Hydrographic influences on the summer dive behaviour of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in Atka Bay, Antarctica

McIntyre, Trevor; Stansfield, L.; Bornemann, Horst; Plötz, Joachim; Bester, Marthán N

doi:10.1007/s00300-013-1384-7

Cited by 16 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 35 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This may indicate differences in the vertical depth distribution of prey species associated with differences in the temperature gradient of the water column*possibly suggesting aggregations of suitable prey at deeper depths in more stratified water masses, and more scattered distributions of prey in weakly stratified water masses (Takahashi et al 2008). Similar relationships between dive parameters of Weddell seals and the temperature stratification of the water column were described recently by McIntyre et al (2013).…”

Section: Water Temperature Influences On Dive Behavioursupporting

confidence: 70%

“…Residuals from the regression were then used to identify dives of increased ''forage effort'', based on above-average amounts of time spent at the bottoms of dives for particular dive depths and durations. Bottom time residuals as an indicator of foraging effort was previously used by a number of authors studying both elephant and Weddell (Leptonychotes weddellii) seals (Bailleul et al 2008;McIntyre, Ansorge et al 2011;Heerah et al 2013;McIntyre et al 2013). While Dragon et al (2012) reported inconclusive relationships between bottom time residuals and evident increased foraging (negative bottom time residuals for deeper ''active'' dives and positive bottom time residuals for shallower ''active'' dives) in southern elephant seals, the results reported by Gallon et al (2013) and Robinson et al (2010) lend further support to this method.…”

Section: Divesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Environmental influences on the at-sea behaviour of a major consumer,Mirounga leonina, in a rapidly changing environment

McIntyre¹,

Bornemann

Bruyn

et al. 2014

Polar Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Water Temperature Influences On Dive Behavioursupporting

confidence: 70%

Section: Divesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental influences on the at-sea behaviour of a major consumer,Mirounga leonina, in a rapidly changing environment

McIntyre¹,

Bornemann

Bruyn

et al. 2014

Polar Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…A study by McIntyre et al . () tagged four adult Weddell seals with an equal sex ratio and found no sex effect for the maximum distance traveled from the location that they had been tagged. All adult seals tagged within Queen Maud Land remained with 15 km of the tagging location.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The mean bathymetry recorded for diving Weddell seals in Queen Maud Land was 207 m (McIntyre et al . ), in Dumont d'Urville was 237 m (Heerah et al . ), and in the Western Ross Sea was 505 m (Goetz ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex‐related differences in the postmolt distribution of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in the southern Weddell Sea

Langley

Fedak

Nicholls

et al. 2017

Marine Mammal Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The population of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in the southern Weddell Sea is in a unique position on the continental shelf edge, with vast shelf waters to the south, and deep Southern Ocean to the north. We describe sex-related differences in the winter distribution of this population, from data collected by 20 conductivity-temperature-depth satellite relay data loggers deployed in February 2011 at the end of the annual molt. The regional daily speed was calculated, and a state-space model was used to estimate behavioral states to positions along individuals' tracks. GLMMs estimated that males and smaller individuals, diving in shallower water, traveled less far per day of deployment (males 14.6 AE 2.26 km/d, females 18.9 AE 2.42 km/d), and males were estimated to dive in shallower water (males 604 AE 382 m, females 1,875 AE 1,458 m). Males and smaller individuals were also estimated to be more resident; males spent an average 83.4% AE 7.7% of their time in a resident behavioral state, compared to females at 74.1% AE 7.1%. This evidence that male and female Weddell seals in the southern Weddell Sea are adopting different strategies has not been shown elsewhere along their circumpolar distribution.

show abstract

“…A large number of studies use changes in surface GPS track patterns [15–18] or diving behaviour [19–22] as foraging indices. In various predator species, resource acquisition has been linked to a type of behaviour called area-restricted search (ARS) [23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Elephant Seals (Mirounga leonina) Adjust Their Fine Scale Horizontal Movement and Diving Behaviour in Relation to Prey Encounter Rate

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Understanding the diving behaviour of diving predators in relation to concomitant prey distribution could have major practical applications in conservation biology by allowing the assessment of how changes in fine scale prey distribution impact foraging efficiency and ultimately population dynamics. The southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina, hereafter SES), the largest phocid, is a major predator of the southern ocean feeding on myctophids and cephalopods. Because of its large size it can carry bio-loggers with minimal disturbance. Moreover, it has great diving abilities and a wide foraging habitat. Thus, the SES is a well suited model species to study predator diving behaviour and the distribution of ecologically important prey species in the Southern Ocean. In this study, we examined how SESs adjust their diving behaviour and horizontal movements in response to fine scale prey encounter densities using high resolution accelerometers, magnetometers, pressure sensors and GPS loggers. When high prey encounter rates were encountered, animals responded by (1) diving and returning to the surface with steeper angles, reducing the duration of transit dive phases (thus improving dive efficiency), and (2) exhibiting more horizontally and vertically sinuous bottom phases. In these cases, the distance travelled horizontally at the surface was reduced. This behaviour is likely to counteract horizontal displacement from water currents, as they try to remain within favourable prey patches. The prey encounter rate at the bottom of dives decreased with increasing diving depth, suggesting a combined effect of decreased accessibility and prey density with increasing depth. Prey encounter rate also decreased when the bottom phases of dives were spread across larger vertical extents of the water column. This result suggests that the vertical aggregation of prey can regulate prey density, and as a consequence impact the foraging success of SESs. To our knowledge, this is one of only a handful of studies showing how the vertical distributions and structure of prey fields influence the prey encounter rates of a diving predator.

show abstract

Hydrographic influences on the summer dive behaviour of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in Atka Bay, Antarctica

Cited by 16 publications

References 35 publications

Environmental influences on the at-sea behaviour of a major consumer,Mirounga leonina, in a rapidly changing environment

Environmental influences on the at-sea behaviour of a major consumer,Mirounga leonina, in a rapidly changing environment

Sex‐related differences in the postmolt distribution of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in the southern Weddell Sea

How Elephant Seals (Mirounga leonina) Adjust Their Fine Scale Horizontal Movement and Diving Behaviour in Relation to Prey Encounter Rate

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About