TemperateReefBase Geonetwork Catalogue
Energy requirements and daily food consumption of crabeater seals in the Antarctic winter pack-ice
Although the most abundant of all mammalian predators in the Antarctic marine ecosystem, crabeater seals are also one of the least understood. The most fundamental question of all - how many are there? - is the focus of an extensive international collaborative program (the Antarctic Pack-ice Seal Program, or APIS). This study supplements APIS by providing additional data on the diving behaviour and food requirements of crabeater seals, that can be used in conjunction with census data to provide information on the role of crabeater seals in the antarctic ecosystem.
Winter densities and distributions of Crabeater seals were collected during 1999. Crabeater seals were most often encountered on the shelf break. The data collected include numbers of seals sighted per hour in relation to the amount of time the ship spent in each 0.5 degree grid square.
This study is the first to describe the winter distribution of crabeater seals (Lobodon carcinophagus) in East Antarctica. The study was conducted in the Mertz Glacier Polynya region from July to August 1999. In total 89 crabeater seals were seen in 26 groups which ranged in size from 1 to 35 animals (mean = 3.2). The mean observed haulout density along a 200m wide strip transect was 0.108 seals per square kilometre, or 0.042 groups per square kilometre. Crabeater seals were not uniformly distributed in the polynya but selected areas of stable ice over shallow (less than 1000m) waters. We used a generalised linear model to assess the relationship of seal distribution to the physical attributes of sea ice concentration, thickness, and ocean depth. We found that ice thickness and ocean depth were the most important determinants of seal distribution. Crabeater seals occurred in areas where the ice affords them a stable haulout platform while allowing them access to Antarctic krill that live directly beneath the ice.
Simple
Identification info
- Alternate title
- Energy requirements and daily food consumption of crabeater seals in the Antarctic winter pack-ice
- Date (Publication)
- 2000-08-09
- Edition
- 1
Originator
Publisher
Principal investigator
Principal investigator
Collaborator
Collaborator
- Name
- CAASM Metadata
- Other citation details
- Restricted access
- Status
- Completed
Custodian
- Topic category
-
- Biota
- Oceans
Extent
))
Extent
- Description
- Temporal Coverage
Temporal extent
- TimePeriod
- 1999-07-01 1999-08-31
- Title
- Winter distribution and abundance of crabeater seals off George V Land.
- Date (Publication)
- 2002
- Citation identifier
- 14
Author
- Name
- Antarctic Science
- Page
- 128-133
- NASA/GCMD Earth Science Keywords
-
- EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES
- EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > MAMMALS
- EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS > ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONS > CONSUMPTION RATES
- EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS > SPECIES/POPULATION INTERACTIONS > USE/FEEDING HABITATS
- EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > MAMMALS > CARNIVORES > SEALS/SEA LIONS/WALRUSES
- Keywords
-
- BATHYMETRY
- CRABEATER SEALS
- DENSITY
- DISTRIBUTION
- HABITAT USE
- LOBODON CARCINOPHAGUS
- MERTZ GLACIER POLYNYA
- POLYNYA
- SEA ICE
- WINTER
- NASA/GCMD Earth Science Keywords
-
- FIELD INVESTIGATION
- FIELD SURVEYS
- NASA/GCMD Earth Science Keywords
-
- AMD/AU
- CEOS
- AMD
- NASA/GCMD Earth Science Keywords
-
- OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN
- GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR
Resource constraints
- Use limitation
- This metadata record is publicly available.
Resource constraints
- Access constraints
- licence
- Other constraints
- A PDF copy of the referenced paper is available from the provided URL to AAD staff only..
Resource constraints
- File type
- Portable Network Graphic
- Title
- Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
- Website
-
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
Legal code for Creative Commons by Attribution 4.0 International license
- Use constraints
- licence
- Other constraints
- This data set conforms to the CCBY Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Please follow instructions listed in the citation reference provided at http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/metadata/citation.cfm?entry_id=ASAC_1090 when using these data.
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
Distribution Information
Distributor
Distributor
Distributor
- Fees
- free
- Units of distribution
- kb
- Transfer size
- 1683
- Distribution format
-
- OnLine resource
-
PROJECT HOME PAGE
Public information for ASAC project 1090
- OnLine resource
-
VIEW RELATED INFORMATION > PUBLICATIONS
Download point for the paper - AAD Staff Only
- OnLine resource
-
VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
Citation reference for this metadata record and dataset
- Maintenance and update frequency
- As needed
- Maintenance note
- 2010-07-26 - record updated by Dave Connell to change URL Content Type. 2014-12-12 - record updated by Dave Connell - basic updates.
Metadata
- Metadata identifier
- string/ASAC_1090
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
Author
Sponsor
Owner
Type of resource
- Resource scope
- Dataset
Alternative metadata reference
- Title
- gov.nasa.gsfc.gcmd
- Citation identifier
- 6bf5d4a1-4850-4879-adad-4541237e25a8
Alternative metadata reference
- Title
- gov.nasa.gsfc.gcmd
- Date (Last Revision)
- 2015-11-30T04:05:51
Identifier
- Description
- metadata.extraction_date
Alternative metadata reference
- Title
- gov.nasa.gsfc.gcmd
- Citation identifier
- 8.6
- Metadata linkage
-
http://data.aad.gov.au/metadata/records/ASAC_1090
Point of truth for the metadata record
- Date info (Creation)
- 2000-08-09T00:00:00
- Date info (Last Update)
- 2017-04-26
Metadata standard
- Title
- ISO 19115-3
- Edition
- 2014
- Other citation details
- Version 1
- Title
- DIF to ISO 19115-1 Profile
Overviews
Spatial extent
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