A matter of life and death – Hunting tactics of Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) and anti-predatory behaviours of their prey
Abstract For air-breathing marine predators that must save energy during dives, the ability to adopt hunting tactics that minimise the risk of triggering an escape reaction from the prey is crucial for an efficient foraging. Female Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina, SES hereafter) forage on...
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ftunivrochelle:oai:HAL:hal-04274788v1 2024-02-11T10:03:31+01:00 A matter of life and death – Hunting tactics of Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) and anti-predatory behaviours of their prey Chevallay, Mathilde Guinet, Christophe Goulet, Pauline Jeanniard Du Dot, Tiphaine 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) 2023-11-08 https://hal.science/hal-04274788 https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.10.19.563063 en eng HAL CCSD info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1101/2023.10.19.563063 hal-04274788 https://hal.science/hal-04274788 BIORXIV: 2023.10.19.563063 doi:10.1101/2023.10.19.563063 https://hal.science/hal-04274788 2023 Predator-prey interactions hunting tactics anti-predatory behaviours Southern elephant seals Mirounga leonina biologging [SDE]Environmental Sciences info:eu-repo/semantics/preprint Preprints, Working Papers, . 2023 ftunivrochelle https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.10.19.563063 2024-01-23T23:34:04Z Abstract For air-breathing marine predators that must save energy during dives, the ability to adopt hunting tactics that minimise the risk of triggering an escape reaction from the prey is crucial for an efficient foraging. Female Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina, SES hereafter) forage on small mesopelagic prey that they must hunt almost continuously to meet their high-energy requirements. Here we aimed at understanding how these large time-limited deep-divers can efficiently exploit their small sized prey. To do so, we used data recorded by a new biologger, the sonar tag, deployed on SES during their post-breeding foraging trips. This tag combines an active acoustic sensor with ultra-high-resolution movement and bioluminescence sensors, offering a unique opportunity to simultaneously describe SES’ hunting tactics to capture their prey and defence mechanisms employed by prey. We analysed more than 5,800 prey capture events in nine SES and show that they adopt a “stalking” hunting behaviour allowing them to get as close as possible to their prey before attacking. The ability of SES to adopt stealth approach tactics, minimising the risk of initiating a flight reaction from their prey, might be a key factor in the success of this far-ranging generalist predator. Report Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seals HAL - Université de La Rochelle |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
HAL - Université de La Rochelle |
op_collection_id |
ftunivrochelle |
language |
English |
topic |
Predator-prey interactions hunting tactics anti-predatory behaviours Southern elephant seals Mirounga leonina biologging [SDE]Environmental Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Predator-prey interactions hunting tactics anti-predatory behaviours Southern elephant seals Mirounga leonina biologging [SDE]Environmental Sciences Chevallay, Mathilde Guinet, Christophe Goulet, Pauline Jeanniard Du Dot, Tiphaine A matter of life and death – Hunting tactics of Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) and anti-predatory behaviours of their prey |
topic_facet |
Predator-prey interactions hunting tactics anti-predatory behaviours Southern elephant seals Mirounga leonina biologging [SDE]Environmental Sciences |
description |
Abstract For air-breathing marine predators that must save energy during dives, the ability to adopt hunting tactics that minimise the risk of triggering an escape reaction from the prey is crucial for an efficient foraging. Female Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina, SES hereafter) forage on small mesopelagic prey that they must hunt almost continuously to meet their high-energy requirements. Here we aimed at understanding how these large time-limited deep-divers can efficiently exploit their small sized prey. To do so, we used data recorded by a new biologger, the sonar tag, deployed on SES during their post-breeding foraging trips. This tag combines an active acoustic sensor with ultra-high-resolution movement and bioluminescence sensors, offering a unique opportunity to simultaneously describe SES’ hunting tactics to capture their prey and defence mechanisms employed by prey. We analysed more than 5,800 prey capture events in nine SES and show that they adopt a “stalking” hunting behaviour allowing them to get as close as possible to their prey before attacking. The ability of SES to adopt stealth approach tactics, minimising the risk of initiating a flight reaction from their prey, might be a key factor in the success of this far-ranging generalist predator. |
author2 |
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) |
format |
Report |
author |
Chevallay, Mathilde Guinet, Christophe Goulet, Pauline Jeanniard Du Dot, Tiphaine |
author_facet |
Chevallay, Mathilde Guinet, Christophe Goulet, Pauline Jeanniard Du Dot, Tiphaine |
author_sort |
Chevallay, Mathilde |
title |
A matter of life and death – Hunting tactics of Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) and anti-predatory behaviours of their prey |
title_short |
A matter of life and death – Hunting tactics of Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) and anti-predatory behaviours of their prey |
title_full |
A matter of life and death – Hunting tactics of Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) and anti-predatory behaviours of their prey |
title_fullStr |
A matter of life and death – Hunting tactics of Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) and anti-predatory behaviours of their prey |
title_full_unstemmed |
A matter of life and death – Hunting tactics of Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) and anti-predatory behaviours of their prey |
title_sort |
matter of life and death – hunting tactics of southern elephant seals (mirounga leonina) and anti-predatory behaviours of their prey |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-04274788 https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.10.19.563063 |
genre |
Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seals |
genre_facet |
Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seals |
op_source |
https://hal.science/hal-04274788 2023 |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1101/2023.10.19.563063 hal-04274788 https://hal.science/hal-04274788 BIORXIV: 2023.10.19.563063 doi:10.1101/2023.10.19.563063 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.10.19.563063 |
_version_ |
1790599780259332096 |