New crowdfunding campaign puts penguins under the microscope

AUSTRALIA – With more than half of the world’s penguin species under threat from extinction, a new Deakin University research project is seeking to investigate the role of microbes in penguin health, physiology and disease.

Researcher from Deakin University’s Centre for Integrative Ecology within the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Dr Meagan Dewar, hopes to build knowledge about the basic biology of penguins.

More importantly, she also hopes to gain detailed data about the importance of microbes to penguins' digestion, metabolism, immune system and overall health.

“Many scientists consider penguins to be a sentinel for ocean health, providing valuable information about the health and productivity of our marine ecosystems,” Dr Dewar said.

“If penguins are sentinels for ocean health, then microbes could be considered as sentinels for penguin health.”

Penguin cam captures hunt for prey

Penguins foraging as a group.
Photo credit: John Arnould, Deakin University

AUSTRALIA - "Penguin cams" attached to little penguins while they foraged showed they were more likely to work together to hunt schooling prey than solitary prey. The findings were published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Grace Sutton from Deakin University and colleagues.

Group foraging has advantages for cooperative predators. But the benefits of group foraging are not as clear for less cooperative predators like little penguins, because of the potential for competition. The authors of this study attached cameras to 21 little penguins from two breeding colonies in south-eastern Australia to determine their prey types, hunting strategies and success.

When two penguins clans become one

AUSTRALIA - A new research project has found that two different groups of little penguins have met up to live in a colony together, despite a history of isolation.

Dr Chris Burridge, University of Tasmania Zoology lecturer, said the motivation of the research was to understand rates of movements of penguins between colonies.

The research was conducted in partnership with the University of Tasmania, Peter Dann (Phillip Island Nature Park), Amanda Peucker (Deakin University) and Craig Styan (University College London).

"The research wanted to find out things like, are individuals from this colony going to another colony to breed?  If a colony was wiped out by a predator, would penguins from other colonies come to help replenish it?" Dr Burridge said.

Little penguins team up to hunt prey

AUSTRALIA - Little penguins are more likely to forage for food in groups, working together to target prey, new Deakin University research has found.

More than 60 little penguins (Eudyptula minor) were fitted with miniature GPS tracking devices at London Bridge in south-west Victoria's Port Campbell National Park so researchers could monitor their breeding patterns while searching for food.

More thought of as cute than predatory, the GPS devices showed the little penguins actually worked deliberately together to target their prey.