Deep divers in even deeper seas: habitat use of male southern elephant seals from Marion Island
Abstract We describe the habitat use of 22 male southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonina ) satellite tagged at Marion Island between 2004 and 2008. While a few areas of increased utilization appeared to be associated with areas of shallower bathymetry (such as sea-floor ridges and fracture zones),...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102012000570 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102012000570 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0954102012000570 2024-03-03T08:39:28+00:00 Deep divers in even deeper seas: habitat use of male southern elephant seals from Marion Island Mcintyre, Trevor Bornemann, Horst Plötz, Joachim Tosh, Cheryl A. Bester, Marthán N. 2012 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102012000570 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102012000570 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Antarctic Science volume 24, issue 6, page 561-570 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography journal-article 2012 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102012000570 2024-02-08T08:45:02Z Abstract We describe the habitat use of 22 male southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonina ) satellite tagged at Marion Island between 2004 and 2008. While a few areas of increased utilization appeared to be associated with areas of shallower bathymetry (such as sea-floor ridges and fracture zones), seals in our study did not target other areas of shallow bathymetry within close proximity to Marion Island. Rather, most elephant seals foraged pelagically over very deep water where much variation was evident in diel vertical migration strategies. These strategies resulted in generally deeper and longer dives than what has been reported for male elephant seals from other colonies. No significant differences were recorded for dive durations or dive depths between adults and sub-adults. However, younger animals displayed a positive relationship between dive durations and age, as well as between dive depths and age, while these relationships became negative for older animals. Mixed model outputs suggested that seals increased their aerobic fitness as migrations progressed, enabling them to undertake longer dives. We conclude that Marion Island male elephant seals exhibit much variability in dive strategy and are seemingly capable of exploiting a range of different prey types occurring in various depth layers. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarctic Science Elephant Seals Marion Island Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seals Cambridge University Press Antarctic Science 24 6 561 570 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography Mcintyre, Trevor Bornemann, Horst Plötz, Joachim Tosh, Cheryl A. Bester, Marthán N. Deep divers in even deeper seas: habitat use of male southern elephant seals from Marion Island |
topic_facet |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography |
description |
Abstract We describe the habitat use of 22 male southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonina ) satellite tagged at Marion Island between 2004 and 2008. While a few areas of increased utilization appeared to be associated with areas of shallower bathymetry (such as sea-floor ridges and fracture zones), seals in our study did not target other areas of shallow bathymetry within close proximity to Marion Island. Rather, most elephant seals foraged pelagically over very deep water where much variation was evident in diel vertical migration strategies. These strategies resulted in generally deeper and longer dives than what has been reported for male elephant seals from other colonies. No significant differences were recorded for dive durations or dive depths between adults and sub-adults. However, younger animals displayed a positive relationship between dive durations and age, as well as between dive depths and age, while these relationships became negative for older animals. Mixed model outputs suggested that seals increased their aerobic fitness as migrations progressed, enabling them to undertake longer dives. We conclude that Marion Island male elephant seals exhibit much variability in dive strategy and are seemingly capable of exploiting a range of different prey types occurring in various depth layers. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mcintyre, Trevor Bornemann, Horst Plötz, Joachim Tosh, Cheryl A. Bester, Marthán N. |
author_facet |
Mcintyre, Trevor Bornemann, Horst Plötz, Joachim Tosh, Cheryl A. Bester, Marthán N. |
author_sort |
Mcintyre, Trevor |
title |
Deep divers in even deeper seas: habitat use of male southern elephant seals from Marion Island |
title_short |
Deep divers in even deeper seas: habitat use of male southern elephant seals from Marion Island |
title_full |
Deep divers in even deeper seas: habitat use of male southern elephant seals from Marion Island |
title_fullStr |
Deep divers in even deeper seas: habitat use of male southern elephant seals from Marion Island |
title_full_unstemmed |
Deep divers in even deeper seas: habitat use of male southern elephant seals from Marion Island |
title_sort |
deep divers in even deeper seas: habitat use of male southern elephant seals from marion island |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102012000570 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102012000570 |
genre |
Antarctic Science Elephant Seals Marion Island Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seals |
genre_facet |
Antarctic Science Elephant Seals Marion Island Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seals |
op_source |
Antarctic Science volume 24, issue 6, page 561-570 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102012000570 |
container_title |
Antarctic Science |
container_volume |
24 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
561 |
op_container_end_page |
570 |
_version_ |
1792495017790537728 |