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This Adelie penguin is taking part in a five-week research project conducted
by German scientists from Kiel Oceanographic Institute. The penguin is swimming
in a specially designed tank on Ardley Island in the South Shetlands, where
physiologist Boris Culik and hydrological engineer Rudolf Bannasch are evaluating
the bird’s energy consumption and the dynamics of its swimming stroke.

A new type of logging device is attached just above the animal’s tail.
It records the penguin’s location, depth and speed, and the temperature
and turbidity of the water. Such loggers help researchers to record the
behaviour of penguins when they hunt in the open ocean.

The new design of logger is a big improvement on earlier devices, says
Rory Wilson, a penguin ecologist. ‘The results of the first aerodynamic
tests gave us horrifying news. The old devices reduced the birds’ swimming
efficiency by 80 per cent.’