Deep divers in even deeper seas: habitat use of male southern elephant seals from Marion Island


Contact
Trevor.McIntyre [ at ] awi.de

Abstract

We describe the habitat use of 22 male southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) satellite tagged at Marion Island between 2004 and 2008. While a few areas of increased utilization appeared to be associated with areas of shallower bathymetry (such as sea-floor ridges and fracture zones), seals in our study did not target other areas of shallow bathymetry within close proximity to Marion Island. Rather, most elephant seals foraged pelagically over very deep water where much variation was evident in diel vertical migration strategies. These strategies resulted in generally deeper and longer dives than what has been reported for male elephant seals from other colonies. No significant differences were recorded for dive durations or dive depths between adults and sub-adults. However, younger animals displayed a positive relationship between dive durations and age, as well as between dive depths and age, while these relationships became negative for older animals. Mixed model outputs suggested that seals increased their aerobic fitness as migrations progressed, enabling them to undertake longer dives. We conclude that Marion Island male elephant seals exhibit much variability in dive strategy and are seemingly capable of exploiting a range of different prey types occurring in various depth layers.



Item Type
Article
Authors
Divisions
Programs
Publication Status
Published
Eprint ID
30982
DOI 10.1017/S0954102012000570

Cite as
McIntyre, T. , Bornemann, H. , Plötz, J. , Tosh, C. A. and Bester, M. N. (2012): Deep divers in even deeper seas: habitat use of male southern elephant seals from Marion Island , Antarctic Science, 24 (6), pp. 561-570 . doi: 10.1017/S0954102012000570


Share
Add to AnyAdd to TwitterAdd to FacebookAdd to LinkedinAdd to PinterestAdd to Email


Citation

Research Platforms
N/A

Campaigns
N/A


Actions
Edit Item Edit Item