Branding Elephant Seals for life-history studies

In 1949 the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE) began a long-term ecological study of the Southern Elephant Seal ( Mirounga leonina ) at HeardIsland. The biologists devised a method of branding seals for individual recognition (Chittleborough and Ealey, 1953) which has been mo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar Record
Main Author: Ingham, Susan E.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1967
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400057764
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247400057764
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Summary:In 1949 the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE) began a long-term ecological study of the Southern Elephant Seal ( Mirounga leonina ) at HeardIsland. The biologists devised a method of branding seals for individual recognition (Chittleborough and Ealey, 1953) which has been modified only in detail since then (Carrick and Ingham, 1962 a ). At Heard Island, pups were branded every year until 1953, but the study here came to an end with the closing of the ANARE station in 1955. At Macquarie Island, pups have been branded every year from 1951 to 1965, giving a sample of individuals of known age and known history.