To tell the sex of a Galápagos penguin, measure its beak, researchers say

Date:  June 28, 2018

Source:  University of Washington

Summary:

For a Galápagos penguin, beak size is nearly a perfect indicator of whether a bird is male or female, scientists have discovered. Armed with this knowledge, researchers could determine the sex of a bird quickly and accurately in the wild without taking a blood sample -- speeding up field studies of this unusual and endangered seabird.

It turns out that to tell the sex of a Galápagos penguin, all you need is a ruler.

In a paper published April 5 in the journal Endangered Species Research, scientists at the University of Washington announced that, for a Galápagos penguin, beak size is nearly a perfect indicator of whether a bird is male or female. Armed with this knowledge, researchers could determine the sex of a bird quickly and accurately in the wild without taking a blood sample -- speeding up field studies of this unusual and endangered seabird.

"For Galápagos penguins, we really wanted to understand if there was a simple 'rule' we could employ to determine sex -- a sign that would be fast and reliable," said lead author Caroline Cappello, a UW doctoral student in biology.

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Marine preserve to help penguins in a 'predictably unpredictable' place

Date: April 7, 2016 

Source: University of Washington 

Summary: New regulations by the government of Ecuador to protect the waters around the Galapagos Islands as a marine preserve, including main feeding areas for Galapagos penguins. 

Dee Boersma, a conservationist and professor of biology at the University of Washington, is applauding new regulations by the government of Ecuador to protect the waters around the Galapagos Islands as a marine preserve. 

"It is very exciting," said Boersma, who is a finalist for the 2016 Indianapolis Prize for her decades of penguin research and conservation efforts. 

"We've been working for years in the Galapagos, advising officials in Ecuador to protect the fish-rich waters that penguins and other species rely upon for food." 

The decree, signed March 21 by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, prohibits fishing, drilling or mining in key sections of the waters surrounding this precious archipelago -- a hotspot for biodiversity made famous by Charles Darwin when he proposed natural selection as a mechanism for evolution. 

Under Correa's directive, approximately one-third of the waters around the Galapagos will become "no take" areas, where nothing can be extracted or harvested. The volcanic islands, which lie about 600 miles off the coast of South America, boast a rare assortment and diversity of species that evolved on this remote archipelago. Ecuadorean law already protects about 97 percent of the land that makes up the islands, but before last month's decree, only about 1 percent of Galapagos waters were "no take" areas.

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Shifting winds, ocean currents doubled endangered Galápagos penguin population

Date:

August 3, 2015

Source:

American Geophysical Union

Summary:

Shifting winds, ocean currents doubled endangered Galápagos penguin population, new research shows. The Galápagos Islands, a chain of islands 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) west of mainland Ecuador, are home to the only penguins in the Northern Hemisphere. The 48-centimeter (19-inch) tall black and white Galápagos penguins landed on the endangered species list in 2000 after the population plummeted to only a few hundred individuals and are now considered the rarest penguins in the world.

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