Day in the life of a penguin counter

Press, 16 January 1986, Page 17

Day in the life of a penguin counter

By

MARGARET BAKER

Penguin counters are a rare breed.

They can be caught in their habitat only for two weeks at the end of November. A penguin counter is one of those elusive, yet vital figures who disappear down to the Antarctic at the start of each summer.

So, if you have wondered just what it was all those people do down on the ice, a small part of the mystery has been revealed. A few of them, every year, spend their days counting penguins. Forty thousand of them.

If they know how many there are why do they go back each year and count again? You may well ask.

The answer is that the count is as accurate as possible, and any fluctuation in the penguin population could be the result of some kind of environmental change. We have our plants, our economy, our international relations, as barometers to our environment and society. The Antarctic has its penguins. This year’s “Event Kiwi 203” was conducted by a D.S.I.R. crop researcher, Lynda Logan, a zoology student, Rachel Brown, and a plant breeder and amateur ornithologist, John Fennell.

A day in the life of this trio of penguin counters consisted of walking the pack ice and beach at Cape Bird, and taking account of all the Adelie penguins on ridges, hills, and wide flat expanses. The count, a 20-year project, is part of an International Survey of Antarctic Seabirds. The survey itself is part of U.N.E.S.C.O.’s Biomass Scheme.

“Basically, it’s to see what’s there,” says Ms Brown. “And to investigate any population fluctuation that might occur — to see if people and their activities are affecting the environment.” Funded by the Antarctic Division, the group attended a week’s “on ice” training course at Tekapo in August, and spent their first few days in the Antarctic on a survival course, building igloos and learning basic snowcraft.

A 100 km helicopter ride took them from Scott Base to Cape Bird, where they spent the rest of their visit.

The second half of November was chosen for the count because

this is when the penguins come ashore for mating and breeding. “We count the breeders while they sit on the eggs. Each one represents a pair — the other will be off fishing. They continue this cycle in 10-day shifts,” says Ms Brown. The birds group themselves together in colonies numbering between six and 1500. Some of the colonies stretch for 100 metres, covering hills and ridges. The most common penguin in the Antarctic, the Adelies are generally grouped into a northern and southern rookery. Using handcounters, each person does an estimate of the population. “You can’t be exact with the big colonies, but three people counting individually gives a fairly accurate figure.” Because standing around gets a little cold in the Antarctic, the group worked in short shifts, finding they would get up later and later each morning and work into the “night.” “The radio call at 8.15 a.m. each morning became unbearably early,” says Ms Brown. “At first it was as if I was waiting for something, waiting for a night, but

after a while it all became timeless.”

The group also estimated the number of non-breeders, and a total of 50,000 was reached, slightly up on last year. A penguin counter’s impression of Antarctica may differ from that of people working back at Scott Base, because of the surroundings. Ms Brown says that Cape Bird has a far more “real” feeling than Scott Base or McMurdo.

“Cape Bird has rocks and sea, pack ice cracking and drifting. Scott Base is all snow and ice, surreal almost. Also McMurdo is just big.” The Cape itself is a protected area, home of special types of moss and algae. At the end of two weeks the counters leave their black and white friends behind and return to Scott Base, in time for the opening of the ski season and a bit of sight-seeing before returning home.

Back in Christchurch the study will be written up, and a map of the rookery developed — in time for next year’s penguin counters.