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Ethology and Behavioral Ecology of Otariids and the Odobenid pp 521–537Cite as

Exploitation and Recovery of the South American Sea Lion in the Southwestern Atlantic

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Part of the book series: Ethology and Behavioral Ecology of Marine Mammals ((EBEMM))

Abstract

The South American sea lion, Otaria flavescens, is one of the most conspicuous marine mammals along the coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It has a long history of exploitation throughout its range. In the southwestern Atlantic it was heavily exploited throughout the first half of the twentieth century. As a K-strategist subject to exploitation this population fell to very low levels. After protection was instigated, recovery was at first very slow. At the time of writing, the population size is about one third of the original size. The opportunistic and plastic behavior of the South American sea lion together with a high level of juvenile survival resulted in a faster rate of population recovery in the most recent decades. Possible reasons for this improved survivorship may include an increase in the availability of food resources, prey-switching, and a decrease in exogenous causes of mortality.

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Acknowledgments

The author thanks CONICET, ANPCyT, Amnéville Zoo and UNP for supporting him and his students for almost 38 years of research and conservation. To his colleagues from LAMAMA for sharing ideas, field work and papers throughout these years. To Néstor A. García and Florencia Grandi for their help drawing figures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Mammal Laboratory, Centro Nacional Patagónico (CONICET), Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina

    Enrique A. Crespo

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  1. Enrique A. Crespo
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Correspondence to Enrique A. Crespo .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Wildlife Conservation Society, Marine and Argentina Programs, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Claudio Campagna

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Robert Harcourt

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Crespo, E.A. (2021). Exploitation and Recovery of the South American Sea Lion in the Southwestern Atlantic. In: Campagna, C., Harcourt, R. (eds) Ethology and Behavioral Ecology of Otariids and the Odobenid. Ethology and Behavioral Ecology of Marine Mammals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59184-7_24

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