Résumé
1. Long-term photographic recordings of animal populations provide unique
insights in ecological and evolutionary processes. However, image
acquisition at remote locations under harsh climatic conditions is highly
challenging. 2. We present a robust, energetically self-sufficient and
remote-controlled observatory designed to operate year-round in the
Antarctic at temperatures below -50 °C and wind speeds above 150 km/h. The
observatory is equipped with multiple overview cameras and a high
resolution steerable camera with a telephoto lens for capturing images
with high spatial and temporal resolution. 3. Our observatory has been in
operation since 2013 to investigate an emperor penguin (Aptenodytes
forsteri) colony at Atka Bay near the German Neumayer III research
station. Data recorded by this observatory give novel biological insights
in animal life cycle and demographic trends, but also in collective and
individual behaviour. As an example, we present data showing how wind
speed and direction influence movements of the entire colony and of
individual penguins. We also estimate daily fluctuations in the total
number of individuals present at the breeding site. 4. Our results
demonstrate that remote-controlled observation systems can bridge the gap
between remote sensing, simple time-lapse recording setups, and on-site
observations by human investigators to collect unique biological datasets
of undisturbed animal populations.