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Long distance breeding dispersal of a southern elephant seal

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
0722-4060
1289-1291
Reisinger, Ryan R.
4eaf9440-48e5-41fa-853f-d46457e5444e
Bester, Marthán N.
cde32f42-fedb-42c6-9a0e-b797259c1cac
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), 1289-1291. (doi:10.1007/s00300-010-0830-z).

Record type: Article

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.

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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
ORCID for Ryan R. Reisinger: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8933-6875

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 05 Sep 2022 16:38
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 04:03

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Contributors

Author: Marthán N. Bester

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