Abstract
To improve the knowledge on the Antarctic fur seal foraging behavior, evaluate whether changes in its diet are associated with changes in prey availability, and evaluate whether fisheries had negative impacts on Antarctic fur seal populations, a total of 1359 scats of non-breeding males were collected in ten consecutive sampling periods between 1994 and 2003 at Laurie Island, South Orkney Islands. Antarctic krill was the most numerous prey throughout the sampling period followed in importance by fish prey. Antarctic krill also predominated by reconstructed mass, except during 1994 and 1998 when penguins were the most important prey, and during 1995 when fish dominated. Among fish, demersal-benthic species (mainly Gobionotothen gibberifrons, Chaenocephalus aceratus and Chionodraco rastrospinosus) dominated the diet except in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2002 when myctophids (mainly Gymnoscopelus nicholsi and Electrona antarctica) were the most important fish prey. In seasons when fish dominated the diet, the diet was primarily comprised of demersal species. Although our results are in overall agreement with previous studies, the contribution to the diet of the main preys changed throughout the sampling period, probably in parallel with changes in prey abundance. According to historical results on fish consumption, the fisheries carried out in the past have had negative impacts on seal populations from the South Orkney Islands.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barrera-Oro E, Marschoff E (1991) A declining trend in the abundance of Notothenia rossii marmorata and Notothenia gibberifrons observed in fjords in two sites in the South Shetland Islands. In: Selected scientific papers, 1990, (SC-CAMLR-SSP/7). CCAMLR, Hobart, pp 263–274
Barrera-Oro E, Marschoff E, Casaux R (2000) Trends in relative abundance of fjord Notothenia rossii, Gobionotothen gibberifrons and Notothenia coriiceps at South Shetland Islands, after commercial fishing in the area. CCAMLR Sci 7:43–52
Boyd I (1993) Pup production and distribution of breeding Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) at South Georgia. Antarct Sci 5:17–24
Carlini A, Daneri G, Casaux R, Márquez M (2006) Haul-out pattern of itinerant male Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) at Laurie Island, South Orkney Islands. Pol Polar Res 25:139–144
Casaux R (2003) On the accuracy of the pellet analysis method to estimate the food intake in the Antarctic shag, Phalacrocorax bransfieldensis. Folia Zool 52:167–176
Casaux R, Ramón A (2002) The diet of the South Georgia Shag Phalacrocorax georgianus at the South Orkney Islands in five consecutive years. Polar Biol 25:557–561
Casaux R, Baroni A, Carlini A (1998a) The diet of the Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella at Harmony Point, Nelson Island, South Shetland Islands. Polar Biol 20:424–428
Casaux R, Barrera-Oro E, Favero M, Silva P (1998b) New correction factors for the quantification of fish represented in pellets of the Imperial Cormorant Phalacrocorax atriceps. Mar Ornithol 26:35–39
Casaux R, Baroni A, Arrighetti F, Ramón A, Carlini A (2003) Geographical variation in the diet of the Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella. Polar Biol 26:753–758
Casaux R, Bellizia L, Baroni A (2004) The diet of the Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella at Harmony Point, South Shetland Islands: evidence of opportunistic foraging on penguins? Polar Biol 27:59–65
Cherel Y, Guinet C, Tremblay Y (1997) Fish prey of Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella at Ile de Croy, Kerguelen. Polar Biol 17:87–90
Ciaputa P, Jacek S (2006) Seasonal and annual changes in Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella) diet in the area of Admiralty Bay, King George Island, South Shetland Islands. Pol Polar Res 27:171–184
Clarke M (1980) Cephalopoda in the diet of Sperm Whales of the Southern Hemisphere and their bearing on Sperm Whale biology. Discovery reports 37
Clarke M, MacLeod N (1982) Cephalopod remains in the stomachs of eight Weddell Seals. Br Antarct Surv Bull 57:33–40
da Silva J, Neilson J (1985) Limitations of using otoliths recovered in scats to estimate prey consumption in seals. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 42:1439–1442
Daneri G (1996) Fish diet of the Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella, in summer, at Stranger Point, King George Island, South Shetland Islands. Polar Biol 14:353–355
Daneri G, Carlini A (1999) Spring and summer predation on fish by the Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella at King George island, South Shetland Island. Can J Zool 77:1157–1160
Daneri G, Coria N (1992) The diet of Antarctic fur seals, Arctocephalus gazella, during summer–autumn period at Mossman Peninsula, Laurie Island (South Orkneys). Polar Biol 11:565–566
Daneri G, Coria N (1993) Fish prey of Antarctic fur seals, Arctocephalus gazella, during the summer–autumn period at Laurie Island, South Orkney Islands. Polar Biol 13:287–289
Davis D, Staniland I, Reid K (2006) Spatial and temporal variability in the fish diet of Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella) in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. Can J Zool 84:1025–1037
Duhamel G (1990) Supplementary data on exploited stocks in Division 58.5.1 (Kerguelen). In: Selected scientific papers (SC-CAMLR-SSP/6). CCAMLR, Hobart
Fischer W, Hureau J (1988) Fichas FAO de identificación de especies para los fines de pesca. Océano Austral (áreas de pesca 48, 58 y 88, área de la Convención CCAMLR). FAO, Rome
Fraser WR, Hofmann EE (2003) A predator’s perspective on causal links between climate change, physical forcing and ecosystem response. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 265:1–15
Green K, Burton H (1987) Seasonal and geographical variation in the food of Weddell Seals Leptonychotes weddellii in Antarctica. Aust Wildl Res 14:475–489
Green K, Williams R, Burton H (1991) The diet of the Antarctic fur seals during the late autumn and early winter around Heard Island. Antarct Sci 3:359–361
Gröger J, Piatkowski U, Heinemann H (2000) Beak length analysis of the Southern Ocean squid Psychroteuthis glacialis (Cephalopoda: Psychroteuthidae) and its use for size and biomass estimation. Polar Biol 23:70–74
Guinet C, Dubroca L, Lea M, Goldsworthy S, Cherel Y, Duhamel G, Bonadonna F, Donnay J (2001) Spatial distribution of foraging in female Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella in relation to oceanographic variables: a scale-dependent approach using geographic information systems. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 219:251–264
Hecht T (1987) A guide to the otoliths of Southern Ocean fishes. S Afr J Antarct Res 17:1–87
Kightley P, Caldwell J (1982) The first record of a fur seal birth on Signy Island, South Orkney Islands. Br Antarct Sur Sci Rep 51:287–289
Kirkman S, Wilson W, Klages N, Bester M, Isaksen K (2000) Diet and estimated food consumption of Antarctic fur seals at Bouvetøya during summer. Polar Biol 23:745–752
Klages N, Bester M (1998) Fish prey of fur seal Arctocephalus spp. at subantarctic Marion Island. Mar Biol 131:559–566
Kock K (1992) Antarctic fish and fisheries. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Lipinski M, Woyciechowski M (1981) Cephalopods in the food of Weddell seals from the Admiralty Bay (King George Island, South Shetland Islands). Pol Polar Res 2:163–167
Loeb V, Borberg J, Clark K, Force M, Gong N, Harps K, Jenkins A, Lipsky J, Fowley R (2001) Net sampling: krill and zooplankton. NOAA Fisheries AMLR 2000/01 Field season report. swfsc.ucsd.edu/antarctica.htm
Lynnes AS, Reid K, Croxall JP (2004) Diet and reproductive success of Adélie and chinstrap penguins: linking response of predators to prey population dynamics. Polar Biol 27:544–554
Makhado A, Bester M, Kirkman S, Pistorius P, Ferguson J, Klages N (2008) Prey of the Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella at Marion Island. Polar Biol 31:575–581
Moreno J, Viñuela J, Belliure J (1998) Effect of brood size on growth in the chinstrap penguin: a field experiment. J Field Ornithol 69:269–275
Murie D (1987) Experimental approaches to stomach content analyses of piscivorous marine mammals. In: Huntley A, Costa D, Worthy G, Castellini M (eds) Marine mammal energetics. Society for Marine Mammology, Lawrence, pp 147–163
North A, Croxall J, Doidge D (1983) Fish prey of the Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella at South Georgia. Br Antarct Surv Bull 61:27–37
Okutani T, Clarke M (1985) Identification key and species description for Antarctic squids. BIOMASS handbook, no. 21
Osman L, Hucke-Gaete R, Moreno C, Torres D (2004) Feeding ecology of Antarctic fur seals at Cape Shirreff, South Shetlands, Antarctica. Polar Biol 27:92–98
Payne M (1977) Growth of a fur seal population. Phil Trans R Soc Lond 279:67–79
Plötz J, Ekau W, Reijnders P (1991) Diet of Weddell Seals Leptonychotes weddelli at Vestkapp, eastern Weddell Sea (Antarctica), in relation to local food supply. Mar Mammal Sci 7:136–144
Prime J, Hammond P (1987) Quantitative assessment of Gray Seal diet from faecal analysis. In: Huntley A, Costa D, Worthy G, Castellini M (eds) Marine mammal energetics. Soc. Mar. Mammol, Lawrence, pp 165–181
Reid K (1995) The diet of Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella Peters 1875) during winter at South Georgia. Antarct Sci 7:241–249
Reid K (1996) A guide to the use of otoliths in the study of predators at South Georgia. British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge
Rodhouse P, Arnbom T, Fedak M, Yeatman J, Murray W (1992) Cephalopod prey of the southern elephant seal, Mirounga leonina L. Can J Zool 70:1007–1015
Williams R, McEldowney A (1990) A guide to the fish otoliths from waters off the Australian Antarctic Territory, Heard and Macquarie Islands. ANARE Res Notes 75:1–173
Acknowledgments
We thank R. Salazar, M. Gray, C. Zoratti, P. Kunzle, S. Vellido, O. Jensen, E. Luoni, R. Cerda, C. Quintana, A. Georgopulos, M. Calvi, M. Gray, G. Willink, A. Seufferheld, F. Ferioli, A. Sánchez, G. Sánchez, G. Porro, P. Rosso, G. Carreras, A. Dalmasso and R. Amado for field asístanse. This is the contribution to the Laboratorio de Investigaciones en Ecología y Sistemática Animal N° xx.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Casaux, R., Juares, M., Carlini, A. et al. The diet of the Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella at the South Orkney Islands in ten consecutive years. Polar Biol 39, 1197–1206 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1836-3
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1836-3