Interactive Penguin Tracking
All Migrating Penguins
Tracking Migration of Magellanic Penguins
Thanks to the generous funding by Zoo Augsburg in Germany, Kathryn Wagner, and the Wildlife Conservation Society, Ginger Rebstock and Eric Wagner (no relationship to Kathryn) traveled to Punta Tombo, Argentina in April 2023. They attached satellite-tracking tags to 20 Magellanic penguins for their fall migration (10 females and 10 males), to supplement the migration data from 2022 and investigate interannual variation in migratory behavior.
The overall goal of the study is to determine where penguins spend the austral fall and winter, and where they might come into conflict with fishing, shipping, or pollution. Former Center postdoctoral researcher Tasha Gownaris showed that more females than males die at sea during the winter. Learning whether females and males migrate to the same locations can help us understand why, and help inform policies to protect the females.
For our website, we named the penguins after notable Argentines (see lists below). We hope you enjoy learning about some of the people who helped shape this fascinating country.
We invite you to explore the interactive maps on this page by clicking on any one of the penguins’ names on the maps.
2022-2023 Migration Comparison
Here we see the migration tracks from 2022 and 2023 within the same time period of early April to July 24. Notice how the penguins swam further north within the same time period last year than they did this year. Do you see any other differences between the years?
Will this year’s penguins reach the same latitude as the penguins from last year by the end of the migratory season? Was last year’s longer migration typical, or atypical? These are the types of questions we can start to answer by continuing our long term monitoring study of penguins. Help us continue our studies by donating to the Center for Ecosystem Sentinels.
Migrating Females
Ana María: Ana María Gayoso (1948-2004), marine biologist, phytoplankton specialist, started long-term study in Bahía Blanca (Argentina) Estuary.
Chichi: Evelia Edith Oyhenart (1955-2021), biological anthropologist who studied child growth, nutrition, and human adaptation.
Ernestina: Ernestina Laura Herrara de Noble (1925-2017), publisher, newspaper director, and executive, Grupo Clarín media conglomerate.
Evita: María Eva Duarte de Perón (1919-1952), politician, activist, actress, philanthropist, First Lady of Argentina from 1946 to 1952.
La Negra: Amanda Beatriz Peralta (1939-2009), guerrilla fighter against the military dictatorship in Argentina, one of the founders of the Fuerzas Armadas Peronistas (FAP).
Libertad: Libertad Lamarque Bouza (1908-2000), actress and singer, famous throughout Latin America, known as “La Novia de América”, appeared in 65 films and six telenovelas, and recorded over 800 songs.
Lola Mora: Dolores Candelaria Mora Vega (1866-1936), pioneering sculptor, created public works in marble and granite, including fountains and statues in government buildings in Buenos Aires.
Rebeca: Rebeca Cherep de Guber (1926-2020), pioneering computer scientist, mathematician, university professor, and textbook author.
Yolanda: Yolanda Ortiz (1923 or 1924-2019), chemist, Argentine Secretary of Natural Resources and Human Environment, namesake of the 2020 “Yolanda Law” which requires public officials in Argentina to have training in environmental issues and climate change.
Yoyi: Renée Slotopolsky de Epelbaum (1920-1998), human rights activist, one of the founders of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, the Argentine human rights group founded to locate people who disappeared during Argentina’s “Dirty War” and to hold the culprits accountable.
Migrating Males
Atahualpa: Atahualpa Yupanqui (Héctor Roberto Chavero Aramburu, 1908-1992), singer, songwriter, guitarist, writer, folk musician. His stage name honors two Incan kings.
Borges: Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (1899-1986), writer, essayist, poet, philosopher, editor, critic, and translator.
Che: Ernesto “Che” Guevara (1928-1967), Marxist revolutionary, guerilla, physician, diplomat, author, counterculture symbol.
Diego: Diego Armando Maradona (1960-2020), football (soccer) player and manager, joint winner of the FIFA Player of the 20th Century award.
El Chueco: Juan Manuel Fangio (1911-1995), Formula One racecar driver, five-time World Drivers’ Champion.
Ernesto: Ernesto Sábato (1911-2011), novelist, essayist, painter, and physicist. Author of Sobre Héroes y Tumbas (1961).
Favaloro: René Gerónimo Favaloro (1923-2000), cardiac surgeon, pioneered work on coronary artery bypass surgery.
Francis: Jorge Mario Bergoglio (born 1936), Pope Francis. First pope from the Americas and from the southern hemisphere. First non-European pope since the 8th century. First Jesuit pope.
Gato: Carlos Alberto Dumas (1938-2004), chef and restaurateur, founder of the largest culinary school in Latin America (Instituto Gato Dumas).
Gauchito Gil: Antonio Gil (1840s-1878), prominent folk hero in Argentina, honored by roadside shrines with red flags. Considered a folk saint and Robin Hood figure by many.
Source: Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, April 15-17, 2023.