ORIGINAL PAPER

and movement patterns of 23 weaned Weddell seal pups (Leptonychotes weddellii) were tracked in the Ross Sea. Antarctica, using satellite-linked time-depth recorders. Regression analyses revealed that for seals of between 8 and 27 weeks old, age was poorly correlated with the dive depth, duration, or...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: J. M. Burns, M. A. Castellini, J. W. Testa
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1998
Subjects:
Antarctic
McMurdo Sound
Ross Sea
The Antarctic
Weddell
Antarc*
Antarctica
Weddell Seal
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.503.7387
http://hosting.uaa.alaska.edu/afjmb4/publications/rm1757.pdf
Description
Summary:and movement patterns of 23 weaned Weddell seal pups (Leptonychotes weddellii) were tracked in the Ross Sea. Antarctica, using satellite-linked time-depth recorders. Regression analyses revealed that for seals of between 8 and 27 weeks old, age was poorly correlated with the dive depth, duration, or frequency. However, changes in dive parameters suggested that Weddell seal pups were attempting to maximize dive time, but the manner in which this was done depended on age and time of day. Movement patterns indicated that most Weddell seal pups left their natal area by the end of February, and traveled north along the Antarctic continent coastline. Several individuals returned to McMurdo Sound, but others were last located more than 400 km from McMurdo. Routes followed suggest that pups can use the pack ice habitat, but prefer to remain closer to the coastline than do adults.

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