Seals map bathymetry of the Antarctic continental shelf
We demonstrate the first use of marine mammal dive-depth data to improve maps of bathymetry in poorly sampled regions of the continental shelf. A group of 57 instrumented elephant seals made on the order of 2 x 10(5) dives over and near the continental shelf on the western side of the Antarctic Peni...
Published in: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
American Geophysical Union
2010
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/12697/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/12697/1/grl27463.pdf http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/gl1021/2010GL044921/ |
Summary: | We demonstrate the first use of marine mammal dive-depth data to improve maps of bathymetry in poorly sampled regions of the continental shelf. A group of 57 instrumented elephant seals made on the order of 2 x 10(5) dives over and near the continental shelf on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula during five seasons, 2005-2009. Maximum dive depth exceeded 2000 m. For dives made near existing ship tracks with measured water depths H<700 m, similar to 30% of dive depths were to the seabed, consistent with expected benthic foraging behavior. By identifying the deepest of multiple dives within small areas as a dive to the seabed, we have developed a map of seal-derived bathymetry. Our map fills in several regions for which trackline data are sparse, significantly improving delineation of troughs crossing the continental shelf of the southern Bellingshausen Sea. |
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