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First published online September 19, 2008
Journal of Experimental Biology 211, 3123-3127 (2008)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2008
doi: 10.1242/jeb.018325

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African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) can detect dimethyl sulphide, a prey-related odour

Gregory B. Cunningham^1,*, Venessa Strauss² and Peter G. Ryan¹

¹ Percy FitzPatrick Institute DST/NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
² Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds, PO Box 11116, Bloubergrand 7443, South Africa

^* Author for correspondence at present address: Department of Biology, St John Fisher College, 3690 East Avenue, Rochester, New York, NY 14618, USA (e-mail: gcunningham{at}sjfc.edu)

Accepted 15 July 2008

Although it is well established that certain procellariiform seabirds use odour cues to find prey, it is not clear whether penguins use olfactory cues to forage. It is commonly assumed that penguins lack a sense of smell, yet they are closely related to procellariiforms and forage on similar types of prey in similar areas to many procellariiforms. Such regions are characterized by having high levels of dimethyl sulphide (DMS) a scented compound that many marine animals use to locate foraging grounds. If penguins can smell, DMS may be a biologically relevant scented compound that they may be sensitive to in nature. To test this hypothesis, we investigated whether adult African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) could detect DMS using two separate experiments. We tested wild penguins on Robben Island, South Africa, by deploying µmolar DMS solutions in the colonies, and found that birds slowed down their walking speeds. We also tested captive penguins in a Y-maze. In both cases, our data convincingly demonstrate that African penguins have a functioning sense of smell and are attracted to DMS. The implication of this work is that the detection of changes in the odour landscape (DMS) may assist penguins in identifying productive areas of the ocean for foraging. At-sea studies are needed to investigate this issue further.

Key words: olfaction, African penguin, Spheniscus demersus, dimethyl sulphide, foraging behaviour

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