Journal
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY-REVUE CANADIENNE DE ZOOLOGIE
Volume 86, Issue 8, Pages 774-789Publisher
NATL RESEARCH COUNCIL CANADA-N R C RESEARCH PRESS
DOI: 10.1139/Z08-055
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Funding
- Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) [PN 2005/031]
- Nature Foundation South Australia
- MA Ingram Trust
- Sea World Research and Rescue Foundation
- Adelaide University Animal Ethics permit [S80-2004]
- South Australia Department for Environment and Heritage permit [A24684-3]
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Lactating New Zealand fur seals (Arctocephalus forsteri (Lesson. 1828)) that breed at Cape Gantheaume. South Australia, experience broad-scale seasonal changes in ocean productivity. To assess how seasonal changes in ocean productivity influenced foraging behaviour. 18 lactating New Zealand fur seals were fitted with satellite transmitters and time-depth recorders (TDRs). Using temperature and depth data from TDRs. we used the presence of thermoclines as a surrogate measure of upwelling activity in continental-shelf waters. During the austral autumn 80% of lactating fur seals foraged on the continental shelf (114 +/- 44 km from the colony), in a region associated with the Bonney upwelling. In contrast, during winter months seals predominantly foraged in oceanic waters (62%), in a region associated with the Subtropical Front (460 +/- 138 km from the colony). Our results indicate that lactating New Zealand fur seals shift their foraging location from continental-shelf to oceanic waters in response to a seasonal decline in productivity over the continental shelf, attributed to the cessation of the Bonney upwelling. This study identified two regions used by lactating New Zealand fur seals: (1) a nearby and seasonally productive upwelling system and (2) a distant and permanent oceanic front.
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