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Acknowledgments
The authors thank the National Coast Guard and the Fisheries Protection Service for actively securing the area around the seal during its molting; Dr. Greg Hofmeyr of Port Elizabeth Museum, South Africa, for his constant scientific advice; Moira Van der Westhuizen, Kim Hubner, and Reef Conservation for their constant support; Dr. Pevashi Gowreesungkur for her veterinary assistance; and Bridgid Wickham for contributing some of the photos. The authors would also like to acknowledge the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments to improve this manuscript.
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No animal testing was performed during this study.
Sampling and field studies
All necessary authorization for the observational field study and securing of the area was obtained from the competent authorities. Photographs in Fig. 1 a and b were provided by Bridgid Wickham who has agreed to their inclusion in this publication.
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The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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SR conceived the research, wrote the manuscript, and conducted field observations. All authors conducted field observations and read and approved the final manuscript.
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Communicated by L. Menzel
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Ramah, S., Paul, AT., Mohit, R.D.C. et al. Southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina molting at Mauritius Island. Mar. Biodivers. 51, 17 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-021-01163-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-021-01163-2