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New records of mummified crabeater seals on islands bordering Admiralty Sound, Weddell Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2019

Javier Negrete ,
Leopoldo H. Soibelzon ,
Esteban Soibelzon  and
Jorge Lusky
Javier Negrete*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Predadores Tope, Instituto Antártico Argentino, Cerrito 1248, (C1010AAZ) Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Av.60 y 122 s/n(1900). La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Leopoldo H. Soibelzon
Affiliation:
División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Paseo del Bosque s/n, 1900, La Plata, Argentina Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas (Conicet), Av. Rivadavia 1917 (C1033AAJ), CABA, Argentina
Esteban Soibelzon
Affiliation:
División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Paseo del Bosque s/n, 1900, La Plata, Argentina Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas (Conicet), Av. Rivadavia 1917 (C1033AAJ), CABA, Argentina
Jorge Lusky
Affiliation:
Departamento Técnico y Logístico Polar, Dirección Nacional del Antártico, Cerrito 1248, (C1010AAZ) Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
*
[email protected]
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Abstract

Ninety-six mummified crabeater seals discovered at Seymour Island (Isla Marambio) are reported. Each specimen was georeferenced, photographed and assigned to five different taphonomic states. Previous work stated that seals at Seymour Island get stranded inland around the breeding season. However, it is not clear if the species breeds in this area. The abundance of crabeater seals and the ice condition along Admiralty Sound (Estrecho Bouchard) were obtained by aerial surveys during spring (2015–17). It appears that the species uses the strait as a passage to breeding grounds. Under heavy ice conditions, the seals become stranded in the middle section of this strait and wander inland through a valley that represents the mouth of an ephemeral stream that ends at the pack ice level. This situation was observed in 2014 and 2015 when recently dead seals were found, evidencing that this natural trap is still active. Nonetheless, in 2016 and 2017, during an early breakup of Admiralty Sound, the seals that remained in the area were more numerous than in 2015 but they did not get stranded inland. This early breakup may encourage the seals to breed there in the presence of open water areas with ice floes.

Keywords

aerial surveyIsla Marambiosea ice break-upSnow Hill Islandtaphonomic state
Type
Biological Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , June 2019 , pp. 109 - 115
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2019 

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