The status of the fur seal population (Arctocephalus gazelle) at the southern edge of the species range (the Argentine Islands)

• Published in: Theriologia Ukrainica
• Main Authors: Pavlo B. Khoyetskyy, Denis V. Pishniak
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Ukrainian
• Published: National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. National Museum of Natural History 2021
• Subjects: arctocephalus gazella; argentine islands; abundance; distribution; migration; Zoology; QL1-991; Pacific; Argentine; Argentine Islands; Hydrurga; Antarc*; Antarctica; Arctocephalus gazella; Hydrurga leptonyx; Leptonychotes weddelli; Lobodon carcinophagus; Mirounga leonina; Southern Fur Seal
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.15407/TU2115; https://doaj.org/article/ac6b8e58ff75431994d1923e44db143c

The study of the population status of Arctocephalus gazella (Peters, 1875) in waters of the Argentine Islands was carried out in the period from April 2015 to March 2016 in accordance with the objectives of the State Target Scientific and Technical Research Program of Ukraine in Antarctica for 2011–2020. The aim of the ar-ticle is to study the population dynamics and distribution of the southern fur seal in waters of the Argentine Is-lands. Due to the lack of data on the specifics of the seal’s dispersal in different periods of the year and the dynamics of the species population at the southern border of the distribution range, the results of the research are relevant and of great importance. In the second half of the 20th century, some publications presented the results of monitoring of pinnipeds at the Argentine Islands and adjacent territories, but the objects of these studies usually were other seal species: Hydrurga leptonyx, Lobodon carcinophagus, Leptonychotes weddelli, and Mirounga leonina. In the early 21st century, monitoring of the fauna of the Argentine Islands was carried out by Ukrainian biologists. However, they focused on Leptonychotes weddelli and less on other species of pinnipeds. The field material was collected in waters of the Argentine Islands, which is located in the Pacific sector of Antarctica. The fur seal population census and distribution studies were conducted according to the generally accepted methods. After breeding season on the subantarctic islands, during the migration south-wards, fur seals reach the Argentine Islands, usually in the third decade of January. In the summer of 2016, the first fur seal was recorded within the archipelago on 31 January. During the study period, the largest number of animals within the archipelago was recorded in March–April and it ranged from 300 to 400 individuals. On the islands of the archipelago, the main resting places of seals were identified. The movement of animals north-wards starts in May, consequently a decrease in the number of ...