribution, habitat and orientation preferences in juvenile king penguins.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The early life of marine apex predators is poorly known, particularly for diving species. The orientation and foraging skills are presumably less developed in juveniles than in adults, especially during their first year at sea when juveniles might disperse further than adults.

Methods

Over two years of monitoring, we tracked the movements of 17 juvenile king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus, ~ 1 year old) using satellite relay tags from Crozet Archipelago (Southern Indian Ocean), starting when birds left their natal colony for the first time. For comparison we also tagged 6 non-breeding adults, which at that stage, similar to juveniles, are unhampered by reproductive constraints and might roam further than breeders. We used a combination of cluster analysi

SUBMITTER: Orgeret F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6805568 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature