Data from: Body condition influences ontogeny of foraging behavior in juvenile southern elephant seals ...

• Main Authors: Orgeret, Florian, Cox, Sam L., Weimerskirch, Henri, Guinet, Christophe
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2018
• Subjects: 2015; ontogeny diving behaviour; Mirouanga leonina; Kerguelen; Kerguelen Islands; Elephant Seals; Southern Elephant Seals
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qq6mb07; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.qq6mb07

1. Ontogeny of diving and foraging behaviour in marine top predators is poorly understood despite its importance in population recruitment. This lack of knowledge is partly due to the difficulties of monitoring juveniles in the wild, which is linked to high mortality early in life. 2. Pinnipeds are good models for studying the development of foraging behaviours because juveniles are large enough to robustly carry tracking devices for many months. Moreover, parental assistance is absent after a juvenile departs for its first foraging trip, minimising confounding effects of parental input on the development of foraging skills. 3. In this study, we tracked 20 newly-weaned juvenile southern elephant seals from Kerguelen Islands for up to 338 days during their first trip at sea following weaning. We used a new generation of satellite relay tags, which allow for the transmission of dive, accelerometer and location data. We also monitored, at the same time, nine adult females from the colony during their ... : juvs_ses_data_for_e&eJuveniles and Post-breeding Adults southern elephant seals diving parameters by days ...