THE GENERAL BIOLOGY OF PENGUINS
145
from upwelling. Between Saldanha and Walvis Bays mean annual sea
temperature is 14°C with annual range only 3-4°C; air temperatures
average 1-2” higher throughout the year. Blackfooted penguins nest on
guano-covered islands close to the shore, laying throughout the year,
with peaks in February and September. Individuals breed twice annually, laying clutches of two in earth burrows or under rock ledges. The
birds are active on land during the day, but suffer from direct insolation
if no shade is available. Shoaling fish are plentiful throughout the year
(Kearton, 1930, Rand, 1960).
c. Australia and New Zealand
Southern Australia and much of New Zealand lie in mixed tropical
water (cf. Knox, 1960, p. 583-584 - “cold temperate mixed” and
“transitional warm temperate” waters), and provide breeding grounds
for the eudyptulid penguins. Cooler conditions in southern New Zealand
allow the crested genus Eudyptes and Megadyptes to gain a footing from
the southern cool temperate islands.
Australia and northern New Zealand. Northern Blue or Fairy penguins
live in tropical waters at temperatures of 12°C to 21”C, from Fremantle
to New Zealand. In summer, part or” the warm East Australian current
flows clockwise past Tasmania and Cape Leeuwin; in winter the flow
persists southward along the east coast, but a counter-clockwise stream
flows southward down the west coast and eastward toward Bass Strait.
Cooled in summer and warmed in winter, South-Western Australia
therefore has an annual sea temperature range of only 3-4°C (Schott,
1935, pp. 24-26, 29, 30). The range is slightly higher ( 4 4 ° C ) about
Tasmania and southern Victoria, and higher still ( 6 6 ° C ) in northern
New Zealand, where southerly water from the West Wind Drift cools the
coast, especially in winter. Mean air temperatures at coastal stations are
controlled largely by sea temperatures, but air temperature ranges show
the influence of alternating air masses from northern and southern
oceans, and from continental Australia (Fig. 7 - Fremantle, Sydney,
Albany, Bass Strait, Bay of Islands). Northern Blue penguins lay two
eggs in caverns or burrows, or under dense vegetation, usually close to
the sea but sometimes on higher slopes (Warham, 1958, p. 606; Kinsky,
1960, p. 154). They lay from late July to November in northern New
Zealand (Kinsky, 1960, p. 160).
Southern New Zealand and Stswart Island. West Wind Drift water,
warmed by mixing with tropical Tasman Sea water, flows eastward past
the South Island (Knox, 1960, p. 579-585). The west coast is heavily
forested and wet; east and north-east coasts are corqparatively dry and
warm, with open forest, or tussock grassland. Sea and air temperatures
and hours of sunshine decline rapidly toward the south (Fig. 7 - Banks
145
from upwelling. Between Saldanha and Walvis Bays mean annual sea
temperature is 14°C with annual range only 3-4°C; air temperatures
average 1-2” higher throughout the year. Blackfooted penguins nest on
guano-covered islands close to the shore, laying throughout the year,
with peaks in February and September. Individuals breed twice annually, laying clutches of two in earth burrows or under rock ledges. The
birds are active on land during the day, but suffer from direct insolation
if no shade is available. Shoaling fish are plentiful throughout the year
(Kearton, 1930, Rand, 1960).
c. Australia and New Zealand
Southern Australia and much of New Zealand lie in mixed tropical
water (cf. Knox, 1960, p. 583-584 - “cold temperate mixed” and
“transitional warm temperate” waters), and provide breeding grounds
for the eudyptulid penguins. Cooler conditions in southern New Zealand
allow the crested genus Eudyptes and Megadyptes to gain a footing from
the southern cool temperate islands.
Australia and northern New Zealand. Northern Blue or Fairy penguins
live in tropical waters at temperatures of 12°C to 21”C, from Fremantle
to New Zealand. In summer, part or” the warm East Australian current
flows clockwise past Tasmania and Cape Leeuwin; in winter the flow
persists southward along the east coast, but a counter-clockwise stream
flows southward down the west coast and eastward toward Bass Strait.
Cooled in summer and warmed in winter, South-Western Australia
therefore has an annual sea temperature range of only 3-4°C (Schott,
1935, pp. 24-26, 29, 30). The range is slightly higher ( 4 4 ° C ) about
Tasmania and southern Victoria, and higher still ( 6 6 ° C ) in northern
New Zealand, where southerly water from the West Wind Drift cools the
coast, especially in winter. Mean air temperatures at coastal stations are
controlled largely by sea temperatures, but air temperature ranges show
the influence of alternating air masses from northern and southern
oceans, and from continental Australia (Fig. 7 - Fremantle, Sydney,
Albany, Bass Strait, Bay of Islands). Northern Blue penguins lay two
eggs in caverns or burrows, or under dense vegetation, usually close to
the sea but sometimes on higher slopes (Warham, 1958, p. 606; Kinsky,
1960, p. 154). They lay from late July to November in northern New
Zealand (Kinsky, 1960, p. 160).
Southern New Zealand and Stswart Island. West Wind Drift water,
warmed by mixing with tropical Tasman Sea water, flows eastward past
the South Island (Knox, 1960, p. 579-585). The west coast is heavily
forested and wet; east and north-east coasts are corqparatively dry and
warm, with open forest, or tussock grassland. Sea and air temperatures
and hours of sunshine decline rapidly toward the south (Fig. 7 - Banks