Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T19:30:06.861Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Attendance behaviour of Antarctic and subantarctic fur seal females at Marion Island

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 May 2004

Marthán N. Bester  and
Peter A. Bartlett
Peter A. Bartlett
Affiliation:
Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The female attendance behaviour of Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) and subantarctic fur seals (A.tropicalis), which breed sympatrically on subantarctic Marion Island, was investigated. Over the same period after the breeding season, the mean duration of feeding trips to sea, and percentage of time spent at sea, did not differ significantly between lactating females of the two species. The difference in mean duration of shore visits was significant and the longer onshore attendance of A. tropicalis probably related to the lower demand by their pups which grow at a slower rate. The subpolar maternal adaptations of A. gazella were unchanged under the more temperate environment at Marion Island, and it remains to be established unequivocally whether conditions there are limiting to the species.

Keywords

attendance behaviourfur sealsmaternal adaptationsubantarctic
Type
Papers—Life Sciences And Oceanography
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 2 , Issue 4 , December 1990 , pp. 309 - 312
Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)