On- and off-shelf diving effort of juvenile elephant seals from Peninsula Valdes determined by light loggers

• Published in: Journal of Mammalogy
• Main Authors: Eder, Elena Beatríz, Lewis, Mirtha Noemí, Marín, María Rosa, Campagna, Claudio
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 2011
• Subjects: Feature Articles; Elephant Seals; Mirounga leonina; Southern Elephant Seals
• Online Access: http://jmammal.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/92/4/811; https://doi.org/10.1644/10-MAMM-A-292.1

The shallow Patagonian Shelf off Península Valdés limits the dive depth of southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonina ) to <100 m, an unusual circumstance for this deep-diving species. Beyond the shelf water depths of ∾1,000 m enable the seals to forage deeper and use the entire water column. We compared the diving pattern of 10 juveniles instrumented with light-temperature loggers to determine if diving effort, measured as dive durations longer than the estimated aerobic dive limit, differed between on-shelf and off-shelf waters. The productive Patagonian Shelf, an environment where juveniles showed lower diving effort, also was used commonly by older seals, which likely displaced juveniles off-shelf periodically, where they exhibited increased diving effort.