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Births of leopard seals Hydrurga leptonyx in southern Chile

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Abstract

Leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) are widely distributed within the Antarctic pack ice. Recently they have been reported further north, in the fjords of southern Chile, where individuals remain year-round, especially on Tierra del Fuego Island. Little is known of the leopard seals reproductive biology or breeding distribution, and more specifically, whether they use southern Chilean water to breed. Two recent opportunistic sightings of leopard seal adult–pup pairs were observed in Parry Fjord, Almirantazgo Sound, on 2 December 2012 and 6 October 2015. These are the first documented recordings of leopard seal pups in southern South America and the second and third records of leopard seal pups on the continents north of the Polar Front. Although the pups reported here were dead, these observations are important because they add new evidence that leopard seals pup asynchronously, unlike other ice-breeding seals. It provides further information regarding the leopard seals use of South American waters.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the directors of Fundación CEQUA and Instituto Antártico Chileno for providing time and constant support for respective marine mammal and biodiversity surveys. We wish to thank the Chilean Navy, especially the Third Naval Zone in Magallanes for the support with the helicopter and navigation onboard LSG “Ona” in October 2015 to Almirantazgo Sound. The preparation of this manuscript by CEQUA authors were supported by Conicyt Regional Grant Number R13A1002. We appreciate the contributions of both reviewers in improving the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Estudios del Cuaternario de Fuego-Patagonia y Antártica (Fundación CEQUA), 21 de Mayo #1690, Punta Arenas, Chile

    Jorge Acevedo, Inti González & Rodrigo Gómez

  2. Turismo Cabo Tamar Ltda, Sara Braun #1396, Punta Arenas, Chile

    Alejandro González & Sarah Garthe

  3. Instituto Antártico Chileno (INACH), Plaza Muñoz Gamero #1055, Punta Arenas, Chile

    Anelio Aguayo-Lobo

Authors
  1. Jorge Acevedo
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  2. Alejandro González
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  3. Sarah Garthe
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  4. Inti González
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  5. Rodrigo Gómez
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  6. Anelio Aguayo-Lobo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jorge Acevedo.

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Acevedo, J., González, A., Garthe, S. et al. Births of leopard seals Hydrurga leptonyx in southern Chile. Polar Biol 40, 713–717 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-016-1968-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-016-1968-0

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