"We want to put the transmitters on healthy, robust birds that we think are likely to get back and start breeding," Boersma said. "The point is to follow them back to their colony and see where they might be running into petroleum."
Through late October the birds' movements will be tracked by the Argos satellite system, operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the French space agency. A satellite will pass overhead every two hours and chart the penguins' positions, then transmit the information back to the researchers, who will use it to update a public tracking map on the Internet at http://www.penguinstudies.org.
The transmitters will be active for 36 hours at a time and then will be off for 36 hours, a means of preserving the two double-A batteries in each transmitter for the life of the project. The researchers have no way of knowing whether the birds will go to southern Argentina or the Malvinas, or whether they will follow a straight course to the breeding grounds or take a circuitous route.
"After we release them, they could just hang out at Mar del Plata for a month. It's all up to them," Boersma said. "We're hoping the males we tag will be in a hurry to get to their colony and start breeding."
The satellite tracking also will be instrumental in pinpointing the birds after they arrive at the breeding grounds. Punta Tombo alone is home to some 400,000 penguins during breeding season.
"Tracking the locations by satellite is only accurate to within 5 kilometers, so it really is like trying to find a needle in a haystack," Boersma said.
Locating the penguins once they
'"/>
Contact: Vince Stricherz
vinces@u.washington.edu
206-543-2580
University of Washington
6-Aug-2007