Pinniped diving behaviour in geographic and oceanographic space
Southern elephant seals (SES) are far-ranging top predators and sentinels of the Southern Ocean ecosystem status. Their well-being depends on the resources available in different oceanographic habitats. This study presents methods for long-term monitoring of SES movements and body condition within t...
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University of St Andrews
2017
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ftstandrewserep:oai:research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk:10023/12068 2023-07-02T03:30:11+02:00 Pinniped diving behaviour in geographic and oceanographic space Gordine, Samantha Alex Boehme, Lars Fedak, Michael A Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) University of St Andrews. 600th Anniversary Scholarship 339, [3] p. 2017-11-13T12:42:48Z http://hdl.handle.net/10023/12068 en eng University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews http://hdl.handle.net/10023/12068 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ 2021-04-17 Thesis restricted in accordance with University regulations. Print and electronic copy restricted until 17th April 2021 Southern elephant seals Oceanographic space Diving behaviour Drift diving Buoyancy changes Current-correction Water masses Southern Ocean Fronts Satellite-relay-data-loggers Movement behaviour Body condition Marine mammal Foraging ecology Ocean observation Top predator Mesoscale Long-term monitoring South Georgia Polar ecosystem Oceanographic features Marine currents Animal-borne telemetry Movement ecology Pinnipeds QL737.P64G7 Southern elephant seal--Antarctic Ocean Southern elephant seal--Behavior Southern elephant seal--Locomotion Southern elephant seal--Monitoring Thesis Doctoral PhD Doctor of Philosophy 2017 ftstandrewserep 2023-06-13T18:27:43Z Southern elephant seals (SES) are far-ranging top predators and sentinels of the Southern Ocean ecosystem status. Their well-being depends on the resources available in different oceanographic habitats. This study presents methods for long-term monitoring of SES movements and body condition within the Atlantic sector. Collecting information on SES, who spend months at sea, is often only possible using telemetry. I thus present a method designed for detecting buoyancy changes from low-resolution dive data. Detected buoyancy changes, which reflect body condition changes (i.e. lipid gain or loss), are examined in relation to when and where they geographically occur. For replenishing resources SES rely on macroscale latitudinal fronts, which provide favourable foraging conditions through aggregating prey and enhancing productivity. Generally, SES associate more frequently with higher latitude fronts/zones. Body condition improvements associated with a given frontal system vary strongly according to year, season and month. The variability in body condition improvements is higher in some frontal systems than in others, likely due to shifts in the Subantarctic and Polar Front. During a migration, some individuals stay within ≤3 frontal systems, whilst others change between several frontal systems and primarily improve their body condition in upper ocean waters. Body condition improvements, related to particular water masses, differ between the sexes and seasons. SES do not trace particular water masses across different frontal systems. Large inter-individual variability exists in how fast, when and where successful resource acquisition occurs. Conclusions drawn from track-based behavioural metrics regarding foraging activity are biased by the influence of currents on the horizontal movements of SES. The presented current-correction methods reveal that movements in geographic and hydrographic space differ. Currents primarily alter the horizontal travel direction, and SES show an ability to compensate for such ... Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Ocean Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals Southern Ocean University of St Andrews: Digital Research Repository Antarctic Antarctic Ocean Southern Ocean |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of St Andrews: Digital Research Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftstandrewserep |
language |
English |
topic |
Southern elephant seals Oceanographic space Diving behaviour Drift diving Buoyancy changes Current-correction Water masses Southern Ocean Fronts Satellite-relay-data-loggers Movement behaviour Body condition Marine mammal Foraging ecology Ocean observation Top predator Mesoscale Long-term monitoring South Georgia Polar ecosystem Oceanographic features Marine currents Animal-borne telemetry Movement ecology Pinnipeds QL737.P64G7 Southern elephant seal--Antarctic Ocean Southern elephant seal--Behavior Southern elephant seal--Locomotion Southern elephant seal--Monitoring |
spellingShingle |
Southern elephant seals Oceanographic space Diving behaviour Drift diving Buoyancy changes Current-correction Water masses Southern Ocean Fronts Satellite-relay-data-loggers Movement behaviour Body condition Marine mammal Foraging ecology Ocean observation Top predator Mesoscale Long-term monitoring South Georgia Polar ecosystem Oceanographic features Marine currents Animal-borne telemetry Movement ecology Pinnipeds QL737.P64G7 Southern elephant seal--Antarctic Ocean Southern elephant seal--Behavior Southern elephant seal--Locomotion Southern elephant seal--Monitoring Gordine, Samantha Alex Pinniped diving behaviour in geographic and oceanographic space |
topic_facet |
Southern elephant seals Oceanographic space Diving behaviour Drift diving Buoyancy changes Current-correction Water masses Southern Ocean Fronts Satellite-relay-data-loggers Movement behaviour Body condition Marine mammal Foraging ecology Ocean observation Top predator Mesoscale Long-term monitoring South Georgia Polar ecosystem Oceanographic features Marine currents Animal-borne telemetry Movement ecology Pinnipeds QL737.P64G7 Southern elephant seal--Antarctic Ocean Southern elephant seal--Behavior Southern elephant seal--Locomotion Southern elephant seal--Monitoring |
description |
Southern elephant seals (SES) are far-ranging top predators and sentinels of the Southern Ocean ecosystem status. Their well-being depends on the resources available in different oceanographic habitats. This study presents methods for long-term monitoring of SES movements and body condition within the Atlantic sector. Collecting information on SES, who spend months at sea, is often only possible using telemetry. I thus present a method designed for detecting buoyancy changes from low-resolution dive data. Detected buoyancy changes, which reflect body condition changes (i.e. lipid gain or loss), are examined in relation to when and where they geographically occur. For replenishing resources SES rely on macroscale latitudinal fronts, which provide favourable foraging conditions through aggregating prey and enhancing productivity. Generally, SES associate more frequently with higher latitude fronts/zones. Body condition improvements associated with a given frontal system vary strongly according to year, season and month. The variability in body condition improvements is higher in some frontal systems than in others, likely due to shifts in the Subantarctic and Polar Front. During a migration, some individuals stay within ≤3 frontal systems, whilst others change between several frontal systems and primarily improve their body condition in upper ocean waters. Body condition improvements, related to particular water masses, differ between the sexes and seasons. SES do not trace particular water masses across different frontal systems. Large inter-individual variability exists in how fast, when and where successful resource acquisition occurs. Conclusions drawn from track-based behavioural metrics regarding foraging activity are biased by the influence of currents on the horizontal movements of SES. The presented current-correction methods reveal that movements in geographic and hydrographic space differ. Currents primarily alter the horizontal travel direction, and SES show an ability to compensate for such ... |
author2 |
Boehme, Lars Fedak, Michael A Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) University of St Andrews. 600th Anniversary Scholarship |
format |
Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis |
author |
Gordine, Samantha Alex |
author_facet |
Gordine, Samantha Alex |
author_sort |
Gordine, Samantha Alex |
title |
Pinniped diving behaviour in geographic and oceanographic space |
title_short |
Pinniped diving behaviour in geographic and oceanographic space |
title_full |
Pinniped diving behaviour in geographic and oceanographic space |
title_fullStr |
Pinniped diving behaviour in geographic and oceanographic space |
title_full_unstemmed |
Pinniped diving behaviour in geographic and oceanographic space |
title_sort |
pinniped diving behaviour in geographic and oceanographic space |
publisher |
University of St Andrews |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/12068 |
op_coverage |
339, [3] p. |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Ocean Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Ocean Southern Ocean |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Ocean Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Ocean Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/12068 |
op_rights |
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ 2021-04-17 Thesis restricted in accordance with University regulations. Print and electronic copy restricted until 17th April 2021 |
_version_ |
1770274423425728512 |