Flipper-bands on penguins: what is the cost of a life-long commitment?

Abstract

Adelie penguins Pygoscelis adeliae were introduced into a 21m long still-water tunnel. Birds were either immediately marked with a flipper band and tested in the tunnel for 2 h, and then taken out and tested again after removal of the band, or vice-versa. Flipper bands significantly increased the power input of Adelie penguins during swimming by 24% over the speed range of 1.4-2.2m s-1, from 17 W kg-1 to 21.1 W kg-1. Implications of banding on foraging performance and survival of penguins are discussed. Implantable passive transponders could help overcome such problems. -from Authors