Penguins Changed Diet Due to Whaling, Study Suggests

[Orstio]

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/07/070720-penguins-whales.html

Extensive whale and seal hunting in Antarctica over the past 200 years appears to have triggered a shift in the diet of Adélie penguins, a new study suggests.

The seabirds abandoned fish in favor of krill, shrimp-like crustaceans that are a major component in the diets of fur seals and baleen whales.

The finding supports a theory that Antarctic sealing and whaling led to a krill population explosion, and the penguins apparently took advantage of the surplus.