Long distance breeding dispersal of a southern elephant seal
Long distance breeding dispersal of a southern elephant seal
Southern elephant seals range extensively during regular foraging excursions. Despite this they are highly philopatric and long range dispersal is rare. At Gough Island, southern Atlantic Ocean, we observed a breeding adult male elephant seal during September 2009, which had been tagged on its natal beach at Marion Island, southern Indian Ocean, in November 1998. The individual was resighted only once on Marion Island, 6 months after tagging. This 3,860 km movement represents dispersal (and likely gene flow) between distinct populations from different elephant seal geographical provinces. Given the polygynous breeding system of this species, the presence of this single male may have a disproportionate genetic effect on the small number of southern elephant seals breeding at Gough Island.
Emigration, Gene flow, Gough Island, Marion Island, Mirounga leonina, Movement, Natal dispersal, Southern Ocean
1289-1291
Reisinger, Ryan R.
4eaf9440-48e5-41fa-853f-d46457e5444e
Bester, Marthán N.
cde32f42-fedb-42c6-9a0e-b797259c1cac
2010
Reisinger, Ryan R.
4eaf9440-48e5-41fa-853f-d46457e5444e
Bester, Marthán N.
cde32f42-fedb-42c6-9a0e-b797259c1cac
Reisinger, Ryan R. and Bester, Marthán N.
(2010)
Long distance breeding dispersal of a southern elephant seal.
Polar Biology, 33 (9), .
(doi:10.1007/s00300-010-0830-z).
Abstract
Southern elephant seals range extensively during regular foraging excursions. Despite this they are highly philopatric and long range dispersal is rare. At Gough Island, southern Atlantic Ocean, we observed a breeding adult male elephant seal during September 2009, which had been tagged on its natal beach at Marion Island, southern Indian Ocean, in November 1998. The individual was resighted only once on Marion Island, 6 months after tagging. This 3,860 km movement represents dispersal (and likely gene flow) between distinct populations from different elephant seal geographical provinces. Given the polygynous breeding system of this species, the presence of this single male may have a disproportionate genetic effect on the small number of southern elephant seals breeding at Gough Island.
This record has no associated files available for download.
More information
Published date: 2010
Keywords:
Emigration, Gene flow, Gough Island, Marion Island, Mirounga leonina, Movement, Natal dispersal, Southern Ocean
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 469010
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/469010
ISSN: 0722-4060
PURE UUID: caface6c-cc43-4eff-9004-09c153140641
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 05 Sep 2022 16:38
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 02:11
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Marthán N. Bester
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics
