Elephant seal foraging dives track prey distribution, not temperature: Comment on McIntyre et al. (2011)

Marine Ecology Progress Series

Volumn 461, Issue , 2012, Pages 293-298

  Boersch Supan, Philipp H ^a,b   Boehme, Lars ^a   Read, Jane F ^c   Rogers, Alex D ^b   Brierley, Andrew S ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD   (United Kingdom)

^c NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHY CENTRE   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Climate change; Deep scattering layer; Effect size; Foraging ecology; Prey field; Southern elephant seal; Vertical structure

Indexed keywords

CLIMATE CHANGE; CORRELATION; DIVING BEHAVIOR; FITNESS; FORAGING BEHAVIOR; FRONTAL FEATURE; MARINE ECOSYSTEM; PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSE; PINNIPED; VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION;

EID: 84864877237     PISSN: 01718630     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.3354/meps09890     Document Type: Review

References (27)

1. Anderson CIH, Brierley AS, Armstrong F (2005) Spatio-temporal variability in the distribution of epi- and mesopelagic acoustic backscatter in the Irminger Sea, North Atlantic, with implications for predation on Calanus finmarchicus. Mar Biol 146:1177-1188 (Pubitemid 40660340)
2. Bailleul F, Charrassin J, Monestiez P, Roquet F, Biuw M, Guinet C (2007) Successful foraging zones of southern elephant seals from the Kerguelen Islands in relation to oceanographic conditions. Philos Trans R Soc B 362: 2169-2181 (Pubitemid 350058117)
3. Bailleul F, Cotté C, Guinet C (2010) Mesoscale eddies as foraging area of a deep-diving predator, the southern elephant seal. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 408:251-264
4. Belkin I, Gordon A (1996) Southern Ocean fronts from the Greenwich meridian to Tasmania. J Geophys Res 101: 3675-3696
5. Biuw M, McConnell B, Bradshaw C, Burton H, Fedak M (2003) Blubber and buoyancy: monitoring the body condition of free-ranging seals using simple dive characteristics. J Exp Biol 206:3405-3423 (Pubitemid 37292565)
6. Biuw M, Boehme L, Guinet C, Hindell M, and others (2007) Variations in behavior and condition of a southern ocean top predator in relation to in situ oceanographic conditions. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104:13705-13710 (Pubitemid 350010656)
7. Biuw M, Nøst O, Stien A, Zhou Q, Lydersen C, Kovacs K (2010) Effects of hydrographic variability on the spatial, seasonal and diel diving patterns of southern elephant seals in the eastern Weddell Sea. PLoS ONE 5:e13816
8. Boehme L, Meredith M, Thorpe S, Biuw M, Fedak M (2008) Antarctic circumpolar current frontal system in the south Atlantic: monitoring using merged Argo and animalborne sensor data. J Geophys Res 113:C09012. doi: 10.1029/2007JC004647
9. Bowen W, Tully D, Boness D, Bulheier B, Marshall G (2002) Prey-dependent foraging tactics and prey profitability in a marine mammal. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 244:235-245 (Pubitemid 36035745)
10. Charrassin JB, Hindell M, Rintoul S, Roquet F, and others (2008) Southern Ocean frontal structure and sea-ice formation rates revealed by elephant seals. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105:11634-11639
11. Conte M, Bishop J, Backus R (1986) Nonmigratory, 12-kHz, deep scattering layers of Sargasso Sea origin in warmcore rings. Deep-Sea Res A Oceanogr Res Pap 33: 1869-1884
12. Dragon A, Monestiez P, Bar-Hen A, Guinet C (2010) Linking foraging behaviour to physical oceanographic structures: southern elephant seals and mesoscale eddies east of Kerguelen Islands. Prog Oceanogr 87:61-71
13. Dragon A, Bar-Hen A, Monestiez P, Guinet C (2012) Horizontal and vertical movements as predictors of foraging success in a marine predator. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 447: 243-257
14. Fiedler P, Reilly S, Hewitt R, Demer D, and others (1998) Blue whale habitat and prey in the California Channel Islands. Deep-Sea Res II 45:1781-1801 (Pubitemid 28564678)
15. Gille ST (2002) Warming of the Southern Ocean since the 1950s. Science 295:1275-1277 (Pubitemid 34157616)
16. Godø OR, Samuelsen A, Macaulay GJ, Patel R, and others (2012) Mesoscale eddies are oases for higher trophic marine life. PLoS ONE 7:e30161
17. Hazen E, Johnston D (2010) Meridional patterns in the deep scattering layers and top predator distribution in the central equatorial Pacific. Fish Oceanogr 19:427-433
18. Hindell M, Bost C, Charrassin J, Gales N, and others (2011) Foraging habitats of top predators, and areas of ecological significance on the Kerguelen Plateau. In: Duhamel G, Welsford D (eds) The Kerguelen Plateau: marine ecosystem and fisheries. Société Française d'Ichtyologie, Paris, p 203-215
19. MacLennan DN, Fernandes PG, Dalen J (2002) A consistent approach to definitions and symbols in fisheries acoustics. ICES J Mar Sci 59:365-369 (Pubitemid 35235320)
20. Maxwell S, Frank J, Breed G, Robinson P, and others (2011) Benthic foraging on seamounts: a specialized foraging behavior in a deep-diving pinniped. Mar Mamm Sci 28(3):E333-E344
21. McIntyre T, Ansorge I, Bornemann H, Plötz J, Tosh C, Bester M (2011) Elephant seal dive behaviour is influenced by ocean temperature: implications for climate change impacts on an ocean predator. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 441: 257-272
22. Mélice J, Lutjeharms J, Rouault M, Ansorge I (2003) Seasurface temperatures at the sub-Antarctic islands Marion and Gough during the past 50 years. S Afr J Sci 99: 363-366 (Pubitemid 37374989)
23. Meredith M, Hogg A (2006) Circumpolar response of Southern Ocean eddy activity to a change in the southern annular mode. Geophys Res Lett 33:L16608. doi: 10.1029/ 2006GL026499
24. Pakhomov E, Perissinotto R, McQuaid C (1994) Comparative structure of the macrozooplankton/micronekton communities of the Subtropical and Antarctic Polar Fronts. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 111:155-169
25. Rogers A, Alvheim O, Bemanaja E, Benivary D and others (2009) Preliminary cruise report 'Dr. Fridtjof Nansen' southern Indian Ocean seamounts (IUCN/UNDP/ ASCLME/ NERC/EAF Nansen Project 2009 Cruise 410) 12th November-19th December. International Union for Conservation of Nature, Gland
26. Simmons S, Crocker D, Hassrick J, Kuhn C, Robinson P, Tremblay Y, Costa D (2010) Climate-scale hydrographic features related to foraging success in a capital breeder, the northern elephant seal Mirounga angustirostris. Endang Species Res 10:233-243
27. Staby A, Røstad A, Kaartvedt S (2011) Long-term acoustical observations of the mesopelagic fish Maurolicus muelleri reveal novel and varied vertical migration patterns. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 441:241-255