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 estimat...