Foraging habitats of southern elephant seals, Mirounga leonina , from the Northern Antarctic Peninsula

ElephantIsland(EI)isuniquelyplacedtoprovidesouthernelephantseals(SES)breedingtherewithpotentialaccesstoforaginggroundsintheWeddellSea,thefrontalzonesoftheSouthAtlanticOcean,the PatagonianshelfandtheWesternAntarcticPeninsula(WAP).QuantifyingwheresealsfromEI foragethereforeprovidesinsightsintothetypes...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography
Main Authors: Muelbert, MMC, de Souza, RB, Lewis, MN, Hindell, MA
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd 2013
Subjects:
Biological Sciences
Ecology
Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl. Marine Ichthyology)
Antarctic
Antarctic Peninsula
Antarc*
Elephant Seals
Mirounga leonina
Southern Elephant Seals
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2012.07.009
http://ecite.utas.edu.au/89056
Description
Summary:ElephantIsland(EI)isuniquelyplacedtoprovidesouthernelephantseals(SES)breedingtherewithpotentialaccesstoforaginggroundsintheWeddellSea,thefrontalzonesoftheSouthAtlanticOcean,the PatagonianshelfandtheWesternAntarcticPeninsula(WAP).QuantifyingwheresealsfromEI foragethereforeprovidesinsightsintothetypesofimportanthabitatsavailable,andwhichareofparticularimportancetoelephantseals.TwentynineSES(5sub-adultmalesSAM and24adultfemalesAF) wereequippedwithSMRUCTD-SLDRsduringthepost-breeding(PB2008,2009)andpost-moulting(PM2007,2008,2009,2010)tripstosea.Therewerestrikingintra-annualandinter-sexdifferencesinforagingareas,withmostofthePBfemalesremainingwithin150kmofEI.OnePBAFtravelleddowntheWAPasdid16outofthe20PMfemalesandforagednearthewinterice-edge.MostPM sub-adultmalesremainedclosetoEI,inareassimilartothoseusedbyadultfemalesseveralmonthsearlier, althoughoneSAMspenttheearlypartofthewinterforagingonthePatagonianShelf.ThewatersoftheNorthernAntarcticPeninsula(NAP)containabundantresourcestosupportthemajorityof theIslandsSESforthesummerandearlywinter,suchthattheanimalsfromthispopulationhaveshortermigrationsthanthosefrommostotherpopulations.Sub-adultmalesandPBfemalesarecertainlytakingadvantageoftheseresources.However,PMfemalesdidnotremainthereoverthewintermonths,insteadtheyusedthesamewatersattheice-edgeinthesouthernWAPthatfemalesfrom bothKingGeorgeIslandandSouthGeorgiaused.Femalesmademorebenthicdivesthansub-adultmalesagain thiscontrastswithothersiteswhereSAMsdomorebenthicdiving.Unlikemostother populationsstudiedtodateEIisarelativelysoutherlybreedingcolonylocatedontheAntarcticcontinentalshelf.EIsealsareusingshelfhabitatsmorethanotherSESpopulationsbutsomeindividualsstill employopenwaterforagingstrategies.Sea-icewasalsoveryinfluentialforPMfemaleswithmoreforagingoccurringinheavierpack-ice.Largerfemalesusedareaswithheavierice-concentrationthansmallerfemales.Thestudydemonstratestheimportanceofshelfandslopehabitattoelephantseals,but alsohighlightedtheinfluenceofsea-iceandfine-scalebathymetryandlocaloceanconditionindeterminingforaginghabitat.

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