Young Adélie penguins who have no experience in social interaction may react to false cues when the penguins gather to breed. They may, for instance, attempt to mate with other males, with young chicks or with dead females. On account of the birds’ relatively human-like appearance and behavior, human observers have interpreted this behavior anthropomorphically as sexual deviance. The first to record such behavior was Dr. Levick, in 1911 and 1912, but his notes were deemed too indecent for publication at the time; they were rediscovered and published in 2012. “The pamphlet, declined for publication with the official Scott expedition reports, commented on the frequency of sexual activity, auto-erotic behaviour, and seemingly aberrant behaviour of young unpaired males and females, including necrophilia, sexual coercion, sexual and physical abuse of chicks and homosexual behaviour,” states the analysis written by Douglas Russell and colleagues William Sladen and David Ainley. “His observations were, however, accurate, valid and, with the benefit of hindsight, deserving of publication.”[12][13] Levick observed the Adélie penguins at Cape Adare, the site of the largest Adelie penguin rookery in the world.[14] As of June 2012[update], he has been the only one to study this particular colony and he observed it for an entire breeding cycle.[13] The discovery significantly illuminates the behaviour of the species that some researchers[15] believe to be an indicator of climate change.[13]
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