Seasonal Habitat Preference and Foraging Behaviour of Post-Moult Weddell Seals in the Western Ross Sea
Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) are important predators in the Southern Ocean and are among the best-studied pinnipeds on Earth, yet much still needs to be learned about their year-round movements and foraging behaviour. Using biologgers, we tagged 62 post-moult Weddell seals in McMurdo Soun...
Published in: | Royal Society Open Science |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
ODU Digital Commons
2023
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/ccpo_pubs/381 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.220500 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/context/ccpo_pubs/article/1385/viewcontent/Dinniman_2023_SeasonalHabitatPreferenceandForagingOCR.pdf |
id |
ftolddominionuni:oai:digitalcommons.odu.edu:ccpo_pubs-1385 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftolddominionuni:oai:digitalcommons.odu.edu:ccpo_pubs-1385 2023-12-17T10:33:18+01:00 Seasonal Habitat Preference and Foraging Behaviour of Post-Moult Weddell Seals in the Western Ross Sea Goetz, Kimberly T. Dinniman, Michael S. Hückstädt, Luis A. Robinson, Patrick W. Shero, Michelle R. Burns, Jennifer M. Hofmann, Eileen E. Stammerjohn, Sharon E. Hazen, Elliott L. Ainley, David G. Costa, Daniel P. 2023-01-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/ccpo_pubs/381 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.220500 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/context/ccpo_pubs/article/1385/viewcontent/Dinniman_2023_SeasonalHabitatPreferenceandForagingOCR.pdf unknown ODU Digital Commons https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/ccpo_pubs/381 doi:10.1098/rsos.220500 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/context/ccpo_pubs/article/1385/viewcontent/Dinniman_2023_SeasonalHabitatPreferenceandForagingOCR.pdf © 2023 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License , which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. CCPO Publications Ross Sea Foraging behaviour Distribution Weddell seal Seasonal movement Habitat Animal Sciences Biology Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology article 2023 ftolddominionuni https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.220500 2023-11-20T19:09:59Z Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) are important predators in the Southern Ocean and are among the best-studied pinnipeds on Earth, yet much still needs to be learned about their year-round movements and foraging behaviour. Using biologgers, we tagged 62 post-moult Weddell seals in McMurdo Sound and vicinity between 2010 and 2012. Generalized additive mixed models were used to (i) explain and predict the probability of seal presence and foraging behaviour from eight environmental variables, and (ii) examine foraging behaviour in relation to dive metrics. Foraging probability was highest in winter and lowest in summer, and foraging occurred mostly in the water column or just above the bottom; across all seasons, seals preferentially exploited the shallow banks and deeper troughs of the Ross Sea, the latter providing a pathway for Circumpolar Deep Water to flow onto the shelf. In addition, the probability of Weddell seal occurrence and foraging increased with increasing bathymetric slope and where water depth was typically less than 600 m. Although the probability of occurrence was higher closer to the shelf break, foraging was higher in areas closer to shore and over banks. This study highlights the importance of overwinter foraging for recouping body mass lost during the previous summer. Article in Journal/Newspaper McMurdo Sound Ross Sea Southern Ocean Weddell Seal Weddell Seals Old Dominion University: ODU Digital Commons Southern Ocean Ross Sea McMurdo Sound Weddell Royal Society Open Science 10 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Old Dominion University: ODU Digital Commons |
op_collection_id |
ftolddominionuni |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Ross Sea Foraging behaviour Distribution Weddell seal Seasonal movement Habitat Animal Sciences Biology Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology |
spellingShingle |
Ross Sea Foraging behaviour Distribution Weddell seal Seasonal movement Habitat Animal Sciences Biology Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Goetz, Kimberly T. Dinniman, Michael S. Hückstädt, Luis A. Robinson, Patrick W. Shero, Michelle R. Burns, Jennifer M. Hofmann, Eileen E. Stammerjohn, Sharon E. Hazen, Elliott L. Ainley, David G. Costa, Daniel P. Seasonal Habitat Preference and Foraging Behaviour of Post-Moult Weddell Seals in the Western Ross Sea |
topic_facet |
Ross Sea Foraging behaviour Distribution Weddell seal Seasonal movement Habitat Animal Sciences Biology Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology |
description |
Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) are important predators in the Southern Ocean and are among the best-studied pinnipeds on Earth, yet much still needs to be learned about their year-round movements and foraging behaviour. Using biologgers, we tagged 62 post-moult Weddell seals in McMurdo Sound and vicinity between 2010 and 2012. Generalized additive mixed models were used to (i) explain and predict the probability of seal presence and foraging behaviour from eight environmental variables, and (ii) examine foraging behaviour in relation to dive metrics. Foraging probability was highest in winter and lowest in summer, and foraging occurred mostly in the water column or just above the bottom; across all seasons, seals preferentially exploited the shallow banks and deeper troughs of the Ross Sea, the latter providing a pathway for Circumpolar Deep Water to flow onto the shelf. In addition, the probability of Weddell seal occurrence and foraging increased with increasing bathymetric slope and where water depth was typically less than 600 m. Although the probability of occurrence was higher closer to the shelf break, foraging was higher in areas closer to shore and over banks. This study highlights the importance of overwinter foraging for recouping body mass lost during the previous summer. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Goetz, Kimberly T. Dinniman, Michael S. Hückstädt, Luis A. Robinson, Patrick W. Shero, Michelle R. Burns, Jennifer M. Hofmann, Eileen E. Stammerjohn, Sharon E. Hazen, Elliott L. Ainley, David G. Costa, Daniel P. |
author_facet |
Goetz, Kimberly T. Dinniman, Michael S. Hückstädt, Luis A. Robinson, Patrick W. Shero, Michelle R. Burns, Jennifer M. Hofmann, Eileen E. Stammerjohn, Sharon E. Hazen, Elliott L. Ainley, David G. Costa, Daniel P. |
author_sort |
Goetz, Kimberly T. |
title |
Seasonal Habitat Preference and Foraging Behaviour of Post-Moult Weddell Seals in the Western Ross Sea |
title_short |
Seasonal Habitat Preference and Foraging Behaviour of Post-Moult Weddell Seals in the Western Ross Sea |
title_full |
Seasonal Habitat Preference and Foraging Behaviour of Post-Moult Weddell Seals in the Western Ross Sea |
title_fullStr |
Seasonal Habitat Preference and Foraging Behaviour of Post-Moult Weddell Seals in the Western Ross Sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seasonal Habitat Preference and Foraging Behaviour of Post-Moult Weddell Seals in the Western Ross Sea |
title_sort |
seasonal habitat preference and foraging behaviour of post-moult weddell seals in the western ross sea |
publisher |
ODU Digital Commons |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/ccpo_pubs/381 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.220500 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/context/ccpo_pubs/article/1385/viewcontent/Dinniman_2023_SeasonalHabitatPreferenceandForagingOCR.pdf |
geographic |
Southern Ocean Ross Sea McMurdo Sound Weddell |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean Ross Sea McMurdo Sound Weddell |
genre |
McMurdo Sound Ross Sea Southern Ocean Weddell Seal Weddell Seals |
genre_facet |
McMurdo Sound Ross Sea Southern Ocean Weddell Seal Weddell Seals |
op_source |
CCPO Publications |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/ccpo_pubs/381 doi:10.1098/rsos.220500 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/context/ccpo_pubs/article/1385/viewcontent/Dinniman_2023_SeasonalHabitatPreferenceandForagingOCR.pdf |
op_rights |
© 2023 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License , which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.220500 |
container_title |
Royal Society Open Science |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1785587265237417984 |