Stomach contents of South American (Arctocephalus australis) (n = 219) (SAFS) and sub‐Antarctic (A. tropicalis) (n = 37) (SFS) fur seals were opportunistically sampled from 1980 to 2021 to examine their feeding habits and resource partitioning in southern Brazil while in their nonreproductive periods. SAFSs mainly consumed abundant coastal pelagic species, such as Anchoa marinii and Doryteuthis sanpaulensis, resulting in high sexual trophic niche overlap. The frequency of occurrence (%FO) of fish prey, especially the overexploited Micropogonias furnieri, decreased between 1980–1992 and 2007–2021, while squid increased. For SFSs, offshore squids such as Ommastrephes bartramii and Illex argentinus were the most important prey considering both sexes in the long‐term. The interspecific trophic niche overlap was low, but it is likely underestimated since it increased with the inclusion of scat samples from SFSs. This sample‐size effect was also observed in Shannon's diversity index, which was lower for underrepresented SFSs. Marine debris ingestion was detected in both species (SAFS %FO = 2.7; SFS %FO = 8.3), with only flexible plastic material found. This study brings novel information on feeding habits of fur seal species in the extreme south of Brazil, as well as unprecedented information about their ecology during the nonreproductive period.
Após o fim da caça das baleias-francas, a interação com as atividades antrópicas, como a atividade pesqueira, é uma das principais ameaças à conservação desses animais no Sul do Brasil. De modo a identificar potenciais áreas de interação, foram realizadas entrevistas com pescadores artesanais ao longo da Área de Proteção Ambiental (APA da Baleia-Franca) identificando áreas de atividade pesqueira na unidade de conservação de uso sustentável. Utilizando estes dados, foram delimitadas as áreas de pesca através do método de estimador de densidade de kernel fixo (KDE) 95% e 50%. A partir de dados publicados de distribuição da baleia-franca, utilizando a mesma metodologia de estimação de áreas, foi analisada a sobreposição das áreas. Ao todo foram identificados 248,22 km² de áreas de interação, sendo 34,15 km² (KDE baleias 50% x KDE pesca 50%) considerados de alta interação e 214,07 km² de média interação (KDE baleias 95% x KDE pesca 50%).
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