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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
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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

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