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The role of eddies in the diving behaviour of female southern elephant seals

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Abstract

As the Antarctic Circumpolar Current crosses the South-West Indian Ocean Ridge, it creates an extensive eddy field characterised by high sea level anomaly variability. We investigated the diving behaviour of female southern elephant seals from Marion Island during their post-moult migrations in relation to this eddy field in order to determine its role in the animals’ at-sea dispersal. Most seals dived within the region significantly more often than predicted by chance, and these dives were generally shallower and shorter than dives outside the eddy field. Mixed effects models estimated reductions of 44.33 ± 3.00 m (maximum depth) and 6.37 ± 0.10 min (dive duration) as a result of diving within the region, along with low between-seal variability (maximum depth: 5.5 % and dive duration: 8.4 %). U-shaped dives increased in frequency inside the eddy field, whereas W-shaped dives with multiple vertical movements decreased. Results suggest that Marion Island’s adult female elephant seals’ dives are characterised by lowered cost-of-transport when they encounter the eddy field during the start and end of their post-moult migrations. This might result from changes in buoyancy associated with varying body condition upon leaving and returning to the island. Our results do not suggest that the eddy field is a vital foraging ground for Marion Island’s southern elephant seals. However, because seals preferentially travel through this area and likely forage opportunistically while minimising transport costs, we hypothesise that climate-mediated changes in the nature or position of this region may alter the seals’ at-sea dispersal patterns.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks go to Arjun Amar and Tim Reid for their time and advice regarding statistical and spatial modelling technicalities, to Joachim Plötz for access to the seal tracking data, as well as to the hard-working field assistants responsible for deploying the devices since 2004. We are also extremely grateful to the assistance we received in the form of R code provided courtesy of Martin Biuw. This research was funded by the science faculty of the University of Cape Town as well as by the National Research Foundation (South Africa), and their generosity is greatly appreciated. The Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (Germany) and the South African National Antarctic Programme are acknowledged for financial and logistical support. Finally, thanks to Vera for her support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa

    Philip P. Massie & Peter G. Ryan

  2. Department of Oceanography, Marine Research Institute, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa

    Philip P. Massie & Isabelle J. Ansorge

  3. Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, 0028, South Africa

    Trevor McIntyre & Marthán N. Bester

  4. Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Am Handelshafen 12, 27570, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Horst Bornemann

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  1. Philip P. Massie
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Correspondence to Philip P. Massie.

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Massie, P.P., McIntyre, T., Ryan, P.G. et al. The role of eddies in the diving behaviour of female southern elephant seals. Polar Biol 39, 297–307 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1782-0

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