Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / In the marine environment, penguins have been described as curators and serve a critical role in ecological balance. The African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) has undergone a rapid population decline, mainly due to disturbances in their natural habitat. The African penguin was up-listed from vulnerable to endangered on the IUCN Red List for Threatened Species in 2010 and thus urgent conservation action is required. Integral to long-term conservation action of any species is a basic knowledge of its reproductive biology, which is currently lacking for African penguins. The main aim of this investigation was to evaluate techniques for the collection of semen in African penguin and to determine sperm quality in order to cryopreserve sperm for in vitro fertilization (IVF) purposes of captive and wild populations. Semen was collected once a week during two breeding seasons from two captive African penguins. Ejaculates (n=51) were obtained over two breeding seasons (Jan-Feb and Jun-Oct) and evaluated for semen volume, sperm concentration, sperm vitality, sperm motility and sperm morphology. In addition twelve (six females and six males, n=4 were breeding pairs) captive African penguins were monitored for hormone (estradiol, testosterone, progesterone) levels prior to and after the egg-laying period.

Radiative penguin decays of B mesons are favour-changing neutral current (FCNC) processes, studies of which provide fertile ground for precision tests of the Standard Model. Because such decays must proceed through 1-loop or higher order processes, they are rare and their amplitudes are particularly sensitive to interference from other FCNC interactions beyond the SM. This thesis presents the search for the rare radiative penguin process b -> d gamma, carried out at the BABAR experiment.

Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references (leaves 83-90). Description: xii, 90 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm.

Magister Scientiae (Biodiversity and Conservation Biology) - MSc (Biodiv and Cons Biol) / African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) mainland colonies are a popular tourist attraction in the Western Cape of South Africa. The African penguin population is in decline and the species is listed as endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. This thesis aimed to investigate the impact of ecotourism upon African penguin colonies by comparing two colonies of differing levels of tourist visitation in the Western Cape in 2017. The high visitation colony is a mainland colony where ecotourism activities take place (Stony Point), and the low visitation colony is an island colony where ecotourism does not occur (Robben Island). As well as inter-colony comparisons, nests at the high visitation colony within areas of differing exposure levels were also compared.

Bibliography: pages 187-191. / The foraging of breeding Jackass Penguins Spheniscus demersus was studied in and around southwestern Cape Province, Saldanha Bay (33⁰ S, 18⁰ E), South Africa. Penguins are difficult to observe at sea. Hence, I devised a number of new techniques for studying the foraging behaviour of Jackass Penguins at sea. I built electronic and autoradiographic remote-sensing devices to measure swimming speed, distance travelled and time spent at each depth by foraging Jackass Penguins. Penguin swimming speed was reduced in proportion to the cross-sectional area of the devices, and results derived from birds wearing the devices had to be interpreted accordingly. Penguins do not regurgitate their stomach contents when handled, so I constructed a wet-offloading stomach pump which extracted 100% of the stomach contents. Using this pump, I determined that the rate of digestion of fish and squid by Jackass Penguins differed. Care is needed in diet interpretations where both fish and squid are major food items.

Cape St Francis, Eastern Cape, has been identified as one of four potential sites for establishing a mainland-based African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) colony. This thesis comprises three main components: a verification of a preparation method for stable isotope samples from penguin feathers; a dietary analysis of the penguins on Bird Island, Algoa Bay, though stable isotope analysis of whole blood and feathers (2012 and 2013); and an estimation of available fish surplus that could potentially support a colony of penguins at Cape St Francis. Each component contributes towards the next, all building towards answering the main research question: Will there be enough food around St Francis Bay to support a colony of penguins and sustain the already established fisheries industry within the bay? Stable isotope analysis of whole blood and feathers from breeding adults and whole blood from juveniles provided insight into the variability of African penguins’ diets at different stages in their life history. Stable isotope mixing models indicated that the predicted proportions that each prey species could potentially contribute to diet conflicted with published stomach sample data. This might arise from inaccurate trophic enrichment factors used in the model, or from systematic biases in the published stomach sampling techniques, or both. Dietary sexual dimorphism was not demonstrated by the isotope signatures of breeding penguins. Based on official catch data, the fisheries activity on the south coast, and especially around the potential colony site at St Francis, is much lower than around the west coast’s penguin colonies. The model provided a first-order estimate for fish supply around the potential colony site at St Francis both at a large coastal scale and a local small scale. At both scales the estimate indicated an ample availability of fish at current fishing levels. The model in Chapter 4 can also be applied to refining the assessments of other potential colony sites on the south coast. In conclusion, the south coast is a promising area for a new colony of penguins in terms of food availability. There is relatively low fishing activity in the area and, as suggested by the large-scale model in Chapter 4, an ample fish resource. The final chapter briefly discusses factors that need to be considered before attempting to establish a mainland-based colony of African penguins.

Seabirds have become adapted for foraging in an oceanic environment that can be highly dynamic. Oceanographic processes determine the spatial distribution of seabird prey, while seasonality often has a temporal influence on prey availability. In penguins, these factors are reflected in the different species� foraging strategies. Penguins can broadly be categorized as inshore foragers that live in subtropical to temperate regions and profit from a stable food supply throughout the year close to their breeding sites, and offshore foragers that breed in a pelagic environment at higher latitudes where oceanographic processes and seasonality create much more dynamic, temporally limited prey situations. In this light, offshore foragers can be expected to be much more flexible in their foraging behaviour so as to quickly respond to changes in a dynamic marine environment, while inshore foragers are more likely to exhibit predictable foraging patterns. I examined the foraging ecology of two New Zealand penguin species - the offshore foraging Snares penguin Eudyptes robustus and the inshore foraging Yellow-eyed penguin Megadyptes antipodes and how their foraging strategies reflect an adaptation to the marine environment they exploit. Diet composition of breeding Snares penguins (incubation and early chick-guard) was determined using the water-offloading method. Before the chicks hatched, the penguins generally brought little food back from their long foraging trips. During chick-guard, the stomach contents comprised mainly of crustaceans (~55%), fish (~24%) and cephalopods (~21%). However, the presence at times of many fish otoliths and squid beaks suggests that the latter two prey classes may play an even more important role in the adults� diet than the simple percentages based on mass suggest. The penguins� nesting routines were strongly synchronised between the years and correlated with the onset of the spring planktonic bloom. Using GPS data loggers and dive recorders I found that during the incubation phase, male penguins that performed long (ca. 2 week) foraging trips exhibited a strong affinity to forage in the Subtropical Front some 200 km east of the Snares. At that stage (late mid-October) the front featured elevated chlorophyll a concentrations, a pattern that can be observed every year. Thus, it seems that the front represents a reliable and predictable source of food for the male penguins. After the males returned, the female penguins also performed long foraging trips (<1 week) but never reached the front, primarily because they had to time their return to the hatching of their chicks. After the chicks had hatched, the female Snares penguins were the sole providers of food. At this stage, the penguins performed short foraging trips (1-3 days) and foraged halfway between the Snares and Stewart Island (ca. 70-90 km north of the Snares), where nutrient-rich coastal waters flow eastwards to form the Southland Current. The penguins concentrated their diving effort in these waters, underlining the importance of the warm coastal waters as a food source for breeding Snares penguins. However, diving behaviour between 2003 and 2004 differed with penguins searching for prey at greater depths in the latter year. This underlines the Snares penguins� behavioural flexibility in response to a changing marine environment. The Yellow-eyed penguins as typical inshore foragers showed very consistent foraging patterns at all stages. GPS logger deployments on penguins at Oamaru revealed that the birds foraged almost exclusively at the seafloor and targeted specific areas that featured reefs or epibenthic communities. As a result, the penguins� at-sea movements appeared conservative and at times almost stereotypic. Nevertheless, a comparison of Yellow-eyed penguins breeding on the adjacent Codfish and Stewart islands revealed a degree of plasticity in the species� foraging behaviour. Birds from Codfish Island extended their foraging ranges considerably and switched from primarily bottom to mid-water foraging during the post-guard stage of breeding. It seems likely that this switch is a result of enhanced feeding conditions (e.g. increased prey abundance/quality) in an area further away from the island, but the time required to get there renders this strategy not viable when chicks are small and need to be guarded and fed on a daily basis. As such, the change of behaviour represents a traditional pattern rather than a dynamic response to a sudden change in the marine environment. In comparison, penguins from Stewart Island showed consistent foraging patterns during all stages of breeding. Given the high levels of chick starvation on Stewart Island, the lack of plasticity in foraging behaviour is surprising and might indicate that Yellow-eyed penguins find it difficult to react quickly to a sub-optimal food situation. Overall, it seems that Yellow-eyed penguins show a specialisation for a consistent benthic environment and, thus, lack the behavioural flexibility apparent in Snares penguins, which find their food in a changing pelagic marine environment.

Seabirds have become adapted for foraging in an oceanic environment that can be highly dynamic. Oceanographic processes determine the spatial distribution of seabird prey, while seasonality often has a temporal influence on prey availability. In penguins, these factors are reflected in the different species� foraging strategies. Penguins can broadly be categorized as inshore foragers that live in subtropical to temperate regions and profit from a stable food supply throughout the year close to their breeding sites, and offshore foragers that breed in a pelagic environment at higher latitudes where oceanographic processes and seasonality create much more dynamic, temporally limited prey situations. In this light, offshore foragers can be expected to be much more flexible in their foraging behaviour so as to quickly respond to changes in a dynamic marine environment, while inshore foragers are more likely to exhibit predictable foraging patterns. I examined the foraging ecology of two New Zealand penguin species - the offshore foraging Snares penguin Eudyptes robustus and the inshore foraging Yellow-eyed penguin Megadyptes antipodes and how their foraging strategies reflect an adaptation to the marine environment they exploit. Diet composition of breeding Snares penguins (incubation and early chick-guard) was determined using the water-offloading method. Before the chicks hatched, the penguins generally brought little food back from their long foraging trips. During chick-guard, the stomach contents comprised mainly of crustaceans (~55%), fish (~24%) and cephalopods (~21%). However, the presence at times of many fish otoliths and squid beaks suggests that the latter two prey classes may play an even more important role in the adults� diet than the simple percentages based on mass suggest. The penguins� nesting routines were strongly synchronised between the years and correlated with the onset of the spring planktonic bloom. Using GPS data loggers and dive recorders I found that during the incubation phase, male penguins that performed long (ca. 2 week) foraging trips exhibited a strong affinity to forage in the Subtropical Front some 200 km east of the Snares. At that stage (late mid-October) the front featured elevated chlorophyll a concentrations, a pattern that can be observed every year. Thus, it seems that the front represents a reliable and predictable source of food for the male penguins. After the males returned, the female penguins also performed long foraging trips (<1 week) but never reached the front, primarily because they had to time their return to the hatching of their chicks. After the chicks had hatched, the female Snares penguins were the sole providers of food. At this stage, the penguins performed short foraging trips (1-3 days) and foraged halfway between the Snares and Stewart Island (ca. 70-90 km north of the Snares), where nutrient-rich coastal waters flow eastwards to form the Southland Current. The penguins concentrated their diving effort in these waters, underlining the importance of the warm coastal waters as a food source for breeding Snares penguins. However, diving behaviour between 2003 and 2004 differed with penguins searching for prey at greater depths in the latter year. This underlines the Snares penguins� behavioural flexibility in response to a changing marine environment. The Yellow-eyed penguins as typical inshore foragers showed very consistent foraging patterns at all stages. GPS logger deployments on penguins at Oamaru revealed that the birds foraged almost exclusively at the seafloor and targeted specific areas that featured reefs or epibenthic communities. As a result, the penguins� at-sea movements appeared conservative and at times almost stereotypic. Nevertheless, a comparison of Yellow-eyed penguins breeding on the adjacent Codfish and Stewart islands revealed a degree of plasticity in the species� foraging behaviour. Birds from Codfish Island extended their foraging ranges considerably and switched from primarily bottom to mid-water foraging during the post-guard stage of breeding. It seems likely that this switch is a result of enhanced feeding conditions (e.g. increased prey abundance/quality) in an area further away from the island, but the time required to get there renders this strategy not viable when chicks are small and need to be guarded and fed on a daily basis. As such, the change of behaviour represents a traditional pattern rather than a dynamic response to a sudden change in the marine environment. In comparison, penguins from Stewart Island showed consistent foraging patterns during all stages of breeding. Given the high levels of chick starvation on Stewart Island, the lack of plasticity in foraging behaviour is surprising and might indicate that Yellow-eyed penguins find it difficult to react quickly to a sub-optimal food situation. Overall, it seems that Yellow-eyed penguins show a specialisation for a consistent benthic environment and, thus, lack the behavioural flexibility apparent in Snares penguins, which find their food in a changing pelagic marine environment.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves: [52]-55)

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