Tracking changes in relative body composition of southern elephant seals using swim speed data
Changes in buoyancy during an animal's time at sea are a powerful tool for inferring spatial and temporal foraging success. Buoyancy can be difficult to measure, but in some species of seal, drift components of dives can be used. We used swim speed data from adult female southern elephant seals...
Published in: | Marine Ecology Progress Series |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Inter-Research
2008
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07613 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/55924 |
id |
ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:55924 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:55924 2023-05-15T16:05:35+02:00 Tracking changes in relative body composition of southern elephant seals using swim speed data Thums, M Bradshaw, CJA Hindell, MA 2008 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07613 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/55924 en eng Inter-Research http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps07613 Thums, M and Bradshaw, CJA and Hindell, MA, Tracking changes in relative body composition of southern elephant seals using swim speed data, Marine Ecology Progress Series, 370, (October) pp. 249-261. ISSN 0171-8630 (2008) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/55924 Environmental Sciences Environmental Science and Management Wildlife and Habitat Management Refereed Article PeerReviewed 2008 ftunivtasecite https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07613 2019-12-13T21:28:28Z Changes in buoyancy during an animal's time at sea are a powerful tool for inferring spatial and temporal foraging success. Buoyancy can be difficult to measure, but in some species of seal, drift components of dives can be used. We used swim speed data from adult female southern elephant seals Mirounga leonina using geo-locating velocity-time-depth recorders during 2004 post-lactation (PL; n = 7) and 2002, 2004 and 2005 post-moult (PM; n = 18) foraging trips to detect periods of passive drifting during diving. In addition to the characteristic drift dives of elephant seals, drifting also occurred during putative foraging dives. We used generalised linear models (GLMs) to examine the relationship between body lipid content measured on land and several diving variables collected within a week of these measurements being taken. The strongest support (deviance explained = 90%) was for the model including drift rate (77%), seal length (12%) and descent rate (2%). Estimates of body lipid, based on the GLM, were predicted for each day of the foraging trips. Areas where seals increased their relative lipid content from one day to the next corresponded well with areas in which the seals spent the greatest amount of time. Inferring foraging success from positive changes in drift rate has so far been limited to elephant seals which perform characteristic drift dives, but the addition of swim speed data to detect short periods of stationary behaviour allows for this method to be expanded to a greater range of ocean predators. Inter-Research 2008. Article in Journal/Newspaper Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seals eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) Marine Ecology Progress Series 370 249 261 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtasecite |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental Sciences Environmental Science and Management Wildlife and Habitat Management |
spellingShingle |
Environmental Sciences Environmental Science and Management Wildlife and Habitat Management Thums, M Bradshaw, CJA Hindell, MA Tracking changes in relative body composition of southern elephant seals using swim speed data |
topic_facet |
Environmental Sciences Environmental Science and Management Wildlife and Habitat Management |
description |
Changes in buoyancy during an animal's time at sea are a powerful tool for inferring spatial and temporal foraging success. Buoyancy can be difficult to measure, but in some species of seal, drift components of dives can be used. We used swim speed data from adult female southern elephant seals Mirounga leonina using geo-locating velocity-time-depth recorders during 2004 post-lactation (PL; n = 7) and 2002, 2004 and 2005 post-moult (PM; n = 18) foraging trips to detect periods of passive drifting during diving. In addition to the characteristic drift dives of elephant seals, drifting also occurred during putative foraging dives. We used generalised linear models (GLMs) to examine the relationship between body lipid content measured on land and several diving variables collected within a week of these measurements being taken. The strongest support (deviance explained = 90%) was for the model including drift rate (77%), seal length (12%) and descent rate (2%). Estimates of body lipid, based on the GLM, were predicted for each day of the foraging trips. Areas where seals increased their relative lipid content from one day to the next corresponded well with areas in which the seals spent the greatest amount of time. Inferring foraging success from positive changes in drift rate has so far been limited to elephant seals which perform characteristic drift dives, but the addition of swim speed data to detect short periods of stationary behaviour allows for this method to be expanded to a greater range of ocean predators. Inter-Research 2008. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Thums, M Bradshaw, CJA Hindell, MA |
author_facet |
Thums, M Bradshaw, CJA Hindell, MA |
author_sort |
Thums, M |
title |
Tracking changes in relative body composition of southern elephant seals using swim speed data |
title_short |
Tracking changes in relative body composition of southern elephant seals using swim speed data |
title_full |
Tracking changes in relative body composition of southern elephant seals using swim speed data |
title_fullStr |
Tracking changes in relative body composition of southern elephant seals using swim speed data |
title_full_unstemmed |
Tracking changes in relative body composition of southern elephant seals using swim speed data |
title_sort |
tracking changes in relative body composition of southern elephant seals using swim speed data |
publisher |
Inter-Research |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07613 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/55924 |
genre |
Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seals |
genre_facet |
Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seals |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps07613 Thums, M and Bradshaw, CJA and Hindell, MA, Tracking changes in relative body composition of southern elephant seals using swim speed data, Marine Ecology Progress Series, 370, (October) pp. 249-261. ISSN 0171-8630 (2008) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/55924 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07613 |
container_title |
Marine Ecology Progress Series |
container_volume |
370 |
container_start_page |
249 |
op_container_end_page |
261 |
_version_ |
1766401479220920320 |