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South American penguin newa








Dear PenguinPromises

The weather in the colony has turned really cold, and it has been no fun at all
for Promises standing in the freezing cold wind for weeks with half the feathers
missing. But now the moult (molt) has finally come to an end and the penguins
look really smart in their new shiny black and white plumage.

The end of the moult means that Promises can now set off on the winter migration,
which is without doubt one of the best times of year for the penguins. Penguins
love being in the water, and they only come ashore when they have to. Because
they are birds, penguins are forced to carry out certain parts of their life-cycle
on land, such as egg-laying and chick-rearing, but when not forced to come ashore,
penguins remain at sea 24/7. No other bird is so well adapted to life at sea,
and no other bird can remain at sea for such long periods of time as penguins.


A few days ago Promises left the colony to begin the winter migration. A few
penguins still remain here in the colony, but they will also leave during the
next few days and the colony will then remain deserted until late September.
Having left the colony, the penguins gradually make their way up the coast of
Patagonia without ever coming ashore at all. They remain in the sea throughout
the day and the night, and even sleep floating in the water.

Penguins lay their eggs and raise their chicks in the extreme south during the
summer months, because this far south the days are very long for catching fish,
with almost 20 hours of daylight per day during December and January. Now that
winter is approaching it gets very cold, with snow, and the days are very short
and gloomy. These are not good conditions for raising chicks, so instead the
penguins migrate northwards and wait until the weather gets better again before
returning to the nest to lay more eggs.

You may wonder why the penguins don't just remain further north to lay their
eggs, instead of travelling all the way back home. The reason is that nearer
to the South Pole (and the North Pole too) the days are much longer during the
summer than anywhere else on Earth. The equator has hotter weather, but much
less difference in daylight between winter and summer, and hence shorter days
in summer. The long daylight in summer has two advantages for Promises.

Firstly, as already mentioned, the long hours of daylight allows the penguins
to spend up to 20 hours a day catching fish for the chicks. Further from the
poles the days are not so long during the summer, so the chicks would receive
less food each day if they lived further north.

Secondly, close to the South Pole the virtually constant daylight causes a bloom
of microscopic aquatic plants. These microscopic plants only need sunshine to
grow and multiply rapidly, and the longer the daylight, the faster they grow.
This bloom of microscopic plants in turn causes an explosion of krill and other
ocean creatures that feed on the abundant algae. Fish gather in huge quantities
to catch the krill and aquatic creatures, and penguins, whales and dolphins move
south to take advantage of the large fish and krill populations that gather.
This is called a Food Chain. The extremely long hours of daylight in summer causes
a chain reaction that begins with the rapid growth of microscopic plants, and
ends with the migration of whales from as far away as Hawaii and Alaska.

Penguins are just some of the animals that migrate long distances to take advantage
of this abundance of food during the southern summer. Sand Pipers and other small
shore-birds migrate from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere in
order to enjoy two summers every year. Whales and dolphins also migrate long
distances in order to spend the summer around the South Pole. Compared to whales
and Sand Pipers, the penguins' migration is quiet short.

Ocean currents run up the coast of Patagonia, so that helps Promises travel northwards
more quickly. Of course, that same current means that the penguins will have
to swim harder when coming back home later in the year. They usually spend the
winter off the coast of Brazil, but they have no particular destination in mind.

Because they never come out of the ocean, one part of the coast is much the same
as another to the penguins. They only ever see Brazil from a distance. The only
penguins that come ashore in Brazil are a handful of penguins that get sick or
injured, or which suffer from oil contamination. There are several rehabilitation
centres in Brazil that rescue such penguins when they are found on the beaches
by concerned sun-bathers. This is virtually the only time that people living
in Brazil ever get to see the penguins. The penguins usually remain too far offshore
to be seen from the coast.

Penguins are very social animals and they remain together in groups. Penguins
like the company of other penguins, but they do not remain with their partner
during the winter migration. This is not because of any deliberate desire to
separate during the winter. It is just that out at sea it is almost impossible
to maintain contact with individual penguins.

On land it is easy to see a long distance, but out in the open ocean a penguin
can only see a short distance. The Atlantic Ocean is not like a swimming pool.
It has too many tiny particles suspended in the water to see more than 30 or
40 metres at the very most. The distance at which one penguin could identify
another penguin underwater amongst all the other penguins is very short indeed.

On the water surface the distance that penguins can see is even shorter, as you
can see from the attached photo. Penguins are very low in the water, so they
can only see as far away as the next wave. Anything beyond that is hidden behind
the waves. When they are momentarily lifted up by a passing wave penguins can
get a better glimpse of their surroundings, but most of the time penguins cannot
see very far at all in the open ocean.

When penguins catch fish they often have to chase them for quite some distance
before they catch them. After such a chase it would be almost impossible to find
an individual penguin that was left amongst all the other penguins, so pairs
do not even try to remain together. It would be an impossible task.

Penguins keep together in groups during the winter migration, but these groups
are made up of random individuals, because it is impossible for penguins to keep
track of individual penguins out at sea. Whales and dolphins do remain together
as families, but they are much larger and fewer in number, making it easier to
identify individuals. Whales and dolphins also use sound to communicate over
long distances. Penguins have never developed that ability, perhaps because their
bodies are too small to produce such powerful underwater sound waves.

When the penguins return to the colony at the end of their winter migration,
the males arrive a few days before the females and wait for their partner at
the nest. Magellanic penguins are faithfully to their partner and to their nest.
In the same way that we return home to reunite with our family at the end of
the day, so too the penguins return to their home to reunite with their partner,
albeit after many weeks. This also enables us to locate and follow Promises year
after year. We just call round when they are at home, just like we do with family
and friends.

I will write to you again in a few weeks time, by which time the penguins will
be somewhere off the coast of Brazil enjoying the sunshine. So whilst we await
the return of Promises, I will take the opportunity to share with you the results
of our penguin research the next time I write

Best wishes,  Mike

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> > Dear PenguinPromises > > The penguins are now back home in the colony after their month long feeding trip. > They have had a very relaxing time just floating in the water and recovering > their weight after the exhausting period of chick-rearing. > > Whilst they were away the penguins did not spend much time swimming, except for > when they were hungry and decided to go fishing. Most of their time was spent > bobbing up and down in the water, rising and falling with each passing wave. > Sometimes the waves can be huge, and floating out in the open ocean can be like > being on a roller coaster. I can say that from personal experience of using inflatable > launches to reach offshore penguin colonies. > > I often visit the Rockhopper colony on Isla Pinguino which is about 40 km offshore > from Puerto Deseado in open ocean. Even in what fisherman would call good weather, > going over the peak of each wav