Environmental and physiological determinants of successful foraging by naive southern elephant seal pups during their first trip to sea
The ability to forage successfully during their first trip to sea is fundamental to the ultimate survival of newly weaned southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina). However, there is considerable variation in the body mass and fat content of seal pups at weaning, which results in some individuals h...
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1999
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ftunivwagenin:oai:library.wur.nl:wurpubs/315638 2024-01-28T10:05:30+01:00 Environmental and physiological determinants of successful foraging by naive southern elephant seal pups during their first trip to sea Hindell, M.A. McConnell, B.J. Fedak, M.A. Slip, D.J. Burton, H.R. Reijnders, P.J.H. McMahon, C.R. 1999 text/html https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/environmental-and-physiological-determinants-of-successful-foragi https://doi.org/10.1139/z99-154 en eng https://edepot.wur.nl/433445 https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/environmental-and-physiological-determinants-of-successful-foragi doi:10.1139/z99-154 info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Wageningen University & Research Canadian Journal of Zoology 77 (1999) 11 ISSN: 0008-4301 Life Science info:eu-repo/semantics/article Article/Letter to editor info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 1999 ftunivwagenin https://doi.org/10.1139/z99-154 2024-01-03T23:17:09Z The ability to forage successfully during their first trip to sea is fundamental to the ultimate survival of newly weaned southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina). However, there is considerable variation in the body mass and fat content of seal pups at weaning, which results in some individuals having larger energy and oxygen stores than others, which may confer advantages on them. The diving behaviour of 21 newly weaned seals was studied using satellite relayed data loggers. Seals were captured at Macquarie Island in December 1995 and 1996, approximately 4 weeks after weaning. Two groups of seals were specifically targeted: a heavy group from the top quartile of weaning masses (n = 6) and a light group from the lower quartile (n = 15). Most of the seals made dives in excess of 100 m depth and 5 min before final departure from the island. However, for the first 60-80 d, all of the seals exhibited behaviour quite distinct from the patterns reported for older conspecifics, and made relatively shallow (100 +/- 39 m; mean +/- SD) and short (5.7 +/- 1.23 min) dives. During this time the seals spent 74.3 +/- 12.6 of each day diving, and the depth of the dives did not follow any diurnal pattern. The diving behaviour of all seals changed abruptly whenthey started on their return to land. During this time their behaviour was more like that of adults: they made deeper (159 +/- 9 m) and longer dives (9.01 +/- 1.69 min) than previously, and the dives showed a strong diurnal pattern in depth. There is no obvious explanation for this change in behaviour, although its abrupt nature suggests that it is unlikely to have been due to physiological changes in the seals. The size of the seals at weaning was an important influence on diving behaviour. Heavy weaners made significantly deeper (130 +/- 40 m) and longer dives (7.36 +/- 0.55 min) than light weaners (88 +/- 32 m and 5.04 +/- 0.64 min, respectively). This indicates that smaller seals are constrained to some extent by their physiological capabilities, which perhaps ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Macquarie Island Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals Wageningen UR (University & Research Centre): Digital Library Canadian Journal of Zoology 77 11 1807 1821 |
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Wageningen UR (University & Research Centre): Digital Library |
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English |
topic |
Life Science |
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Life Science Hindell, M.A. McConnell, B.J. Fedak, M.A. Slip, D.J. Burton, H.R. Reijnders, P.J.H. McMahon, C.R. Environmental and physiological determinants of successful foraging by naive southern elephant seal pups during their first trip to sea |
topic_facet |
Life Science |
description |
The ability to forage successfully during their first trip to sea is fundamental to the ultimate survival of newly weaned southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina). However, there is considerable variation in the body mass and fat content of seal pups at weaning, which results in some individuals having larger energy and oxygen stores than others, which may confer advantages on them. The diving behaviour of 21 newly weaned seals was studied using satellite relayed data loggers. Seals were captured at Macquarie Island in December 1995 and 1996, approximately 4 weeks after weaning. Two groups of seals were specifically targeted: a heavy group from the top quartile of weaning masses (n = 6) and a light group from the lower quartile (n = 15). Most of the seals made dives in excess of 100 m depth and 5 min before final departure from the island. However, for the first 60-80 d, all of the seals exhibited behaviour quite distinct from the patterns reported for older conspecifics, and made relatively shallow (100 +/- 39 m; mean +/- SD) and short (5.7 +/- 1.23 min) dives. During this time the seals spent 74.3 +/- 12.6 of each day diving, and the depth of the dives did not follow any diurnal pattern. The diving behaviour of all seals changed abruptly whenthey started on their return to land. During this time their behaviour was more like that of adults: they made deeper (159 +/- 9 m) and longer dives (9.01 +/- 1.69 min) than previously, and the dives showed a strong diurnal pattern in depth. There is no obvious explanation for this change in behaviour, although its abrupt nature suggests that it is unlikely to have been due to physiological changes in the seals. The size of the seals at weaning was an important influence on diving behaviour. Heavy weaners made significantly deeper (130 +/- 40 m) and longer dives (7.36 +/- 0.55 min) than light weaners (88 +/- 32 m and 5.04 +/- 0.64 min, respectively). This indicates that smaller seals are constrained to some extent by their physiological capabilities, which perhaps ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hindell, M.A. McConnell, B.J. Fedak, M.A. Slip, D.J. Burton, H.R. Reijnders, P.J.H. McMahon, C.R. |
author_facet |
Hindell, M.A. McConnell, B.J. Fedak, M.A. Slip, D.J. Burton, H.R. Reijnders, P.J.H. McMahon, C.R. |
author_sort |
Hindell, M.A. |
title |
Environmental and physiological determinants of successful foraging by naive southern elephant seal pups during their first trip to sea |
title_short |
Environmental and physiological determinants of successful foraging by naive southern elephant seal pups during their first trip to sea |
title_full |
Environmental and physiological determinants of successful foraging by naive southern elephant seal pups during their first trip to sea |
title_fullStr |
Environmental and physiological determinants of successful foraging by naive southern elephant seal pups during their first trip to sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Environmental and physiological determinants of successful foraging by naive southern elephant seal pups during their first trip to sea |
title_sort |
environmental and physiological determinants of successful foraging by naive southern elephant seal pups during their first trip to sea |
publishDate |
1999 |
url |
https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/environmental-and-physiological-determinants-of-successful-foragi https://doi.org/10.1139/z99-154 |
genre |
Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Macquarie Island Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals |
genre_facet |
Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Macquarie Island Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology 77 (1999) 11 ISSN: 0008-4301 |
op_relation |
https://edepot.wur.nl/433445 https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/environmental-and-physiological-determinants-of-successful-foragi doi:10.1139/z99-154 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Wageningen University & Research |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/z99-154 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
77 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
1807 |
op_container_end_page |
1821 |
_version_ |
1789331821012451328 |