Seasonal habitat preference and foraging behaviour of post-moult Weddell seals in the western Ross Sea.

Autor:	Goetz KT; Marine Mammal Laboratory, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115, USA.; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA., Dinniman MS; Center for Coastal Physical Oceanography, Old Dominion University, 4111 Monarch Way, 3 floor, Norfolk, VA 23508 USA., Hückstädt LA; Center for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK., Robinson PW; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA., Shero MR; Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 266 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, MA 02543 USA., Burns JM; Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Box 43131, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA., Hofmann EE; Center for Coastal Physical Oceanography, Old Dominion University, 4111 Monarch Way, 3 floor, Norfolk, VA 23508 USA., Stammerjohn SE; Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Campus Box 450, Boulder, CO 80309-0450, USA., Hazen EL; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA.; Environmental Research Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, 99 Pacific Street, Suite 255A, Monterey, CA 93940, USA., Ainley DG; H.T. Harvey and Associates Ecological Consultants, 983 University Avenue, Building D, Los Gatos, CA 95032, USA., Costa DP; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Royal Society open science [R Soc Open Sci] 2023 Jan 25; Vol. 10 (1), pp. 220500. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Jan 25 (Print Publication: 2023).
DOI:	10.1098/rsos.220500
Abstrakt:	Weddell seals ( Leptonychotes weddellii ) are important predators in the Southern Ocean and are among the best-studied pinnipeds on Earth, yet much still needs to be learned about their year-round movements and foraging behaviour. Using biologgers, we tagged 62 post-moult Weddell seals in McMurdo Sound and vicinity between 2010 and 2012. Generalized additive mixed models were used to (i) explain and predict the probability of seal presence and foraging behaviour from eight environmental variables, and (ii) examine foraging behaviour in relation to dive metrics. Foraging probability was highest in winter and lowest in summer, and foraging occurred mostly in the water column or just above the bottom; across all seasons, seals preferentially exploited the shallow banks and deeper troughs of the Ross Sea, the latter providing a pathway for Circumpolar Deep Water to flow onto the shelf. In addition, the probability of Weddell seal occurrence and foraging increased with increasing bathymetric slope and where water depth was typically less than 600 m. Although the probability of occurrence was higher closer to the shelf break, foraging was higher in areas closer to shore and over banks. This study highlights the importance of overwinter foraging for recouping body mass lost during the previous summer. (© 2023 The Authors.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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