Characterization of postdive recovery using sound recordings and its relationship to dive duration, exertion, and foraging effort of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina)

• Published in: Marine Mammal Science
• Main Authors: Génin, Alexandre, Richard, Gaëtan, Jouma'A, Joffrey, Picard, Baptiste, El Ksabi, Nory, Vacquié-Garcia, Jade, Guinet, Christophe
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de Physique de l'ENS Lyon (Phys-ENS), École normale supérieure de Lyon (ENS de Lyon)-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2015
• Subjects: southern elephant seal; Mirounga leonina; bio-logging; acoustics; ecophysiology; diving behavior; dive recovery; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Elephant Seal; Elephant Seals; Southern Elephant Seal; Southern Elephant Seals
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-01293762; https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12235

International audience It is notoriously difficult to measure physiological parameters in cryptic free-rangingmarine mammals. However, it is critical to understand how marine mammalsmanage their energy expenditure and their diving behavior in environments wherethe predation risks are low and where survival is mainly linked to capacities to maintainphysiological homeostasis and energy budget balance. Elephant seals are topmarine predators that dive deeply and continuously when at sea. Using acousticrecorders deployed on two postbreeding southern elephant seals (SES) females, wedeveloped methods to automatically estimate breathing frequency at the surface.Using this method, we found that seals took successive identical breaths at high frequency(0.29 Hz) when recovering at the surface and that breath count was stronglyrelated to postdive surfacing time. In addition, dive depth was the main factorexplaining surfacing time through the effects of dive duration and total underwaterswimming effort exerted. Finally, we found that recovery does not only occur overone dive timescale, but over a multidive time scale for one individual. The way thesepredators manage their recovery will determine how they respond to the change inoceanic water column structure in the future.