Regional variation in winter foraging strategies by Weddell seals in Eastern Antarctica and the Ross Sea
The relative importance of intrinsic and extrinsic determinants of animal foraging is often difficult to quantify. The most southerly breeding mammal, the Weddell seal, remains in the Antarctic pack-ice year-round. We compared Weddell seals tagged at three geographically and hydrographically distinc...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.720335 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/151401 |
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ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:151401 2023-05-15T13:59:47+02:00 Regional variation in winter foraging strategies by Weddell seals in Eastern Antarctica and the Ross Sea Harcourt, R Hindell, MA McMahon, CR Goetz, KT Charrassin, JB Heerah, K Holser, R Jonsen, ID Shero, MR Hoenner, X Foster, R Lenting, B Tarszisz, E Pinkerton, MH 2021 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.720335 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/151401 en eng Frontiers Research Foundation http://ecite.utas.edu.au/151401/1/151401 - Regional variation in winter foraging strategies by Weddell seals.pdf http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.720335 Harcourt, R and Hindell, MA and McMahon, CR and Goetz, KT and Charrassin, JB and Heerah, K and Holser, R and Jonsen, ID and Shero, MR and Hoenner, X and Foster, R and Lenting, B and Tarszisz, E and Pinkerton, MH, Regional variation in winter foraging strategies by Weddell seals in Eastern Antarctica and the Ross Sea, Frontiers in Marine Science, 8 Article 720335. ISSN 2296-7745 (2021) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/151401 Biological Sciences Ecology Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) Refereed Article PeerReviewed 2021 ftunivtasecite https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.720335 2022-08-15T22:16:47Z The relative importance of intrinsic and extrinsic determinants of animal foraging is often difficult to quantify. The most southerly breeding mammal, the Weddell seal, remains in the Antarctic pack-ice year-round. We compared Weddell seals tagged at three geographically and hydrographically distinct locations in East Antarctica (Prydz Bay, Terre Adlie , and the Ross Sea) to quantify the role of individual variability and habitat structure in winter foraging behaviour. Most Weddell seals remained in relatively small areas close to the coast throughout the winter, but some dispersed widely. Individual utilisation distributions ( UDi , a measure of the total area used by an individual seal) ranged from 125 to 20,825 km 2 . This variability was not due to size or sex but may be due to other intrinsic states for example reproductive condition or personality. The type of foraging (benthic vs. pelagic) varied from 56.6 14.9% benthic dives in Prydz Bay through 42.1 9.4% Terre Adlie to only 25.1 8.7% in the Ross Sea reflecting regional hydrographic structure. The probability of benthic diving was less likely the deeper the ocean. Ocean topography was also influential at the population level; seals from Terre Adlie , with its relatively narrow continental shelf, had a core (50%) UD of only 200 km 2 , considerably smaller than the Ross Sea (1650 km 2 ) and Prydz Bay (1700 km 2 ). Sea ice concentration had little influence on the time the seals spent in shallow coastal waters, but in deeper offshore water they used areas of higher ice concentration. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Ross Sea encompass all the observed Weddell seal habitat, and future MPAs that include the Antarctic continental shelf are likely to effectively protect key Weddell seal habitat. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Prydz Bay Ross Sea Sea ice Weddell Seal Weddell Seals eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) Antarctic East Antarctica Prydz Bay Ross Sea The Antarctic Weddell Frontiers in Marine Science 8 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtasecite |
language |
English |
topic |
Biological Sciences Ecology Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) |
spellingShingle |
Biological Sciences Ecology Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) Harcourt, R Hindell, MA McMahon, CR Goetz, KT Charrassin, JB Heerah, K Holser, R Jonsen, ID Shero, MR Hoenner, X Foster, R Lenting, B Tarszisz, E Pinkerton, MH Regional variation in winter foraging strategies by Weddell seals in Eastern Antarctica and the Ross Sea |
topic_facet |
Biological Sciences Ecology Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) |
description |
The relative importance of intrinsic and extrinsic determinants of animal foraging is often difficult to quantify. The most southerly breeding mammal, the Weddell seal, remains in the Antarctic pack-ice year-round. We compared Weddell seals tagged at three geographically and hydrographically distinct locations in East Antarctica (Prydz Bay, Terre Adlie , and the Ross Sea) to quantify the role of individual variability and habitat structure in winter foraging behaviour. Most Weddell seals remained in relatively small areas close to the coast throughout the winter, but some dispersed widely. Individual utilisation distributions ( UDi , a measure of the total area used by an individual seal) ranged from 125 to 20,825 km 2 . This variability was not due to size or sex but may be due to other intrinsic states for example reproductive condition or personality. The type of foraging (benthic vs. pelagic) varied from 56.6 14.9% benthic dives in Prydz Bay through 42.1 9.4% Terre Adlie to only 25.1 8.7% in the Ross Sea reflecting regional hydrographic structure. The probability of benthic diving was less likely the deeper the ocean. Ocean topography was also influential at the population level; seals from Terre Adlie , with its relatively narrow continental shelf, had a core (50%) UD of only 200 km 2 , considerably smaller than the Ross Sea (1650 km 2 ) and Prydz Bay (1700 km 2 ). Sea ice concentration had little influence on the time the seals spent in shallow coastal waters, but in deeper offshore water they used areas of higher ice concentration. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Ross Sea encompass all the observed Weddell seal habitat, and future MPAs that include the Antarctic continental shelf are likely to effectively protect key Weddell seal habitat. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Harcourt, R Hindell, MA McMahon, CR Goetz, KT Charrassin, JB Heerah, K Holser, R Jonsen, ID Shero, MR Hoenner, X Foster, R Lenting, B Tarszisz, E Pinkerton, MH |
author_facet |
Harcourt, R Hindell, MA McMahon, CR Goetz, KT Charrassin, JB Heerah, K Holser, R Jonsen, ID Shero, MR Hoenner, X Foster, R Lenting, B Tarszisz, E Pinkerton, MH |
author_sort |
Harcourt, R |
title |
Regional variation in winter foraging strategies by Weddell seals in Eastern Antarctica and the Ross Sea |
title_short |
Regional variation in winter foraging strategies by Weddell seals in Eastern Antarctica and the Ross Sea |
title_full |
Regional variation in winter foraging strategies by Weddell seals in Eastern Antarctica and the Ross Sea |
title_fullStr |
Regional variation in winter foraging strategies by Weddell seals in Eastern Antarctica and the Ross Sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Regional variation in winter foraging strategies by Weddell seals in Eastern Antarctica and the Ross Sea |
title_sort |
regional variation in winter foraging strategies by weddell seals in eastern antarctica and the ross sea |
publisher |
Frontiers Research Foundation |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.720335 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/151401 |
geographic |
Antarctic East Antarctica Prydz Bay Ross Sea The Antarctic Weddell |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic East Antarctica Prydz Bay Ross Sea The Antarctic Weddell |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Prydz Bay Ross Sea Sea ice Weddell Seal Weddell Seals |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Prydz Bay Ross Sea Sea ice Weddell Seal Weddell Seals |
op_relation |
http://ecite.utas.edu.au/151401/1/151401 - Regional variation in winter foraging strategies by Weddell seals.pdf http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.720335 Harcourt, R and Hindell, MA and McMahon, CR and Goetz, KT and Charrassin, JB and Heerah, K and Holser, R and Jonsen, ID and Shero, MR and Hoenner, X and Foster, R and Lenting, B and Tarszisz, E and Pinkerton, MH, Regional variation in winter foraging strategies by Weddell seals in Eastern Antarctica and the Ross Sea, Frontiers in Marine Science, 8 Article 720335. ISSN 2296-7745 (2021) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/151401 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.720335 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
8 |
_version_ |
1766268595023642624 |