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Dryad

Beneath the Antarctic sea-ice: Fine-scale analysis of Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) behaviour and predator-prey interactions, using micro-sonar data in Terre Adélie

Abstract

In this study, we tried to assess:
i) whether and how female Weddell seals feed (frequency, depth, duration) during lactation,
ii) what is their utilization of a limited foraging area (benthic or pelagic dives) as they are spatially constrained by the presence of their pup, and
iii) how can we characterize their foraging dives and the approach/catching phases using new tools providing a more detailed description of their behaviour.
Sonar tags were deployed on three breeding female Weddell seals in Terre Adélie (East Antarctica) in November 2019, to study animals’ movements and dives at high resolution (3D acceleration, magnetometry, time and depth and GPS location), as well as information on prey and predator-prey interactions using acoustic data.