Abstract
One leucistic and one partially leucistic Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella were seen at Bouvetøya during the 1996/97 austral summer. Both likely came from South Georgia, where this colour morph is common. No individuals of this colour morph were sighted during three subsequent expeditions to Bouvetøya. The prevalence of this colour morph in the abundant populations of the Scotia Arc may be due to founder effect, as at least one leucistic animal was present at South Georgia when the Antarctic fur seal was close to extinction.
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Acknowledgements
These observations were recorded during a study financed by the Norwegian Polar Institute and NORAD. Further support was provided by the Mammal Research Institute of the University of Pretoria. We thank Kit Kovacs, Christian Lydersen and Ian Gjertz for their contributions to the fur seal work at Bouvetøya. We are also grateful to Daniel Torres N., Roger Kirkwood and one anonymous reviewer for their comments.
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Hofmeyr, G.J.G., Bester, M.N. & Kirkman, S.P. Leucistic Antarctic fur seals at Bouvetøya. Polar Biol 29, 77–79 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-005-0030-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-005-0030-4