World’s first video of penguins catching fish in dark waters

by University of Tokyo, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute
May 28, 2025

A research group consisting of Project Researcher Rei Uesaka, Associate Professor Kentaro Sakamoto, Professor Katsufumi Sato, and Research Director Charles-André Bost of the Chizé Institute of Biology at the University of Tokyo’s Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute was the first in the world to successfully capture a king penguin catching fish for food in the dark ocean at a depth of more than 100 meters using a small video camera attached to its back. Detailed analysis of the footage revealed that king penguins have the ability to aim at fish several meters in front of them and quickly catch them without the fish noticing. Furthermore, the king penguins used this method to catch fish one after another with a very high success rate.

Although footage of the moment when several types of penguins catch their food has been captured in the past, all of these were in relatively shallow areas where sunlight reaches. On the other hand, king penguins are large penguins that dive very deep, unlike other penguins. We believe that being able to record these large penguins foraging in the deep ocean where sunlight barely reaches will lead to an understanding of how penguins have adapted to the harsh environment of the ocean.

Keep reading (in Japanese): https://www.aori.u-tokyo.ac.jp/research/news/2025/20250528.html

Read the Ecology paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.70117