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Chinstrap penguins prioritize prey accessibility over absolute abundance
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DOI：10.1093/icesjms/fsag115.png)
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Abstract
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Chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarcticus) are krill-dependent central place foragers during their austral summer breeding season, constraining their movements and making them vulnerable to changes in local prey availability. While their populations are declining across much of their range, their fine-scale foraging responses to temporally dynamic prey distributions remain poorly understood. Herein we combined tracking data from 45 breeding chinstrap penguins across two colonies in the Scotia Sea (Monroe and Powell Island, at South Orkney Islands) during 2022 and 2023 with acoustic krill surveys to examine predator–prey dynamics. We show pronounced diel foraging patterns, with penguins adopting temporally structured strategies that align with the vertical migration of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba). During crepuscular hours, penguins intensified their foraging efforts and ranged farther offshore as krill ascended in the water column. From an optimal foraging perspective, this suggests that penguins maximize net energy gain by targeting prey patches when they are more accessible and energetically efficient to capture. Conversely, daytime foraging involved shorter, more localized trips to deeper prey layers, likely reflecting a trade-off between energy expenditure and provisioning demands. Notably, foraging was concentrated along the northern shelf edge, a region known for krill retention and high productivity. Penguins frequently foraged at depths with lower krill densities than peak concentrations in the water column that were still within their physiological dive range, suggesting that encounter rates with krill swarms, rather than absolute biomass, drive foraging behaviour. This temporal niche partitioning may reduce competition with sympatric Adélie and gentoo penguins, which primarily forage predominantly during daylight hours. We highlight the importance of fine-scale multidimensional approaches to understanding predator–prey dynamics. As climate change, fisheries expansion, and recovering whale populations reshape the Southern Ocean, understanding predator–prey behaviour will be essential for developing ecosystem-based management strategies and supporting conservation efforts for krill-dependent species like chinstrap penguins.
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