Weddell seal behaviour during an exceptional oceanographic event in the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in 2017

• Published in: Antarctic Science
• Main Authors: Labrousse, Sara, Ryan, Svenja, Roquet, Fabien, Picard, Baptiste, Mcmahon, Clive R., Harcourt, Robert, Hindell, Mark A., Le Goff, Hervé, Lourenço, Antonio, David, Yves, Sallée, Jean-Baptiste, Charrassin, Jean-Benoit
• Other Authors: Processus et interactions de fine échelle océanique (PROTEO), Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), Department of Marine Sciences Gothenburg, Göteborgs Universitet = University of Gothenburg (GU), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), IMOS Animal Tagging New South Wales, Australia, Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Department of Biological Sciences New South Wales, Australia (Macquarie University), Macquarie University, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies Hobart (IMAS), University of Tasmania Hobart, Australia (UTAS), Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), Macquarie University Sydney, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies and Centre for Marine Socioecology, Développement Instrumental et Techniques Marines (DITM), TBM environnement, European Project: 637770,H2020,ERC-2014-STG,WAPITI(2015)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: Antarctic predators; bio-telemetry; foraging behaviour; physical oceanography; spatial ecology; Weddell Sea; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]; Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctic Science; Antarctica; East Antarctica; Filchner Ronne Ice Shelf; Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf; Ice Shelf; Ronne Ice Shelf; Ross Sea; Weddell Seal; Weddell Seals
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03197794; https://hal.science/hal-03197794/document; https://hal.science/hal-03197794/file/weddell-seal-behaviour-during-an-exceptional-oceanographic-event-in-the-filchner-ronne-ice-shelf-in-2017.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102021000092

International audience Rapid and regionally contrasting climate changes have been observed around Antarctica. However, our understanding of the impact of these changes on ecosystems remains limited, and there is an urgent need to better identify habitats of Antarctic species. The Weddell seal ( Leptonychotes weddellii ) is a circumpolar mesopredator and an indicative species of Antarctic marine communities. It has been extensively studied in the western Ross Sea and East Antarctica, and an understanding of its ecology in the Weddell Sea in the wintertime is emerging. We documented the behavioural response(s) of four Weddell seals from February to June in 2017 in the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf region and related these to unusual oceanographic conditions in 2017. Unexpectedly, we found that Weddell seals had the longest foraging effort within the outflow of Ice Shelf Water or at its turbulent boundary. They also foraged on the eastern side of the trough from April to June within the Modified Warm Deep Water and seem to take advantage of the unusual conditions of persistent inflow of warm waters through the winter. Linking animal behavioural responses to oceanographic conditions is informative for quantifying rarely recorded events and provides great insight into how predators may respond to changing conditions.