Effects of helicopter operations on emperor penguin chicks

Creching emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) chickswere exposed to two overflights by an S-76 twin engine helicopter at 1000 m: a current operational guideline for helicopter activity in Antarctica. The flights were conducted on the same day but under different wind conditions: a morning flight with a 10 kt (18 km.hr-1) katabatic blowing perpendicular to the direction of helicopter travel and an afternoon flight with virtually no wind. Background noise levels recorded in the morning, before the helicopter flight, were significantly higher than in the afternoon, but these differences were not detectable when the helicopter was overhead. There were also no significant differences in the way chicks responded to helicopters between the morning and afternoon flight. All chicks became more vigilant when the helicopter approached and 69% either walked or ran, generally moving less than 10 m toward other chicks (i.e. not scattering). Most chicks (83%) displayed flipper-flapping, probably indicating nervous apprehension. This behaviour was seldom displayed in the absence of disturbance. Although all effects were relatively transitory, results support the introduction of more conservative guidelines for helicopter operations around breeding localities of this species.The fields in this dataset are:TimeActionDateLyingStandingWalkingPreeningFlapping

育幼群居的帝企鹅（Aptenodytes forsteri）幼雏接受了两架S-76双发直升机在1000米高度的两次飞越作业，该飞行高度符合当前南极直升机活动的作业规范。两次飞行于同日开展，但风力条件存在差异：上午飞行时，10节（18 km·hr⁻¹）的下降风垂直于直升机行进方向吹刮；下午飞行时则几乎无风。直升机起飞前的上午背景噪声水平显著高于下午，但当直升机飞抵头顶空域时，该噪声差异便无法被侦测到。上午与下午的飞行中，幼雏对直升机的响应模式亦无显著差异。当直升机接近时，所有幼雏均会提升警觉性，其中69%的个体选择行走或奔跑，通常仅移动不足10米以靠近其他幼雏（即未出现四散逃离的情况）。多数幼雏（83%）展现出鳍肢拍动行为，该行为大概率代表其处于紧张不安的状态；此类行为在无外界干扰的前提下极少出现。尽管所有影响均相对短暂，但本研究结果支持针对该物种繁殖区域出台更为保守的直升机作业规范。本数据集包含以下字段：时间（Time）、行为（Action）、日期（Date）、趴卧（Lying）、站立（Standing）、行走（Walking）、理羽（Preening）、鳍肢拍动（Flapping）。