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Why monitor Adélie penguins?Please note: this page is due for review. The information here, while accurate at the time, is now not current. For the latest information, please check our home page, try a search, or contact us.
One major aim of CCAMLR is to ensure that the human harvest of krill does not adversely affect any element of the Southern Ocean (Antarctic) Ecosystem. As Adélie penguins are large consumers of krill, we need to determine how the human harvest of krill will affect them. Our research will help answer the following questions: - Does the feeding range of the penguins overlap with the krill fishery in time and space?
- What are the penguins' normal levels of breeding success and food consumption?
- How much natural variation in diet and breeding success exists from year to year? (long-term monitoring)
- What factors are responsible for these natural variations?
- How much krill can be fished without affecting the animals and birds that depend on it?
The information we gain on the Adélie penguins is used in the management of the krill fishery, and this in turn enables us to help protect the penguins from potential overfishing of their major food source.
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