1. The most western little penguin colony globally, and the most northern in Western Australia (WA) is found on Penguin Island, WA. The penguins use coastal bays that are also used extensively by recreational watercraft. These penguins have been found to either dive predominantly to shallow depths of 1–5 m or to depths >8 m. It is thus hypothesized that (a) both the shallow and deeper diving penguins can potentially be disturbed or injured by these watercraft but that the risk will differ between the two diving strategies, and (b) that risk of injury for both is greater during the summer and autumn, when people are more likely to use watercraft.
2. This was tested by attaching data loggers to little penguins during chick rearing and by investigating necropsy records. Diving activity was studied for the very shallow and relatively deeper diving penguins separately, and we considered the penguins were vulnerable to interactions with watercraft when they were within the top 2 m of the water column or at the surface.
3. Shallow‐diving penguins executed >1,200 dives per day, 64% of dives occurred within the top 2 m, and they were vulnerable for approximately two‐thirds of their time at sea. The deeper diving penguins executed fewer dives. Almost half of dives were to ≥10 m, yet they were vulnerable for almost one‐third of their time at sea. Their post‐dive recovery was also longer. Thus, the risk of interaction from watercraft differs depending on the diving behaviour.
4. This study highlights the potential impact to little penguins throughout Australia and New Zealand.

中文翻译：

---

小企鹅在西澳大利亚州的潜水行为使其容易受到船只伤害的危险

1. 全球最西部的小企鹅群落和西澳大利亚州（WA）的最北部位于华盛顿州的企鹅岛。企鹅使用沿海海湾，休闲船只也广泛使用它们。已经发现这些企鹅主要潜入1–5 m的浅深度或> 8 m的深度。因此，可以假设：（a）浅潜企鹅和深潜企鹅都可能受到这些船只的干扰或伤害，但是两种潜水策略之间的风险会有所不同，并且（b）在潜水过程中，两种企鹅的受伤风险都更大。夏季和秋季，人们更倾向于使用船只。
2. 通过在雏鸡饲养过程中将数据记录器连接到小企鹅并调查尸检记录进行了测试。分别对非常浅和相对较深的潜水企鹅进行了潜水活动研究，我们认为当企鹅在水柱顶部2 m之内或在水面时，它们很容易与船只发生相互作用。
3. 浅潜水企鹅每天要进行1200次以上的潜水，其中64％的潜水发生在最上面的2 m之内，并且它们大约有三分之二的海上时间处于脆弱状态。潜水企鹅越深，潜水次数就越少。几乎一半的潜水深度≥10m，但它们在海上的时间中却有近三分之一处于脆弱状态。他们的潜水后恢复时间也更长。因此，根据潜水行为，水上飞机相互作用的风险会有所不同。
4. 这项研究突出了整个澳大利亚和新西兰对小企鹅的潜在影响。