Beneath the Antarctic sea‐ice: Fine‐scale analysis of Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) behavior and predator–prey interactions, using micro‐sonar data in Terre Adélie
Lactation is the most energy‐demanding event in mammals' reproduction. In pinnipeds, females are the only food providers to the young and have developed numerous behavioral and physiological lactation strategies, from capital‐breeding to income‐breeding. Lactating females' fine‐scale forag...
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2023
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Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10714067/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38089897 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10796 |
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:10714067 2024-01-14T10:01:39+01:00 Beneath the Antarctic sea‐ice: Fine‐scale analysis of Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) behavior and predator–prey interactions, using micro‐sonar data in Terre Adélie Antoine, Adélie Labrousse, Sara Goulet, Pauline Chevallay, Mathilde Laborie, Joris Picard, Baptiste Guinet, Christophe Nerini, David Charrassin, Jean‐Benoît Heerah, Karine 2023-12-11 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10714067/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38089897 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10796 en eng John Wiley and Sons Inc. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10714067/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38089897 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10796 © 2023 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Ecol Evol Nature Notes Text 2023 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10796 2023-12-17T01:55:08Z Lactation is the most energy‐demanding event in mammals' reproduction. In pinnipeds, females are the only food providers to the young and have developed numerous behavioral and physiological lactation strategies, from capital‐breeding to income‐breeding. Lactating females' fine‐scale foraging strategy, and precise understanding of how females supplement their pup's needs as well as their own are important to understand the species' ecology and energetic balance. Polar pinnipeds, inhabiting extreme environments, are sensitive to climate change and variability, understanding their constraints and foraging strategy during lactation is therefore important. In 2019, three sonar tags were deployed on lactating Weddell seals in Terre Adélie (East Antarctica) for 7 days, to study fine‐scale predator–prey interactions. Feeding activity was mostly benthic, reduced, central‐placed, and spatially limited. Females spent most of their time hauled‐out. A total of 331 prey capture attempts (PrCAs) were recorded using triaxial acceleration data, with 125 prey identified on echograms (5 cm, acoustic size). All PrCAs occurred on the seafloor, shallower than usual records (mean depth of 88 m, vs 280 m after their molt). We also found that they only fed in three of the five identified dive shapes, during the ascent or throughout the dive. Half of the prey were reactive to the seal's approach, either leaving the seafloor, or escaping just above the seafloor, suggesting that the seals hunt by chasing them from the seabed. Seals continuously scanned the area during the approach phase, evoking opportunistic foraging. Our results provide additional evidence that Weddell seal forage during lactation, displaying a mix of capital‐breeding and income‐breeding strategies during this period of physiological stress. This work sheds light on previously unexplored aspects of their foraging behavior, such as shallow water environments, targeting benthic prey, generally focusing on single prey rather than schools, and evidence of visual scanning ... Text Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Sea ice Weddell Seal Weddell Seals PubMed Central (PMC) Antarctic East Antarctica Terre Adélie ENVELOPE(139.000,139.000,-67.000,-67.000) Terre-Adélie ENVELOPE(138.991,138.991,-59.999,-59.999) The Antarctic Weddell Ecology and Evolution 13 12 |
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Nature Notes Antoine, Adélie Labrousse, Sara Goulet, Pauline Chevallay, Mathilde Laborie, Joris Picard, Baptiste Guinet, Christophe Nerini, David Charrassin, Jean‐Benoît Heerah, Karine Beneath the Antarctic sea‐ice: Fine‐scale analysis of Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) behavior and predator–prey interactions, using micro‐sonar data in Terre Adélie |
topic_facet |
Nature Notes |
description |
Lactation is the most energy‐demanding event in mammals' reproduction. In pinnipeds, females are the only food providers to the young and have developed numerous behavioral and physiological lactation strategies, from capital‐breeding to income‐breeding. Lactating females' fine‐scale foraging strategy, and precise understanding of how females supplement their pup's needs as well as their own are important to understand the species' ecology and energetic balance. Polar pinnipeds, inhabiting extreme environments, are sensitive to climate change and variability, understanding their constraints and foraging strategy during lactation is therefore important. In 2019, three sonar tags were deployed on lactating Weddell seals in Terre Adélie (East Antarctica) for 7 days, to study fine‐scale predator–prey interactions. Feeding activity was mostly benthic, reduced, central‐placed, and spatially limited. Females spent most of their time hauled‐out. A total of 331 prey capture attempts (PrCAs) were recorded using triaxial acceleration data, with 125 prey identified on echograms (5 cm, acoustic size). All PrCAs occurred on the seafloor, shallower than usual records (mean depth of 88 m, vs 280 m after their molt). We also found that they only fed in three of the five identified dive shapes, during the ascent or throughout the dive. Half of the prey were reactive to the seal's approach, either leaving the seafloor, or escaping just above the seafloor, suggesting that the seals hunt by chasing them from the seabed. Seals continuously scanned the area during the approach phase, evoking opportunistic foraging. Our results provide additional evidence that Weddell seal forage during lactation, displaying a mix of capital‐breeding and income‐breeding strategies during this period of physiological stress. This work sheds light on previously unexplored aspects of their foraging behavior, such as shallow water environments, targeting benthic prey, generally focusing on single prey rather than schools, and evidence of visual scanning ... |
format |
Text |
author |
Antoine, Adélie Labrousse, Sara Goulet, Pauline Chevallay, Mathilde Laborie, Joris Picard, Baptiste Guinet, Christophe Nerini, David Charrassin, Jean‐Benoît Heerah, Karine |
author_facet |
Antoine, Adélie Labrousse, Sara Goulet, Pauline Chevallay, Mathilde Laborie, Joris Picard, Baptiste Guinet, Christophe Nerini, David Charrassin, Jean‐Benoît Heerah, Karine |
author_sort |
Antoine, Adélie |
title |
Beneath the Antarctic sea‐ice: Fine‐scale analysis of Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) behavior and predator–prey interactions, using micro‐sonar data in Terre Adélie |
title_short |
Beneath the Antarctic sea‐ice: Fine‐scale analysis of Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) behavior and predator–prey interactions, using micro‐sonar data in Terre Adélie |
title_full |
Beneath the Antarctic sea‐ice: Fine‐scale analysis of Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) behavior and predator–prey interactions, using micro‐sonar data in Terre Adélie |
title_fullStr |
Beneath the Antarctic sea‐ice: Fine‐scale analysis of Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) behavior and predator–prey interactions, using micro‐sonar data in Terre Adélie |
title_full_unstemmed |
Beneath the Antarctic sea‐ice: Fine‐scale analysis of Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) behavior and predator–prey interactions, using micro‐sonar data in Terre Adélie |
title_sort |
beneath the antarctic sea‐ice: fine‐scale analysis of weddell seal (leptonychotes weddellii) behavior and predator–prey interactions, using micro‐sonar data in terre adélie |
publisher |
John Wiley and Sons Inc. |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10714067/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38089897 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10796 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(139.000,139.000,-67.000,-67.000) ENVELOPE(138.991,138.991,-59.999,-59.999) |
geographic |
Antarctic East Antarctica Terre Adélie Terre-Adélie The Antarctic Weddell |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic East Antarctica Terre Adélie Terre-Adélie The Antarctic Weddell |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Sea ice Weddell Seal Weddell Seals |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Sea ice Weddell Seal Weddell Seals |
op_source |
Ecol Evol |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10714067/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38089897 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10796 |
op_rights |
© 2023 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10796 |
container_title |
Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
12 |
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1788067416343838720 |