Precision stellar radial velocity measurements with FIDEOS at the ESO 1-m telescope of La Silla

We present results from the commissioning and early science programs of FIDEOS, the new high-resolution echelle spectrograph developed at the Centre of Astro Engineering of Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, and recently installed at the ESO 1m telescope of La Silla. The instrument provides spectral resolution R = 43,000 in the visible spectral range 420-800 nm, reaching a limiting magnitude of 11 in V band. Precision in the measurement of radial velocity is guaranteed by light feeding with an octagonal optical fibre, suitable mechanical isolation, thermal stabilisation, and simultaneous wavelength calibration. Currently the instrument reaches radial velocity stability of = 8 m/s over several consecutive nights of observation

Lip-reading in remote subjects: An attempt to quantify and separate ingestion, breathing and vocalisation in free-living animals

A new mandibular sensor is presented here based on the use of a Hall sensor, attached to one mandible, opposite a magnet, attached to the other mandible. Changes in sensor voltage, proportional to magnetic field strength, and thus inter-mandibular angle, are recorded in a logger. This system was tested on seven captive Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) and three gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) during: (1) feeding trials on land, where birds were given known quantities and types of food; and (2) trials in water where birds were allowed to swim and dive freely. In addition, six free-living Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) were equipped with the system for single foraging trips. Angular signatures were looked for in instances when both captive and free-living birds might open their beaks, and it was discovered that five major behaviours could be identified: ingestion, breathing, calling, head shaking and preening. Captive feeding trials showed that prey mass could be determined with reasonable accuracy (r 2=0.92), and there was some indication that prey type could be resolved if recording frequency were high enough. Vocalisations in Adélie penguins (arc calls) took <0.7 s for mean maximum beak angles of 4.2° (SD 1.3), and were distinguished by their relatively gradual change in beak angle and by their high degree of symmetry. Beak shakings were distinguishable by their short duration (multiple peaks of <0.5 s) and minimal maximum angle (<0.5°). Preening behaviour was apparent due to multiple decreasing peaks (angles <8°). Breathing could be subdivided into that during porpoising, where a characteristic double peak in beak angle was recorded, and that during normal surface rests between dives. During porpoising, only the primary peak (mean maximum beak angle 25.1°, SD 4.7) occurred when the bird was out of the water (mean maximum for second peak 5.9°, SD 4.1). During normal surface rests in free-living birds, breaths could be distinguished as a series of beak openings and closures, showing variation in amplitude and frequency according to an apparent recovery from the previous dive and preparation for the subsequent dive to come. The mandibular measuring system presented shows considerable promise for elucidating many hitherto intractable aspects of the behaviour of free-living animals

ECG Response of Koalas to Tourists Proximity: A Preliminary Study

Koalas operate on a tight energy budget and, thus, may not always display behavioral avoidance reaction when placed in a stressful condition. We investigated the physiological response of captive koalas Phascolarctos cinereus in a conservation centre to the presence of tourists walking through their habitat. We compared, using animal-attached data-recorders, the electrocardiogram activity of female koalas in contact with tourists and in a human-free area. One of the koalas in the tourist zone presented elevated heart rate values and variability throughout the recording period. The remaining female in the exhibit area showed a higher field resting heart rates during the daytime than that in the isolated area. In the evening, heart rate profiles changed drastically and both the koalas in the exhibit and in the tourist-free zones displayed similar field resting heart rates, which were lower than those during the day. In parallel, the autonomic nervous systems of these two individuals evolved from sympathetic-dominant during the day to parasympathetic-dominant in the evening. Our results report ECG of free-living koalas for the first time. Although they are preliminary due to the difficulty of having sufficient samples of animals of the same sex and age, our results stress out the importance of studies investigating the physiological reaction of animals to tourists

Can Thermoclines Be a Cue to Prey Distribution for Marine Top Predators? A Case Study with Little Penguins

The use of top predators as bio-platforms is a modern approach to understanding how physical changes in the environment may influence their foraging success. This study examined if the presence of thermoclines could be a reliable signal of resource availability for a marine top predator, the little penguin (Eudyptula minor). We studied weekly foraging activity of 43 breeding individual penguins equipped with accelerometers. These loggers also recorded water temperature, which we used to detect changes in thermal characteristics of their foraging zone over 5 weeks during the penguin’s guard phase. Data showed the thermocline was detected in the first 3 weeks of the study, which coincided with higher foraging efficiency. When a thermocline was not detected in the last two weeks, foraging efficiency decreased as well. We suggest that thermoclines can represent temporary markers of enhanced food availability for this top-predator to which they must optimally adjust their breeding cycle

Acceleration predicts energy expenditure in a fat, flightless, diving bird

Funding The project was supported logistically by the French Polar Institute and funded by the PEW fellowship to Y.R.-C., the WWF-UK, and the Zone Atelier Antarctique et Terres Australes from the CNRS. D.M.W. received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska‐Curie Individual Fellowship Grant Agreement No. 748026.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Micropolíticas del movimiento: aportes metodológicos desde la investigación cualitativa crítica

There is not much development of the theoretical, methodological, and empirical implications of adopting a feminist stance in social and urban research. In this text, three qualitative researchers venture to the challenge posed by the reflective exercise of putting in the foreground and in the first person their onto-epistemological positions in the methodological design of social research, especially when they are applied in uneven urban contexts. Based on their own experiences producing qualitative data in motion in the cities of Chaitén, Santiago and Barcelona, key guidelines are offered to make qualitative research a way of building conscious knowledge of the logics of power, thus avoiding the risk of calling it a critical discipline only as a way of renaming it, devoid of its ethical, political and practical implication. Existe poco desarrollo de las implicancias teóricas, metodológicas y empíricas de adoptar una postura feminista en investigación social y urbana. En el presente texto, tres investigadoras cualitativas se aventuran al desafío que supone el ejercicio reflexivo de traer al frente y en primera persona sus posiciones onto-epistemológicas en el diseño metodológico de la investigación social, en especial cuando son aplicadas en contextos urbanos desiguales. A partir de sus propias experiencias produciendo datos cualitativos en movimiento en las ciudades de Chaitén, Santiago y Barcelona, se ofrecen lineamientos claves para hacer de la investigación cualitativa un modo de construir conocimiento consciente de las lógicas de poder, evitando así el riesgo de apellidar crítica a la disciplina sólo como una forma de rebautizarla, vacía de su impacto ético, político y práctico

Vision and Foraging in Cormorants: More like Herons than Hawks?

Background Great cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo L.) show the highest known foraging yield for a marine predator and they are often perceived to be in conflict with human economic interests. They are generally regarded as visually-guided, pursuit-dive foragers, so it would be expected that cormorants have excellent vision much like aerial predators, such as hawks which detect and pursue prey from a distance. Indeed cormorant eyes appear to show some specific adaptations to the amphibious life style. They are reported to have a highly pliable lens and powerful intraocular muscles which are thought to accommodate for the loss of corneal refractive power that accompanies immersion and ensures a well focussed image on the retina. However, nothing is known of the visual performance of these birds and how this might influence their prey capture technique. Methodology/Principal Findings We measured the aquatic visual acuity of great cormorants under a range of viewing conditions (illuminance, target contrast, viewing distance) and found it to be unexpectedly poor. Cormorant visual acuity under a range of viewing conditions is in fact comparable to unaided humans under water, and very inferior to that of aerial predators. We present a prey detectability model based upon the known acuity of cormorants at different illuminances, target contrasts and viewing distances. This shows that cormorants are able to detect individual prey only at close range (less than 1 m). Conclusions/Significance We conclude that cormorants are not the aquatic equivalent of hawks. Their efficient hunting involves the use of specialised foraging techniques which employ brief short-distance pursuit and/or rapid neck extension to capture prey that is visually detected or flushed only at short range. This technique appears to be driven proximately by the cormorant's limited visual capacities, and is analogous to the foraging techniques employed by herons

Towards the integration of animal-borne instruments into global ocean observing systems

Funding: BBVA Foundation (“Ayudas Fundación BBVA a Equipos de Investigación Científica 2016”) and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 794938; Spanish Government (grant “Juan de la Cierva-Formación” FJCI-2014-20064, grant “José Castillejo” CAS17/00193) (D.M.).Marine animals are increasingly instrumented with environmental sensors that provide large volumes of oceanographic data. Here, we conduct an innovative and comprehensive global analysis to determine the potential contribution of animal‐borne instruments (ABI) into ocean observing systems (OOSs) and provide a foundation to establish future integrated ocean monitoring programmes. We analyse the current gaps of the long‐term Argo observing system (>1.5 million profiles) and assess its spatial overlap with the distribution of marine animals across eight major species groups (tuna and billfishes, sharks and rays, marine turtles, pinnipeds, cetaceans, sirenians, flying seabirds and penguins). We combine distribution ranges of 183 species and satellite tracking observations from >3,000 animals. Our analyses identify potential areas where ABI could complement OOS. Specifically, ABI have the potential to fill gaps in marginal seas, upwelling areas, the upper 10 m of the water column, shelf regions and polewards of 60° latitude. Our approach provides the global baseline required to plan the integration of ABI into global and regional OOS while integrating conservation and ocean monitoring priorities.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe