Monitoring Antarctic environmental variables using penguins

Water temperature and krill abundance in Maxwell Bay, Antarctica, were examined using Pygoscelid penguins carrying appropriate sensors linked to position-determining devices. Fifty-three foraging trips from 49 penguins indicated that during December 1991 and January 1992 the temperature in the top 100 m of the water column was highest in the western section of the Bay which concurred with higher krill abundance as determined by a catch per unit effort index. This work demonstrates that abiotic and biotic features of the environment can be studied using animals to transport probes to the study site, provided information is given on the position of the animals when measurements are made.