To have and too cold: Penguins hold hands during romantic beach walk

03/05/2019

Dan Lake

A wildlife photographer has captured the beautiful moment penguins held hands during a romantic seaside waddle.

Alex Macipe watched the king penguins as they returned from a rough day at sea, in the waters off Volunteer Point, the Falkland Islands, where they had been fishing to feed their young chick.

The birds went out hunting together, which is unusual as one normally stays behind to take care of the offspring.

The conservationist and writer explained that he has never seen a pair holding flippers like this couple.

During their 'date' they appeared to be on a pleasant wander before taking a moment to pause, staring back into the crashing waves.

In other shots, they can be seen standing in the brisk winds trying to dry-off amid a flurry of sand particles.

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World's largest king penguin colony has declined by 90%

Number of king penguins on the remote Île aux Cochons has fallen from 2m to 200,000, warn scientists

Agence France-Presse in Paris

Mon 30 Jul 2018 21.50 BSTLast modified on Tue 31 Jul 2018 02.35 BST

The planet’s largest colony of king penguins has declined by nearly 90% in three decades, researchers have warned.

The last time scientists set foot on France’s remote Île aux Cochons – roughly half way between the tip of Africa and Antarctica – the island was blanketed by 2m of the penguins, which stand about a metre tall.

But recent satellite images and photos taken from helicopters show the population has collapsed, with barely 200,000 remaining, according to a study published in Antarctic Science.

Why the colony on Île aux Cochons has been so decimated remains a mystery.

“It is completely unexpected, and particularly significant since this colony represented nearly one third of the king penguins in the world,” said lead author Henri Weimerskirch, an ecologist at the Centre for Biological Studies in Chize, France, who first set eyes on the colony in 1982.

Climate change may play a role. In 1997, a particularly strong El Niño weather event warmed the southern Indian Ocean, temporarily pushing the fish and squid on which king penguins depend south, beyond their foraging range.

“This resulted in population decline and poor breeding success for all the king penguin colonies in the region,” Weimerskirch said.

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Distinguishing males from females among king penguins

Date:  February 22, 2018

Source:  Wiley

Summary:

It is difficult to distinguish males from females among King Penguins, but a new study reveals that King Penguins can be sexed with an accuracy of 100% based on the sex-specific syllable pattern of their vocalizations. Using the beak length, King Penguin individuals can be sexed with an accuracy of 79%.

     

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Death of the king penguin: Scientists say 70% of the birds could WIPED OUT by the end of the century due to climate change

Experts used computer modelling to simulate shifts in the bird's habitats 

Melting ice will strip them of their breeding and feeding grounds experts say

Around 1.1 million breeding pairs will be forced to relocate or disappear

They may be 'nothing more than a memory' in a matter of decades, study warns

By Tim Collins For Mailonline

PUBLISHED: 16:00, 26 February 2018 | UPDATED: 17:03, 26 February 2018

King penguins could be wiped out in the near future by climate change and overfishing, new research has warned.

Melting ice will strip the birds of their breeding and feeding grounds, wiping out 70 per cent of the global population before the end of the century.

Only a decade ago the total king penguin population was over two million breeding pairs worldwide, but this has since dropped to 1.6 million.

Around 1.1 million of the remaining pairs will be forced to relocate or disappear if greenhouse gas emissions continue at present rates, experts say.  

King penguins could be wiped out in the near future by climate change and overfishing, new research has warned. Melting ice will the strip the birds of their breeding and feeding grounds, wiping out 70 per cent of the global population before the end of the century

An international team of researchers, including experts from the University of Ferrara in Italy and the University of Strasbourg in France, studied the King Penguin's habitat on the islands at the northern reaches of Antarctica.

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King penguins keep an ear out for predators

Date: July 6, 2016

Source: Society for Experimental Biology

Sleeping king penguins react differently to the sounds of predators than to non-predators and other sounds, when they are sleeping on the beach. Research has revealed that even asleep, these penguins can distinguish between dangerous and benign sounds.

Both adult and juvenile king penguins are prey to large predators like orcas and giant petrels. Even huge non-predator elephant seals can crush penguins to death with their bulky passage. In an environment like this, king penguins who are exhausted after long diving sessions must constantly keep an ear out for incoming threats.

PhD student Tessa Abigail van Walsum explains: "When we played single tones to sleeping penguins, they woke up with little reaction. However, playing them the calls of orcas or skuas caused them to wake up and flee."

Penguins also had strong reactions to some non-predator sounds, reports Ms van Walsum: "The sounds of approaching elephant seals rang big alarm bells for the penguins. Interestingly too, a recording of simple white noise had an unexpectedly strong effect, likely because it sounds much like an incoming wave on the beach." Notably, playing them the sound of unfamiliar predators, such as a dog's growl, got little reaction when they awoke.

The ability of these birds to respond differently upon waking up suggests that they might sleep with just one half of their brain, while keeping close watch with the other half similar to some migratory birds -- essentially 'keeping an eye open'.

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Two gay King penguins are being moved to Hamburg so they can stay together

Stan and Ollie were dropped from a breeding programme after proving more interested in mating with each other

Kayleigh Lewis

Sunday 17 April 2016

Two king penguins at Hamburg Zoo (file pic) Margarethe Wichert / Getty Images

Two gay King penguins have been moved from Berlin Zoo to Hamburg’s Hagenbeck Zoo so they can be together.

Stan and Olli were originally introduced to Berlin Zoo to breed as part of the European Conservation Programme, but it didn’t take long for zookeepers to realise they only had eyes for each other.

“They’re gay, as far as we know. They never bred. And when it came to courtship, they only mated with one another,” Berlin Zoo spokeswoman Christiane Reiss told the Local, in Germany.

Stan and Olli - who the website says will now be named Kalle and Grobi instead - will join Juan and Carlos, another homosexual penguin couple who are already at Hamburg Zoo, where they will no longer be expected to reproduce.

There are many examples of male penguins paring off with other males, especially in captivity. In 2014 two male Humboldt penguins at Kent Wildlife Park – called Jumbs and Kermit – adopted a young chick after its father refused to incubate it. 

In the same year Penelope and Missy broke the mould as Ireland’s first lesbian penguin couple. It is considered much more unusual for female penguins to pair up, the Irish Examiner observed.

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Study sheds light on penguins first year far from home

Date:

May 14, 2014

Source:

PLOS

Summary:

In the first study of its kind, scientists tracked penguins first year away from home and found young king penguins explored new habitat, eventually learning to find food similarly to their parents.

Continued