Hardly hard-hearted: heart rate responses of incubating Northern Giant Petrels (Macronectes halli) to human disturbance on sub-Antarctic Marion Island

Abstract

Guidelines for visitors to sub-Antarctic Marion Island recommend 15 and 100 m minimum approach distances for breeding Northern (Macronectes halli) and Southern (Macronectes giganteus) Giant Petrels, respectively. Using artificial eggs containing FM transmitters, we measured the heart rate responses of incubating Northern Giant Petrels to pedestrian approaches. The mean resting heart rate was 80 beats per minute. Heart rates increased upon the detection of a person approximately 40 m away, and continued to increase during the approach to 5 m. Maximum increases over resting heart rate in response to natural disturbances and human approach were 97 and 204%, respectively. Northern Giant Petrels appear at least as sensitive to human disturbance as their congenerics. While low-key disturbance is unlikely to affect this solitary breeder as severely as it would the colonial Southern Giant Petrel, improved protection from disturbance could be achieved by restricting human passage through breeding colonies of Northern Giant Petrels to defined paths.