Supplementary material from "Elephant seal foraging success is enhanced in Antarctic coastal polynyas"
Version 2 2022-01-13, 07:30
Version 1 2021-12-20, 11:44
Posted on 2022-01-13 - 07:30
Antarctic polynyas are persistent open water areas which enable early and large seasonal phytoplankton blooms. This high primary productivity, boosted by iron supply from coastal glaciers, attracts organisms from all trophic levels to form a rich and diverse community. How the ecological benefit of polynya productivity is translated to the highest trophic levels remains poorly resolved. We studied 119 southern elephant seals feeding over the Antarctic shelf and demonstrated that (i) 96% of seals foraging here used polynyas, with individuals spending on average 62% of their time there, (ii) the seals exhibited more area-restricted search behaviour when in polynyas and (iii) these seals gained more energy (indicated by increased buoyancy from greater fat stores) when inside polynyas. This higher quality foraging existed even when ice was not present in the study area, indicating that these are important and predictable foraging grounds year-round. Despite these energetic advantages from using polynyas, not all the seals used them extensively. Factors other than food supply may influence an individual's choice in their use of feeding grounds, such as exposure to predation or the probability of being able to return to distant sub-Antarctic breeding sites.
CITE THIS COLLECTION
DataCite
3 Biotech
3D Printing in Medicine
3D Research
3D-Printed Materials and Systems
4OR
AAPG Bulletin
AAPS Open
AAPS PharmSciTech
Abhandlungen aus dem Mathematischen Seminar der Universität Hamburg
ABI Technik (German)
Academic Medicine
Academic Pediatrics
Academic Psychiatry
Academic Questions
Academy of Management Discoveries
Academy of Management Journal
Academy of Management Learning and Education
Academy of Management Perspectives
Academy of Management Proceedings
Academy of Management Review
Arce, Fernando; Hindell, Mark A.; McMahon, Clive R.; Wotherspoon, Simon; Guinet, Christophe; Harcourt, Rob; et al. (2021). Supplementary material from "Elephant seal foraging success is enhanced in Antarctic coastal polynyas". The Royal Society. Collection. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5758763
or
Select your citation style and then place your mouse over the citation text to select it.
SHARE
Usage metrics
Read the peer-reviewed publication
AUTHORS (7)
FA
Fernando Arce
MH
Mark A. Hindell
CM
Clive R. McMahon
SW
Simon Wotherspoon
CG
Christophe Guinet
RH
Rob Harcourt
SB
Sophie Bestley