Re: Great in the air, not so good underwater

[jrc <jrccea@bellsouth.net>]

Size in terms of body mass, or size in terms of wing area?  My hunch 
(without having access to more information) is that the authors were 
referring to mass.  If so, that would imply that the Guillmots and 
razorbills have larger wings than penguins of similar mass.  If so, it is to 
be expected that when swimming, they would stroke at a lower frequency than 
penguins, due to the additional loading on their relatively larger wings. 
If by size, they meant that wing size is similar, then that is interesting.
JimC

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dann Pigdon" <dannj@alphalink.com.au

> Guillemots and razorbills use their wings for both flying and swimming, 
> and underwater they stroke at a lower frequency than other seabirds of a 
> similar size, such as penguins, suggesting inefficiency for their size...