Abstract
Knowledge of extra-limital movements of seals improves our understanding of species’ dispersal and dispersion abilities and patterns, and perhaps environmental changes. Canvassing and internet literature searches revealed the sighting of a vagrant adult male sub-Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus tropicalis on the coast adjacent to George Town (7° 56′ S, 14° 25′ W), Ascension Island, in 2010. Although finer details of the sighting are sketchy, this is the first sighting of any seal at Ascension Island, and the northernmost sighting on record for the species on the mid-Atlantic Ridge islands. The likely source of the vagrant is the population at Gough Island (40° 20′ S, 9° 54′ W) some 3624 km further south in the Atlantic. The vagrant likely moved westward from Gough Island to the Brazilian coast, then northwards in coastal waters, eventually reaching Ascension Island.
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Acknowledgements
Dianne Baum, Head: Government Conservation Department, George Town, Ascension Island, generously provided details of the sighting, and sourced the photographs of the animal, including one by Choccie Gavin. Ben Dilley kindly produced the map. Peter Shaughnessy provided additional references. The reviewers, Jorge Acevedo and Greg Hofmeyr, are thanked for their insightful comments which vastly improved this paper.
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Past field procedures were cleared by the University of Pretoria Animal Ethics Committee (Project Number EC077-15), executed under an Environmental Research Permit, including the Wildlife and Protected Areas Research Permit, of the Tristan da Cunha Government.
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Bester, M.N. Vagrant sub-Antarctic fur seal at tropical Ascension Island, South Atlantic Ocean. Polar Biol 44, 451–454 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-021-02800-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-021-02800-z