Long-term diving records of an adult female northern elephant seal

Seventy-three days long diving record of an adult female northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris) was obtained using the long-term time depth recorder which was developed for Antarctic seal research by the National Institute of Polar Research, Tokyo. It was observed that the female northern...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yasuhiro Naito, Burney J. Le Boeuf, Tomohiro Asaga, Yasuhiro Naito Burney J. Le Boeuf Tomohiro Asaga Anthony C. Huntley
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Japanese
Published: National Institute of Polar Research 1989
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.15094/00008615
https://doaj.org/article/80978a1b5dc44b4599a7467e074fe3a2
Description
Summary:Seventy-three days long diving record of an adult female northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris) was obtained using the long-term time depth recorder which was developed for Antarctic seal research by the National Institute of Polar Research, Tokyo. It was observed that the female northern elephant seal dived to a great depth continuously for a long period. It dived 5024 times during 73 days, 2.9 times per hour on the average. The mean dive depth and duration were 463.9±147m and 17.1±3.4min, the maximum values being 934m and 33.5min. The dive depth increased gradually on the first 4 days. After that, it fluctuated diurnally, while the dive duration remained rather stable. Following the extended surface intervals (ESIs : defined as surface intervals longer than 10min) dives were shallow but the depth increased gradually.