Age, geographical distribution and taphonomy of an unusual occurrence of mummified crabeater seals on James Ross Island, Antarctica
An unusually dense collection of some 150 dead crabeater seals (Family Phocidae), in various stages of decay, occurs in the Brandy Bay hinterland, north-western James Ross Island, northern Antarctic Peninsula. Throughout the past 100 years, the presence of shelf ice (no longer present today) and sea...
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Cambridge University Press
2008
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:11575 2023-05-15T13:45:10+02:00 Age, geographical distribution and taphonomy of an unusual occurrence of mummified crabeater seals on James Ross Island, Antarctica Nelson, Anna E. Smellie, John L. Williams, M. Moreton, S. 2008 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/11575/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/11575/1/download.pdf http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=6&fid=2202920&jid=ANS&volumeId=20&issueId=&aid=2202916&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S095410200800134X en eng Cambridge University Press https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/11575/1/download.pdf Nelson, Anna E.; Smellie, John L.; Williams, M.; Moreton, S. 2008 Age, geographical distribution and taphonomy of an unusual occurrence of mummified crabeater seals on James Ross Island, Antarctica. Antarctic Science, 20 (5). 485-493. https://doi.org/10.1017/S095410200800134X <https://doi.org/10.1017/S095410200800134X> Biology and Microbiology Ecology and Environment Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2008 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1017/S095410200800134X 2023-02-04T19:27:25Z An unusually dense collection of some 150 dead crabeater seals (Family Phocidae), in various stages of decay, occurs in the Brandy Bay hinterland, north-western James Ross Island, northern Antarctic Peninsula. Throughout the past 100 years, the presence of shelf ice (no longer present today) and sea ice in Prince Gustav Channel, between James Ross Island and the Antarctic Peninsula, has prevented seals from readily accessing the western side of James Ross Island. However, open water pools, some over one kilometre in diameter, remain accessible throughout the winter months, allowing seals to haul out onto the ice. It is likely that some of these seals may become disorientated as they wander away from the pools and instead head toward Brandy Bay and onto low-lying and snow-covered Abernethy Flats, easily mistaken for sea ice in early winter, where they perish. The large number of variably-decayed animals present suggests that this has probably happened on numerous occasions. However, some of the dead seals also probably perished during a documented mass dying event of crabeater seals in Prince Gustav Channel caused by an unidentified epidemic, possibly phocine distemper virus (PDV), during the spring of 1955. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctic Science Antarctica Crabeater Seals James Ross Island Ross Island Sea ice Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Abernethy Flats ENVELOPE(-57.917,-57.917,-63.866,-63.866) Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Brandy Bay ENVELOPE(-58.000,-58.000,-63.700,-63.700) Prince Gustav Channel ENVELOPE(-58.250,-58.250,-63.833,-63.833) Ross Island The Antarctic Antarctic Science 20 5 485 493 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
topic |
Biology and Microbiology Ecology and Environment |
spellingShingle |
Biology and Microbiology Ecology and Environment Nelson, Anna E. Smellie, John L. Williams, M. Moreton, S. Age, geographical distribution and taphonomy of an unusual occurrence of mummified crabeater seals on James Ross Island, Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Biology and Microbiology Ecology and Environment |
description |
An unusually dense collection of some 150 dead crabeater seals (Family Phocidae), in various stages of decay, occurs in the Brandy Bay hinterland, north-western James Ross Island, northern Antarctic Peninsula. Throughout the past 100 years, the presence of shelf ice (no longer present today) and sea ice in Prince Gustav Channel, between James Ross Island and the Antarctic Peninsula, has prevented seals from readily accessing the western side of James Ross Island. However, open water pools, some over one kilometre in diameter, remain accessible throughout the winter months, allowing seals to haul out onto the ice. It is likely that some of these seals may become disorientated as they wander away from the pools and instead head toward Brandy Bay and onto low-lying and snow-covered Abernethy Flats, easily mistaken for sea ice in early winter, where they perish. The large number of variably-decayed animals present suggests that this has probably happened on numerous occasions. However, some of the dead seals also probably perished during a documented mass dying event of crabeater seals in Prince Gustav Channel caused by an unidentified epidemic, possibly phocine distemper virus (PDV), during the spring of 1955. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Nelson, Anna E. Smellie, John L. Williams, M. Moreton, S. |
author_facet |
Nelson, Anna E. Smellie, John L. Williams, M. Moreton, S. |
author_sort |
Nelson, Anna E. |
title |
Age, geographical distribution and taphonomy of an unusual occurrence of mummified crabeater seals on James Ross Island, Antarctica |
title_short |
Age, geographical distribution and taphonomy of an unusual occurrence of mummified crabeater seals on James Ross Island, Antarctica |
title_full |
Age, geographical distribution and taphonomy of an unusual occurrence of mummified crabeater seals on James Ross Island, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Age, geographical distribution and taphonomy of an unusual occurrence of mummified crabeater seals on James Ross Island, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Age, geographical distribution and taphonomy of an unusual occurrence of mummified crabeater seals on James Ross Island, Antarctica |
title_sort |
age, geographical distribution and taphonomy of an unusual occurrence of mummified crabeater seals on james ross island, antarctica |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/11575/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/11575/1/download.pdf http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=6&fid=2202920&jid=ANS&volumeId=20&issueId=&aid=2202916&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S095410200800134X |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-57.917,-57.917,-63.866,-63.866) ENVELOPE(-58.000,-58.000,-63.700,-63.700) ENVELOPE(-58.250,-58.250,-63.833,-63.833) |
geographic |
Abernethy Flats Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Brandy Bay Prince Gustav Channel Ross Island The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Abernethy Flats Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Brandy Bay Prince Gustav Channel Ross Island The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctic Science Antarctica Crabeater Seals James Ross Island Ross Island Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctic Science Antarctica Crabeater Seals James Ross Island Ross Island Sea ice |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/11575/1/download.pdf Nelson, Anna E.; Smellie, John L.; Williams, M.; Moreton, S. 2008 Age, geographical distribution and taphonomy of an unusual occurrence of mummified crabeater seals on James Ross Island, Antarctica. Antarctic Science, 20 (5). 485-493. https://doi.org/10.1017/S095410200800134X <https://doi.org/10.1017/S095410200800134X> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/S095410200800134X |
container_title |
Antarctic Science |
container_volume |
20 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
485 |
op_container_end_page |
493 |
_version_ |
1766214646589554688 |