The Sun, Moon, Wind, and Biological Imperative–Shaping Contrasting Wintertime Migration and Foraging Strategies of Adult Male and Female Northern Fur Seals (Callorhinus ursinus)
Adult male and female northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) are sexually segregated in different regions of the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea during their winter migration. Explanations for this involve interplay between physiology, predator-prey dynamics, and ecosystem characteristics, howe...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:3983057 2023-05-15T15:43:21+02:00 The Sun, Moon, Wind, and Biological Imperative–Shaping Contrasting Wintertime Migration and Foraging Strategies of Adult Male and Female Northern Fur Seals (Callorhinus ursinus) Sterling, Jeremy T Springer, Alan M. Iverson, Sara J. Johnson, Shawn P. Pelland, Noel A. Johnson, Devin S. Lea, Mary-Anne Bond, Nicholas A. 2014-04-10 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3983057 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24722344 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0093068 en eng Public Library of Science http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3983057 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24722344 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0093068 This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. PDM CC0 Research Article Text 2014 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0093068 2014-04-20T00:40:04Z Adult male and female northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) are sexually segregated in different regions of the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea during their winter migration. Explanations for this involve interplay between physiology, predator-prey dynamics, and ecosystem characteristics, however possible mechanisms lack empirical support. To investigate factors influencing the winter ecology of both sexes, we deployed five satellite-linked conductivity, temperature, and depth data loggers on adult males, and six satellite-linked depth data loggers and four satellite transmitters on adult females from St. Paul Island (Bering Sea, Alaska, USA) in October 2009. Males and females migrated to different regions of the North Pacific Ocean: males wintered in the Bering Sea and northern North Pacific Ocean, while females migrated to the Gulf of Alaska and California Current. Horizontal and vertical movement behaviors of both sexes were influenced by wind speed, season, light (sun and moon), and the ecosystem they occupied, although the expression of the behaviors differed between sexes. Male dive depths were aligned with the depth of the mixed layer during daylight periods and we suspect this was the case for females upon their arrival to the California Current. We suggest that females, because of their smaller size and physiological limitations, must avoid severe winters typical of the northern North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea and migrate long distances to areas of more benign environmental conditions and where prey is shallower and more accessible. In contrast, males can better tolerate often extreme winter ocean conditions and exploit prey at depth because of their greater size and physiological capabilities. We believe these contrasting winter behaviors 1) are a consequence of evolutionary selection for large size in males, important to the acquisition and defense of territories against rivals during the breeding season, and 2) ease environmental/physiological constraints imposed on smaller females. Text Bering Sea Alaska Callorhinus ursinus PubMed Central (PMC) Bering Sea Gulf of Alaska Pacific PLoS ONE 9 4 e93068 |
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English |
topic |
Research Article |
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Research Article Sterling, Jeremy T Springer, Alan M. Iverson, Sara J. Johnson, Shawn P. Pelland, Noel A. Johnson, Devin S. Lea, Mary-Anne Bond, Nicholas A. The Sun, Moon, Wind, and Biological Imperative–Shaping Contrasting Wintertime Migration and Foraging Strategies of Adult Male and Female Northern Fur Seals (Callorhinus ursinus) |
topic_facet |
Research Article |
description |
Adult male and female northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) are sexually segregated in different regions of the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea during their winter migration. Explanations for this involve interplay between physiology, predator-prey dynamics, and ecosystem characteristics, however possible mechanisms lack empirical support. To investigate factors influencing the winter ecology of both sexes, we deployed five satellite-linked conductivity, temperature, and depth data loggers on adult males, and six satellite-linked depth data loggers and four satellite transmitters on adult females from St. Paul Island (Bering Sea, Alaska, USA) in October 2009. Males and females migrated to different regions of the North Pacific Ocean: males wintered in the Bering Sea and northern North Pacific Ocean, while females migrated to the Gulf of Alaska and California Current. Horizontal and vertical movement behaviors of both sexes were influenced by wind speed, season, light (sun and moon), and the ecosystem they occupied, although the expression of the behaviors differed between sexes. Male dive depths were aligned with the depth of the mixed layer during daylight periods and we suspect this was the case for females upon their arrival to the California Current. We suggest that females, because of their smaller size and physiological limitations, must avoid severe winters typical of the northern North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea and migrate long distances to areas of more benign environmental conditions and where prey is shallower and more accessible. In contrast, males can better tolerate often extreme winter ocean conditions and exploit prey at depth because of their greater size and physiological capabilities. We believe these contrasting winter behaviors 1) are a consequence of evolutionary selection for large size in males, important to the acquisition and defense of territories against rivals during the breeding season, and 2) ease environmental/physiological constraints imposed on smaller females. |
format |
Text |
author |
Sterling, Jeremy T Springer, Alan M. Iverson, Sara J. Johnson, Shawn P. Pelland, Noel A. Johnson, Devin S. Lea, Mary-Anne Bond, Nicholas A. |
author_facet |
Sterling, Jeremy T Springer, Alan M. Iverson, Sara J. Johnson, Shawn P. Pelland, Noel A. Johnson, Devin S. Lea, Mary-Anne Bond, Nicholas A. |
author_sort |
Sterling, Jeremy T |
title |
The Sun, Moon, Wind, and Biological Imperative–Shaping Contrasting Wintertime Migration and Foraging Strategies of Adult Male and Female Northern Fur Seals (Callorhinus ursinus) |
title_short |
The Sun, Moon, Wind, and Biological Imperative–Shaping Contrasting Wintertime Migration and Foraging Strategies of Adult Male and Female Northern Fur Seals (Callorhinus ursinus) |
title_full |
The Sun, Moon, Wind, and Biological Imperative–Shaping Contrasting Wintertime Migration and Foraging Strategies of Adult Male and Female Northern Fur Seals (Callorhinus ursinus) |
title_fullStr |
The Sun, Moon, Wind, and Biological Imperative–Shaping Contrasting Wintertime Migration and Foraging Strategies of Adult Male and Female Northern Fur Seals (Callorhinus ursinus) |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Sun, Moon, Wind, and Biological Imperative–Shaping Contrasting Wintertime Migration and Foraging Strategies of Adult Male and Female Northern Fur Seals (Callorhinus ursinus) |
title_sort |
sun, moon, wind, and biological imperative–shaping contrasting wintertime migration and foraging strategies of adult male and female northern fur seals (callorhinus ursinus) |
publisher |
Public Library of Science |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3983057 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24722344 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0093068 |
geographic |
Bering Sea Gulf of Alaska Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Bering Sea Gulf of Alaska Pacific |
genre |
Bering Sea Alaska Callorhinus ursinus |
genre_facet |
Bering Sea Alaska Callorhinus ursinus |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3983057 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24722344 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0093068 |
op_rights |
This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. |
op_rightsnorm |
PDM CC0 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0093068 |
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PLoS ONE |
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9 |
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4 |
container_start_page |
e93068 |
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