Major hotspots detected along the Scotia Ridge in autumn for southern right whales Eubalaena australis, Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella and Antarctic prions Pachyptila desolata

Joiris, C.R.; Humphries, G.R.W.; D'Hert, D.; Lafontaine, R.-M.; Robert, H.; Beudels-Jamar, R.C.

doi:10.13679/j.advps.2015.4.00282

Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS)

Data Policy

Persons | Institutes | Publications | Projects | Datasets

[ report an error in this record ]

basket (0): add | show

Major hotspots detected along the Scotia Ridge in autumn for southern right whales Eubalaena australis, Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella and Antarctic prions Pachyptila desolata

Joiris, C.R.; Humphries, G.R.W.; D'Hert, D.; Lafontaine, R.-M.; Robert, H.; Beudels-Jamar, R.C. (2015). Major hotspots detected along the Scotia Ridge in autumn for southern right whales Eubalaena australis, Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella and Antarctic prions Pachyptila desolata. Adv. Polar Sc. 26(4): 282-291. http://dx.doi.org/10.13679/j.advps.2015.4.00282

In: Advances in Polar Science. Science Press: Beijing. ISSN 1674-9928

Available in	Authors
VLIZ: Open access 285727 [ download pdf ]

Keywords

Aquatic organisms > Marine organisms > Aquatic birds > Marine birds
Aquatic organisms > Marine organisms > Aquatic mammals > Marine mammals
PSW, Scotia Ridge
PSW, Scotia Sea
Arctocephalus gazella (Peters, 1875) [WoRMS]; Eubalaena australis (Desmoulins, 1822) [WoRMS]; Pachyptila vittata (Forster, 1777) [WoRMS]
Scotia Sea [Marine Regions]
Marine/Coastal

Author keywords

Scotia Trench; Seabirds and marine mammals; Southern right whale; Antarctic fur seal, Antarctic prion

Authors		Top
Joiris, C.R. Humphries, G.R.W. D'Hert, D.	Lafontaine, R.-M. Robert, H. Beudels-Jamar, R.C.

Abstract

We investigated the role of hydrological features, such as water masses, fronts, eddies, and sea ice, in affecting the distribution of upper trophic level species in the Scotia Sea region during autumn. On board RV Polarstern, we performed 365 30-min strip transects recording seabirds and marine mammals along the North Scotia Ridge and the South Sandwich Trench in March—April 2013. Among the 7 identified cetacean species recorded, the humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae was the most abundant baleen whale (40 individuals), and noteworthy were sightings of six southern right whales Eubalaena australis. Pinnipeds (3 species, 1650 individuals) were dominated by Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella (99%), and seabirds (36 species, 18900 individuals) by Antarctic prion Pachyptila desolata (~50%). The distribution of these top predators was highly patchy with the majority of observations concentrated in a few counts. This heterogeneity is likely a result of prey availability, and we discuss how hydrological features may have caused the patchiness.

All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy

Top | Authors

[Back]

Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS)

WoRMS

Using WoRMS

Tools

Connect with us