Institution: | 1. Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos (CESIMAR), CENPAT-CONICET, Puerto Madryn, Argentina;2. Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos (CESIMAR), CENPAT-CONICET, Puerto Madryn, Argentina
Contribution: Funding acquisition, Writing - review & editing;3. Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero (INIDEP), CONICET, Mar del Plata, Argentina
Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata-CONICET, Mar del Plata, Argentina
Contribution: Writing - review & editing;4. Wildlife Conservation Society, Marine and Argentina Programs, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Contribution: Funding acquisition, Writing - review & editing;5. Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), CNRS-Université de La Rochelle, Villiers en Bois, France
Contribution: Funding acquisition, Writing - review & editing;6. Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, United Kingdom
Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Contribution: Funding acquisition, Writing - review & editing;7. Department of Marine Biology, Texas A&M University, Galveston, Texas
Contribution: Funding acquisition, Writing - review & editing;8. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata-CONICET, Mar del Plata, Argentina
Contribution: Funding acquisition, Writing - review & editing;9. Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Contribution: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing |
Abstract: | Elephant seals, Mirounga spp., are highly dimorphic, having different energetic requirements according to age and sex, and foraging in various ecological and oceanographic contexts. Resource partitioning has been shown for the sub-Antarctic populations of southern elephant seals, M. leonina, where colonies are surrounded by narrow shelves that deepen abruptly. In contrast, seals from Península Valdés (Argentina), in the northernmost extent of the breeding range, face an extended, shallow, temperate, and productive continental shelf. We integrated tracking data from 98 animals (juveniles and adults, males and females) gathered over more than two decades, and found that although all available habitats were used, individuals segregated by age and sex. Juvenile males favored shelf habitats, whereas subadult and adult males also used the shelf break. Juvenile females preferred the shelf and the more distant Argentine Basin used by postbreeding and postmolt adult females. Males showed the highest proportion of area-restricted search locations, suggesting more spatially concentrated feeding activity, and likely reflecting a preference for foraging habitat and prey. Our results are consistent with those from other populations, implying that elephant seals show remarkable similarities in habitat use by age and sex classes, despite broad differences in the offshore habitats between sub-Antarctic and temperate ecosystems. |