Penguins run on conveyor

This grotesque game is not to reduce fat, but to help scientists track the effects of overfishing.

Instead of meshing and counting the number of fish to see if they were caught in a bluff, Lewis Halsey and colleagues asked emperor penguins on the Crozet Peninsula, between Patagonia and Antarctica, to do so.

Their experiment was based on the hypothesis that if penguins lost more energy to catch fish, it was likely that the fish in that sea were less. Since 2002, they have tagged 50 penguins on the island, while measuring their heart rate during their fishing journey. This heart rate can indicate the amount of energy they have consumed. In parallel, they let some penguins run on the conveyor belt to measure the energy they need to maintain their heart rates at different levels.

The test showed that in recent years, penguins have to work harder to get less food. This proves that the fishing boats in this area are overactive.

The penguin runs on a conveyor belt.
(Photo: NewScientist)

T. An