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Habitat selection by marine mammals in the marginal ice zone

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2004

C.A. Ribic ,
D.G. Ainley  and
W.R. Fraser
C.A. Ribic
Affiliation:
Center for Quantitative Science in Forestry, Fisheries, and Wildlife, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA U.S. EPA Environmental Research Laboratory, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333, USA
D.G. Ainley
Affiliation:
Point Reyes Bird Observatory, 4990 Shoreline Highway, Stinson Beach, CA 94970, USA
W.R. Fraser
Affiliation:
Point Reyes Bird Observatory, 4990 Shoreline Highway, Stinson Beach, CA 94970, USA Department of Oceanography, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23508, USA
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Abstract

As part of the multi-disciplinary project, Antarctic Marine Ecosystem Research at the Ice Edge Zone (AMERIEZ), habitat selection by marine mammals was investigated within the marginal ice zone in relation to measured ice variables and other environmental factors. Data were collected on three cruises to the southern Scotia and northern Weddell seas during spring 1983, autumn 1986, and winter 1988. During winter, Antarctic fur seals were significantly associated with drift, pancake, brash ice, icebergs, and areas of uneven floe distribution, all characteristic of the marginal ice zone. Fur seals were seen in open water close to the ice edge during autumn, but during spring, as the pack ice began to retreat rapidly, animals were seen more often away from the ice. Minke whales were also associated with pancake and new ice but were seen further into the pack ice during both winter and autumn. The largest groups of minke whales during winter were observed with a large krill swarm in new ice. Crabeater seal was exclusively a species of the deep pack ice during all seasons and was associated with ice cover of 7–8 oktas and evenly distributed ice floes.

Keywords

Antarctic fur sealcrabeater sealminke whalemarginal ice zonepack ice edge
Type
Papers–Life Sciences and Oceanography
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , June 1991 , pp. 181 - 186
Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 1991

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