Meteorological factors affecting the number of Weddell seals hauling-out on the ice during the molting season at Syowa Station, East Antarctica

• Main Authors: Katsufumi Sato, Yasutaka Tsuchiya, Sakae Kudoh, Yasuhiko Naito
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: National Institute of Polar Research/Shimoda Marine Research Center, Tsukuba University/National Institute of Polar Research/National Institute of Polar Research 2003
• Subjects: haul-out; Weddell seal; Syowa Station; wind speed; air temperature; East Antarctica; Weddell; Antarc*; Antarctica; Polar bioscience; Weddell Seal; Weddell Seals
• Online Access: https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=6203; http://id.nii.ac.jp/1291/00006203/; https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=6203&item_no=1&attribute_id=18&file_no=1

Weddell seals show a clear diurnal haul-out pattern, while there have been few studies focusing on the influence of weather conditions. The present study investigates the relationship between the number of seals which haul-out on the fast ice and meteorological factors such as: air temperature, wind speed, humidity and irradiance in Syowa Station, East Antarctica. The number of seals was inversely related to wind speed (P < 0.001), and positively related to air temperature (P < 0.05), suggesting that seals may enter the water to avoid excessive heat loss when the weather condition was severe. The number of seals varied greatly on calm days (wind speed < 5.3 m/s and air temperature > -8.3 °C), indicating that some other factors might influence the seal's decision to stay in the water.