Killer whale predation on subantarctic fur seals at Prince Edward Island, Southern Indian Ocean
Killer whale predation on subantarctic fur seals at Prince Edward Island, Southern Indian Ocean
Killer whales at subantarctic Marion Island have been subjected to several scientific studies. In contrast, up until recently, there has been only one record of these animals documented for neighbouring Prince Edward Island. We here report on killer whale observations at Prince Edward Island during March 2012. During 3 days of opportunistic observations at a fur seal colony on the island, killer whales were sighted on six occasions. These probably represented three different pods numbering 11 individuals in total. During all sightings, individuals were seen hunting subantarctic fur seal pups, with four successful predatory events observed.
Apex predators, Feeding ecology, Population regulation, Southern Ocean
1767-1772
Pistorius, P. A.
5a585272-2721-45dd-9384-56a05a477b36
Meÿer, M. A.
f1cedeba-71f5-4a77-a87f-05e191c0e979
Reisinger, R. R.
4eaf9440-48e5-41fa-853f-d46457e5444e
Kirkman, S. P.
73111260-8696-4709-ab2f-f3138e01cb57
November 2012
Pistorius, P. A.
5a585272-2721-45dd-9384-56a05a477b36
Meÿer, M. A.
f1cedeba-71f5-4a77-a87f-05e191c0e979
Reisinger, R. R.
4eaf9440-48e5-41fa-853f-d46457e5444e
Kirkman, S. P.
73111260-8696-4709-ab2f-f3138e01cb57
Pistorius, P. A., Meÿer, M. A., Reisinger, R. R. and Kirkman, S. P.
(2012)
Killer whale predation on subantarctic fur seals at Prince Edward Island, Southern Indian Ocean.
Polar Biology, 35 (11), .
(doi:10.1007/s00300-012-1216-1).
Abstract
Killer whales at subantarctic Marion Island have been subjected to several scientific studies. In contrast, up until recently, there has been only one record of these animals documented for neighbouring Prince Edward Island. We here report on killer whale observations at Prince Edward Island during March 2012. During 3 days of opportunistic observations at a fur seal colony on the island, killer whales were sighted on six occasions. These probably represented three different pods numbering 11 individuals in total. During all sightings, individuals were seen hunting subantarctic fur seal pups, with four successful predatory events observed.
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Accepted/In Press date: 11 June 2012
Published date: November 2012
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Funding Information:
Acknowledgments We would like to thank the Department of Environmental Affairs who provided logistic and financial support for the Prince Edward Island autumn survey. We are grateful for the insightful comments received from two anonymous reviewers.
Copyright:
Copyright 2012 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Apex predators, Feeding ecology, Population regulation, Southern Ocean
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 468686
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/468686
ISSN: 0722-4060
PURE UUID: 25039c82-2559-4099-a079-4af9b99309e6
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Date deposited: 22 Aug 2022 17:12
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 02:11
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Author:
P. A. Pistorius
Author:
M. A. Meÿer
Author:
S. P. Kirkman
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