Underwater and surface behavior of homing juvenile northern elephant seals
Northern elephant seals, Mirounga angustirostris, travel between colonies along the west coast of North America and foraging areas in the North Pacific. They also have the ability to return to their home colony after being experimentally translocated. However, the mechanisms of this navigation are n...
Published in: | Journal of Experimental Biology |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
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2011
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Online Access: | https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/underwater-and-surface-behavior-of-homing-juvenile-northern-elephant-seals(a16e6927-c21d-4466-a5b1-3a58bfa69211).html https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.048827 |
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ftunstandrewcris:oai:research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk:publications/a16e6927-c21d-4466-a5b1-3a58bfa69211 2024-06-23T07:52:29+00:00 Underwater and surface behavior of homing juvenile northern elephant seals Matsumura, Moe Watanabe, Yuuki Y. Robinson, Patrick W. Miller, Patrick J. O. Costa, Daniel P. Miyazaki, Nobuyuki 2011-02 https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/underwater-and-surface-behavior-of-homing-juvenile-northern-elephant-seals(a16e6927-c21d-4466-a5b1-3a58bfa69211).html https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.048827 eng eng https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/underwater-and-surface-behavior-of-homing-juvenile-northern-elephant-seals(a16e6927-c21d-4466-a5b1-3a58bfa69211).html info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Matsumura , M , Watanabe , Y Y , Robinson , P W , Miller , P J O , Costa , D P & Miyazaki , N 2011 , ' Underwater and surface behavior of homing juvenile northern elephant seals ' , Journal of Experimental Biology , vol. 214 , no. 4 , pp. 629-636 . https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.048827 data logger 3-D dive orientation navigation migration SOCKEYE SALMON MIROUNGA-ANGUSTIROSTRIS CARCHARODON-CARCHARIAS ORIENTATION CUES MAGNETIC COMPASS MARINE MAMMALS WEDDELL SEALS TURTLES PIGEONS article 2011 ftunstandrewcris https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.048827 2024-06-13T00:31:31Z Northern elephant seals, Mirounga angustirostris, travel between colonies along the west coast of North America and foraging areas in the North Pacific. They also have the ability to return to their home colony after being experimentally translocated. However, the mechanisms of this navigation are not known. Visual information could serve an important role in navigation, either primary or supplementary. We examined the role of visual cues in elephant seal navigation by translocating three seals and recording their heading direction continuously using GPS, and acceleration and geomagnetic data loggers while they returned to the colony. The seals first reached the coast and then proceeded to the colony by swimming along the coast. While underwater the animals exhibited a horizontally straight course (mean net-to-gross displacement ratio=0.94 +/- 0.02). In contrast, while at the surface they changed their headings up to 360 degrees deg. These results are consistent with the use of visual cues for navigation to the colony. The seals may visually orient by using landmarks as they swim along the coast. We further assessed whether the seals could maintain a consistent heading while underwater during drift dives where one might expect that passive spiraling during drift dives could cause disorientation. However, seals were able to maintain the initial course heading even while underwater during drift dives where there was spiral motion (to within 20 deg). This behavior may imply the use of non-visual cues such as acoustic signals or magnetic fields for underwater orientation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Weddell Seals University of St Andrews: Research Portal Pacific Sockeye ENVELOPE(-130.143,-130.143,54.160,54.160) Weddell Journal of Experimental Biology 214 4 629 636 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of St Andrews: Research Portal |
op_collection_id |
ftunstandrewcris |
language |
English |
topic |
data logger 3-D dive orientation navigation migration SOCKEYE SALMON MIROUNGA-ANGUSTIROSTRIS CARCHARODON-CARCHARIAS ORIENTATION CUES MAGNETIC COMPASS MARINE MAMMALS WEDDELL SEALS TURTLES PIGEONS |
spellingShingle |
data logger 3-D dive orientation navigation migration SOCKEYE SALMON MIROUNGA-ANGUSTIROSTRIS CARCHARODON-CARCHARIAS ORIENTATION CUES MAGNETIC COMPASS MARINE MAMMALS WEDDELL SEALS TURTLES PIGEONS Matsumura, Moe Watanabe, Yuuki Y. Robinson, Patrick W. Miller, Patrick J. O. Costa, Daniel P. Miyazaki, Nobuyuki Underwater and surface behavior of homing juvenile northern elephant seals |
topic_facet |
data logger 3-D dive orientation navigation migration SOCKEYE SALMON MIROUNGA-ANGUSTIROSTRIS CARCHARODON-CARCHARIAS ORIENTATION CUES MAGNETIC COMPASS MARINE MAMMALS WEDDELL SEALS TURTLES PIGEONS |
description |
Northern elephant seals, Mirounga angustirostris, travel between colonies along the west coast of North America and foraging areas in the North Pacific. They also have the ability to return to their home colony after being experimentally translocated. However, the mechanisms of this navigation are not known. Visual information could serve an important role in navigation, either primary or supplementary. We examined the role of visual cues in elephant seal navigation by translocating three seals and recording their heading direction continuously using GPS, and acceleration and geomagnetic data loggers while they returned to the colony. The seals first reached the coast and then proceeded to the colony by swimming along the coast. While underwater the animals exhibited a horizontally straight course (mean net-to-gross displacement ratio=0.94 +/- 0.02). In contrast, while at the surface they changed their headings up to 360 degrees deg. These results are consistent with the use of visual cues for navigation to the colony. The seals may visually orient by using landmarks as they swim along the coast. We further assessed whether the seals could maintain a consistent heading while underwater during drift dives where one might expect that passive spiraling during drift dives could cause disorientation. However, seals were able to maintain the initial course heading even while underwater during drift dives where there was spiral motion (to within 20 deg). This behavior may imply the use of non-visual cues such as acoustic signals or magnetic fields for underwater orientation. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Matsumura, Moe Watanabe, Yuuki Y. Robinson, Patrick W. Miller, Patrick J. O. Costa, Daniel P. Miyazaki, Nobuyuki |
author_facet |
Matsumura, Moe Watanabe, Yuuki Y. Robinson, Patrick W. Miller, Patrick J. O. Costa, Daniel P. Miyazaki, Nobuyuki |
author_sort |
Matsumura, Moe |
title |
Underwater and surface behavior of homing juvenile northern elephant seals |
title_short |
Underwater and surface behavior of homing juvenile northern elephant seals |
title_full |
Underwater and surface behavior of homing juvenile northern elephant seals |
title_fullStr |
Underwater and surface behavior of homing juvenile northern elephant seals |
title_full_unstemmed |
Underwater and surface behavior of homing juvenile northern elephant seals |
title_sort |
underwater and surface behavior of homing juvenile northern elephant seals |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/underwater-and-surface-behavior-of-homing-juvenile-northern-elephant-seals(a16e6927-c21d-4466-a5b1-3a58bfa69211).html https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.048827 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-130.143,-130.143,54.160,54.160) |
geographic |
Pacific Sockeye Weddell |
geographic_facet |
Pacific Sockeye Weddell |
genre |
Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Weddell Seals |
genre_facet |
Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Weddell Seals |
op_source |
Matsumura , M , Watanabe , Y Y , Robinson , P W , Miller , P J O , Costa , D P & Miyazaki , N 2011 , ' Underwater and surface behavior of homing juvenile northern elephant seals ' , Journal of Experimental Biology , vol. 214 , no. 4 , pp. 629-636 . https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.048827 |
op_relation |
https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/underwater-and-surface-behavior-of-homing-juvenile-northern-elephant-seals(a16e6927-c21d-4466-a5b1-3a58bfa69211).html |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.048827 |
container_title |
Journal of Experimental Biology |
container_volume |
214 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
629 |
op_container_end_page |
636 |
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1802643783270006784 |