Penguin Tracks Far Inland in the Antarctic

Abstract

THE breeding places of Antarctic penguins are along the coast. These truly aquatic birds are known to travel great distances at sea, but there are very few records of wanderings inland. Wilson (1907: 57) mentions that Adelie Penguins, Pygoscelis adeliae, have been seen on. the Ross Ice Shelf, about 110 kilometers inland from the sea. Recently, a fairly well-preserved carcass of an Adelie Penguin was found lying on bare ground 24 kilometers from the sea near mummified Crabeater Seals, Lobodon carcinophages, in the MAIcMIurdo Sound area (Pewe, Rivard, and Llano, 1959). The present paper reports on two penguin tracks that were found, within a day of each other, by two U.S. traverse teams during the International Geophysical Year, 1957-1958. One track was about 300 kilometers (186 miles) and the other about 400 kilometers (250 miles) from the nearest known sea. The first was seen on 31 December 1957 by N. B. Augenbaugh, who was a member of the Ellsworth Station traverse party traveling on the Filchner Ice Shelf. At approximately 67?00'W, 78o50'S, and at an elevation of about 61 meters (200 feet), the party came across an indistinct track in the snow. Photographs convinced us that it was made by a walking penguin (Figure 1). Although positive identification was not possible, the track was most likely made by an Emperor Penguin, Aptenodytes forsteri. The track was running east-west; however, the direction of the bird could not be ascertained. This bird wvas over 400 kilometers from the known edge of the Filchner Ice Shelf and about 500 kilometers from the nearest (and recently discovered) Emperor rookery in Gould Bay farther southeast (Figure 3). The second observation was made on 1 January 1958 during the Byrd Station traverse. When traveling on the Ellsworth Highland, between Kohler Range and the Sentinel Mountains, at 77'30'S, 98?54'W, and at an elevation of 1,440 meters (4,720 feet), the party crossed a recently made penguin track in the snow (Figure 3). The bird was heading South 200 East true in a remarkably straight line. The track was followed for about 2 kilometers, and over this distance it showed less than a 20 deviation in direction. The bird had walked for only two meters; for the rest of the way, it had tobogganed on its belly. The size of the footprints was 8 x 5 cm. and the standing stride 30 cm. The width of the groove caused by the breast of the tobogganing bird was 6 to 9 cm. When tobogganing, a penguin propells itself with its feet. The distance