Notes on the Southern Fur Seal in South Georgia

Bonner, W. Nigel

doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1958.tb00571.x

Cited by 74 publications

(97 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Antarctic fur seals in South Georgia were hunted to near extinction during the first half of the nineteenth century (Bonner 1968). By the 1930s the first post-sealing pups were recorded at Bird Island, and the population subsequently expanded rapidly to a level with an estimated pup production of 269 000 in 1990-1991 (Boyd 1993) that is now believed to be in excess of 4 million individuals (British Antarctic Survey [BAS] unpubl.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Foraging behaviour in two Antarctic fur seal colonies with differing population recoveries

Staniland

Morton²,

Robinson³

et al. 2011

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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We compared Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella breeding at 2 contrasting sites on South Georgia: one high density colony at Bird Island and one lower density colony at Cooper Bay. The population at Cooper Bay was considerably smaller than that at Bird Island despite ample suitable breeding area being available. At Cooper Bay, female seals were longer but weighed less than those breeding at Bird Island and, whilst both maintained the same rate of female pup growth, male pups grew faster at Cooper Bay. Although Bird Island seals dived deeper, they dived less often than Cooper Bay seals so that both populations spent comparable amounts of time in the bottom phase of dives actively foraging. Longer distance oceanic foraging trips that were observed at Bird Island were almost entirely absent from Cooper Bay. Both populations fed on Antarctic krill, but there was an absence of myctophid prey in the diet of seals at Cooper Bay. Evidence suggests that the favoured myctophid prey of fur seals at South Georgia, Protomyctophum choriodon, are absent from the colder waters around the south-east of the island. We propose that, if these energy-rich prey are unavailable in this region then seals at Cooper Bay may find it hard to offset the increased costs of foraging trips with longer duration and distance. This potentially reduced niche width means that the Cooper Bay population may be less buffered against environmental variability. Although food resources appeared to be sufficient during the period of our study, the south-eastern region of South Georgia has increased variability in food resources that, coupled with a smaller area in which to forage, might explain the reduced population size compared to the north-eastern end of the island.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Foraging behaviour in two Antarctic fur seal colonies with differing population recoveries

Staniland

Morton²,

Robinson³

et al. 2011

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…Leucism, and other forms of hypo-pigmentation, are relatively common in Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella) populations within the Scotia Arc and thought to be due to the founder effect (Bonner 1968, Acevedo et al 2009) arising from remnant populations (<100 individuals) breeding at South Georgia at the time of population recovery (Wynen et al 2000). At least one leucistic individual was known to survive there to adulthood (Bonner 1968).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At least one leucistic individual was known to survive there to adulthood (Bonner 1968). Outside of the Scotia Arc leucistic Antarctic fur seals have only been observed on Bouvetøya (Hofmeyr et al 2005a, b) and Marion Island (de Bruyn et al 2007).…”

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First confirmed record of a leucistic Antarctic fur seal pup born outside the Scotia Arc Islands

et al. 2014

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Abstract:A leucistic Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella) pup was born on subantarctic Marion Island during the austral summer of 2010/2011. This is the first confirmed record of a leucistic fur seal pup born outside the Scotia Arc islands. Additionally, we report on a leucistic adult female Antarctic fur seal producing typical black pups for five non-consecutive summers on Marion Island. The birth of a leucistic pup, together with the multiple black pups produced by the leucistic female, suggests that the recessive genes responsible for leucism are now entrenched within the Marion Island population.

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“…The seal then attempts copulation several times with periods of rest in between. The typical duration of copulation for the species is two-anda-half to six minutes (Bonner 1968). In the three observations described here, the seal seemed to repeat copulation attempts of approximately five minutes long, interspersed with rest periods of similar length while the penguin remained pinned down during rest periods.…”

Section: Observationsmentioning

confidence: 58%

Multiple occurrences of king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) sexual harassment by Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella)

et al. 2014

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Notes on the Southern Fur Seal in South Georgia

Cited by 74 publications

References 3 publications

Foraging behaviour in two Antarctic fur seal colonies with differing population recoveries

Foraging behaviour in two Antarctic fur seal colonies with differing population recoveries

First confirmed record of a leucistic Antarctic fur seal pup born outside the Scotia Arc Islands

Multiple occurrences of king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) sexual harassment by Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella)

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