Local extinction imminent for southern elephant seals Mirounga leonina at their northernmost breeding site, Gough Island-South Atlantic Ocean

• Published in: Polar Biology
• Main Authors: Jones, Christopher W., Risi, Michelle M., Bester, Marthan Nieuwoudt
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer 2020
• Subjects: Pinniped; Tristan da Cunha; Population decline; Local extinction; Range shift; Climate change; Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina); Southern Ocean; Tristan; Gough; Elephant Seals; Mirounga leonina; Polar Biology; South Atlantic Ocean; Southern Elephant Seals
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2263/77193; https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-020-02679-2

The continued decline in the small breeding population of southern elephant seals Mirounga leonina at Gough Island (40°19′S, 9°57′W) over a period of 46 years (1973–2019) signals the likely extirpation of the species at the northernmost extent of its breeding range in the Southern Ocean. The estimated number of births declined from a high (n = 38) in 1975 to a low (n = 2) in 2019, a 95% reduction at an average decrease of 2.15% per annum. The estimated mean time to extinction of this population from a linear regression model is 2 years (95% CI: 0–23 years). This decline is consistent with observed or forecasted population trends of some other marine top predators at the northern extent of their breeding ranges in the Southern Ocean; adding to the prevailing evidence that environmental change is the most plausible hypothesis explaining the range reduction of these marine species limited by a paucity of breeding grounds. http://link.springer.com/journal/300 2021-05-18 hj2020 Mammal Research Institute Zoology and Entomology