Penguins sleep for few seconds at a time over 24 hours to protect eggs: Study

Having a baby is not just giving birth to a new life. All that follows puts a major strain on the lives of new parents. Take for example the very early days when the infant has no sleep schedule, or any schedule at all. Calming a crying child at say 4 am at night becomes just another thing for the parents.

The strain of looking after their offsprings is common to all species.

A study has revealed a unique method devised by penguins in Antarctica that enables them to take care of their eggs and their young ones round-the-clock. The study says that Chinstrap Penguins in Antarctica use 'microsleep' to be on guard round the clock. These microsleeps last only for about four seconds at a time and hence these penguins can take thousands of such 'power naps' during the day, the study says. When totalled, these microsleeps come to 11 hours per day. But with a four-second nap, the penguin parents can be ever-vigilant to guard their eggs and chicks.

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“These penguins look like drowsy drivers, blinking their eyes open and shut, and they do it 24/7 for several weeks at a time,” said Niels Rattenborg as quoted by the Associated Press.

“What’s surprising is that they’re able to function OK and successfully raise their young,” he said.

Rattenborg is a sleep researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence in Germany. He is the co-author of the study reportedthe AP.

The need to be on guard

The Chinstrap penguins breed in November. The mated pairs build nests of stones and lay the eggs. One penguin takes the parental responsibility while the other hunts for food for both of them, and later also for chicks.

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The adults of these penguins don't have many natural predators but birds called brown skuas are after their eggs and small chicks. There is also a possibility of other adult penguins stealing stones from the nests.

The study

For their study, the scientists reportedly tracked the sleeping behaviour of Chinstrap penguins in Antarctica by attaching sensors to their heads. Fourteen penguins on King George Island off the coast of Antarctica were fitted with these sensors. The observations were made over 11 days.

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The researchers found that member of the pair who was incubating the eggs or looking after newborns took 'microsleeps'. One of the co-authors of the study has been quoted by AP as saying that more research was needed to conclusively prove that microsleep had same benefit as that of consolidated sleep but the method adopted by the penguins may certainly have restorative benefits.

(With inputs from agencies)