The diet of Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella (Peters) during the breeding season at Heard Island
Between September 1987 and February 1988, Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella (Peters) at Heard Island fed mainly on fish with an average 95.2% of scats in monthly collections containing fish remains. Pelagic myctophids constituted more than 50% of fish taken by fur seals at the beginning of t...
Published in: | Antarctic Science |
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Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1989
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102089000489 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102089000489 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0954102089000489 2024-04-07T07:47:25+00:00 The diet of Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella (Peters) during the breeding season at Heard Island Green, K. Burton, H.R. Williams, R. 1989 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102089000489 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102089000489 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Antarctic Science volume 1, issue 4, page 317-324 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography journal-article 1989 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102089000489 2024-03-08T00:34:19Z Between September 1987 and February 1988, Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella (Peters) at Heard Island fed mainly on fish with an average 95.2% of scats in monthly collections containing fish remains. Pelagic myctophids constituted more than 50% of fish taken by fur seals at the beginning of the summer season and again at the end when there was an influx of non-breeding male seals. During the middle period from October to December, fish from the surrounding shelf area comprised the bulk of the diet. These included various benthic nototheniid species, the bentho-pelagic ice fish Champsocephalus gunnari Lönnberg and skate ( Bathyraja spp.), the latter being found in over 60% of scats in October and November. The population of Antarctic fur seals at Heard Island is increasing at about the same rate as at South Georgia. There the increase is thought to be due to the high availability of krill E. superba , but in the present study no euphausiid remains were found, so the increasing population at Heard Island has been supported on a diet of fish. Whether this population increase can be sustained in future on a diet of fish is arguable. Trial fishing around Heard Island indicates that one of the major dietary items of the seals ( C. gunnari ) is of probable commercial importance and therefore any plans for the establishment of a fishery on Heard Island grounds must be considered in this light. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Fur Seals Antarctic Science Arctocephalus gazella Heard Island Cambridge University Press Antarctic Heard Island Antarctic Science 1 4 317 324 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography Green, K. Burton, H.R. Williams, R. The diet of Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella (Peters) during the breeding season at Heard Island |
topic_facet |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography |
description |
Between September 1987 and February 1988, Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella (Peters) at Heard Island fed mainly on fish with an average 95.2% of scats in monthly collections containing fish remains. Pelagic myctophids constituted more than 50% of fish taken by fur seals at the beginning of the summer season and again at the end when there was an influx of non-breeding male seals. During the middle period from October to December, fish from the surrounding shelf area comprised the bulk of the diet. These included various benthic nototheniid species, the bentho-pelagic ice fish Champsocephalus gunnari Lönnberg and skate ( Bathyraja spp.), the latter being found in over 60% of scats in October and November. The population of Antarctic fur seals at Heard Island is increasing at about the same rate as at South Georgia. There the increase is thought to be due to the high availability of krill E. superba , but in the present study no euphausiid remains were found, so the increasing population at Heard Island has been supported on a diet of fish. Whether this population increase can be sustained in future on a diet of fish is arguable. Trial fishing around Heard Island indicates that one of the major dietary items of the seals ( C. gunnari ) is of probable commercial importance and therefore any plans for the establishment of a fishery on Heard Island grounds must be considered in this light. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Green, K. Burton, H.R. Williams, R. |
author_facet |
Green, K. Burton, H.R. Williams, R. |
author_sort |
Green, K. |
title |
The diet of Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella (Peters) during the breeding season at Heard Island |
title_short |
The diet of Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella (Peters) during the breeding season at Heard Island |
title_full |
The diet of Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella (Peters) during the breeding season at Heard Island |
title_fullStr |
The diet of Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella (Peters) during the breeding season at Heard Island |
title_full_unstemmed |
The diet of Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella (Peters) during the breeding season at Heard Island |
title_sort |
diet of antarctic fur seals arctocephalus gazella (peters) during the breeding season at heard island |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1989 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102089000489 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102089000489 |
geographic |
Antarctic Heard Island |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Heard Island |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Fur Seals Antarctic Science Arctocephalus gazella Heard Island |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Fur Seals Antarctic Science Arctocephalus gazella Heard Island |
op_source |
Antarctic Science volume 1, issue 4, page 317-324 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102089000489 |
container_title |
Antarctic Science |
container_volume |
1 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
317 |
op_container_end_page |
324 |
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1795674539566301184 |