Diving activity in nursing bearded seal ( Erignathus barbatus) pups
In this study we used time-depth recorders to quantify the diving activity of four nursing bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus) pups over a 10-day period. The pups were 4–7 days old at the start of the experiments. Their daily mass gain was 3.3 ± 0.4 kg (mean ± SD). A total of 530 h, which included 62...
| Published in: | Canadian Journal of Zoology |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Canadian Science Publishing
1994
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z94-013 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z94-013 |
| Summary: | In this study we used time-depth recorders to quantify the diving activity of four nursing bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus) pups over a 10-day period. The pups were 4–7 days old at the start of the experiments. Their daily mass gain was 3.3 ± 0.4 kg (mean ± SD). A total of 530 h, which included 6248 dives, was recorded from the four pups. The pups spent an average of 53% of the recorded time in the water and 47% of the time hauled out. When the pups were in the water they were submerged 42% of the time, while 58% of the time was spent at the surface. Most dives were shallow and of short duration. Dive depth and duration were 10 ± 10 m and 62 ± 46 s and the maximum recorded values were 84 m and 5.5 min, respectively. The pups spent more time in the water and increased the number of long dives and the mean dive duration with age. The duration of haul-out intervals where nursing could take place was 1.93 ± 2.01 h, with a recorded maximum of 8.25 h. The time between these haul-out intervals was 2.18 ± 2.44 h, with a maximum of 9.73 h. A diurnal pattern in haul-out activity was documented; pups spent significantly more time hauled out from 07:00 to 10:00 and from 21:00 to 24:00 than during the rest of the day. |
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