Author: "Frédéric Bailleul" - Searchworks@Jio Institute Digital Library Search Results

Your search keyword '"Frédéric Bailleul"' showing total 36 results

Start Over Author "Frédéric Bailleul"

36 results on '"Frédéric Bailleul"'

1. Using sea lion-borne video to map diverse benthic habitats in southern Australia

Author: Nathan Angelakis, Gretchen L. Grammer, Sean D. Connell, Frédéric Bailleul, Leonardo M. Durante, Roger Kirkwood, Dirk Holman, and Simon D. Goldsworthy
Subjects: habitat mapping, benthic, pinniped, animal-borne video, southern Australia, continental shelf, Science, General. Including nature conservation, geographical distribution, QH1-199.5
Abstract: Across the world’s oceans, our knowledge of the habitats on the seabed is limited. Increasingly, video/imagery data from remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) and towed and drop cameras, deployed from vessels, are providing critical new information to map unexplored benthic (seabed) habitats. However, these vessel-based surveys involve considerable time and personnel, are costly, require favorable weather conditions, and are difficult to conduct in remote, offshore, and deep marine habitats, which makes mapping and surveying large areas of the benthos challenging. In this study, we present a novel and efficient method for mapping diverse benthic habitats on the continental shelf, using animal-borne video and movement data from a benthic predator, the Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea). Six benthic habitats (between 5-110m depth) were identified from data collected by eight Australian sea lions from two colonies in South Australia. These habitats were macroalgae reef, macroalgae meadow, bare sand, sponge/sand, invertebrate reef and invertebrate boulder habitats. Percent cover of benthic habitats differed on the foraging paths of sea lions from both colonies. The distributions of these benthic habitats were combined with oceanographic data to build Random Forest models for predicting benthic habitats on the continental shelf. Random forest models performed well (validated models had a >98% accuracy), predicting large areas of macroalgae reef, bare sand, sponge/sand and invertebrate reef habitats on the continental shelf in southern Australia. Modelling of benthic habitats from animal-borne video data provides an effective approach for mapping extensive areas of the continental shelf. These data provide valuable new information on the seabed and complement traditional methods of mapping and surveying benthic habitats. Better understanding and preserving these habitats is crucial, amid increasing human impacts on benthic environments around the world.
Published: 2024
Full Text: View/download PDF

2. Correction: Satellite derived offshore migratory movements of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) from Australian and New Zealand wintering grounds.

Author: Alice I Mackay, Frédéric Bailleul, Emma L Carroll, Virginia Andrews-Goff, C Scott Baker, John Bannister, Laura Boren, Kris Carlyon, David M Donnelly, Michael Double, Simon D Goldsworthy, Robert Harcourt, Dirk Holman, Andrew Lowther, Guido J Parra, and Simon J Childerhouse
Subjects: Medicine, Science
Abstract: [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0231577.].
Published: 2020
Full Text: View/download PDF

3. Satellite derived offshore migratory movements of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) from Australian and New Zealand wintering grounds.

Author: Alice I Mackay, Frédéric Bailleul, Emma L Carroll, Virginia Andrews-Goff, C Scott Baker, John Bannister, Laura Boren, Kris Carlyon, David M Donnelly, Michael Double, Simon D Goldsworthy, Robert Harcourt, Dirk Holman, Andrew Lowther, Guido J Parra, and Simon J Childerhouse
Subjects: Medicine, Science
Abstract: Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) migrate between Austral-winter calving and socialising grounds to offshore mid- to high latitude Austral-summer feeding grounds. In Australasia, winter calving grounds used by southern right whales extend from Western Australia across southern Australia to the New Zealand sub-Antarctic Islands. During the Austral-summer these whales are thought to migrate away from coastal waters to feed, but the location of these feeding grounds is only inferred from historical whaling data. We present new information on the satellite derived offshore migratory movements of six southern right whales from Australasian wintering grounds. Two whales were tagged at the Auckland Islands, New Zealand, and the remaining four at Australian wintering grounds, one at Pirates Bay, Tasmania, and three at Head of Bight, South Australia. The six whales were tracked for an average of 78.5 days (range: 29 to 150) with average individual distance of 38 km per day (range: 20 to 61 km). The length of individually derived tracks ranged from 645-6,381 km. Three likely foraging grounds were identified: south-west Western Australia, the Subtropical Front, and Antarctic waters, with the Subtropical Front appearing to be a feeding ground for both New Zealand and Australian southern right whales. In contrast, the individual tagged in Tasmania, from a sub-population that is not showing evidence of post-whaling recovery, displayed a distinct movement pattern to much higher latitude waters, potentially reflecting a different foraging strategy. Variable population growth rates between wintering grounds in Australasia could reflect fidelity to different quality feeding grounds. Unlike some species of baleen whale populations that show movement along migratory corridors, the new satellite tracking data presented here indicate variability in the migratory pathways taken by southern right whales from Australia and New Zealand, as well as differences in potential Austral summer foraging grounds.
Published: 2020
Full Text: View/download PDF

4. Breeding success of a marine central place forager in the context of climate change: A modeling approach.

Author: Lauriane Massardier-Galatà, Jennifer Morinay, Frédéric Bailleul, Eric Wajnberg, Christophe Guinet, and Patrick Coquillard
Subjects: Medicine, Science
Abstract: In response to climate warming, a southward shift in productive frontal systems serving as the main foraging sites for many top predator species is likely to occur in Subantarctic areas. Central place foragers, such as seabirds and pinnipeds, are thus likely to cope with an increase in the distance between foraging locations and their land-based breeding colonies. Understanding how central place foragers should modify their foraging behavior in response to changes in prey accessibility appears crucial. A spatially explicit individual-based simulation model (Marine Central Place Forager Simulator (MarCPFS)), including bio-energetic components, was built to evaluate effects of possible changes in prey resources accessibility on individual performances and breeding success. The study was calibrated on a particular example: the Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella), which alternates between oceanic areas in which females feed and the land-based colony in which they suckle their young over a 120 days rearing period. Our model shows the importance of the distance covered to feed and prey aggregation which appeared to be key factors to which animals are highly sensitive. Memorization and learning abilities also appear to be essential breeding success traits. Females were found to be most successful for intermediate levels of prey aggregation and short distance to the resource, resulting in optimal female body length. Increased distance to resources due to climate warming should hinder pups' growth and survival while female body length should increase.
Published: 2017
Full Text: View/download PDF

5. Foraging in the darkness of the Southern Ocean: influence of bioluminescence on a deep diving predator.

Author: Jade Vacquié-Garcia, François Royer, Anne-Cécile Dragon, Morgane Viviant, Frédéric Bailleul, and Christophe Guinet
Subjects: Medicine, Science
Abstract: How non-echolocating deep diving marine predators locate their prey while foraging remains mostly unknown. Female southern elephant seals (SES) (Mirounga leonina) have vision adapted to low intensity light with a peak sensitivity at 485 nm. This matches the wavelength of bioluminescence produced by a large range of marine organisms including myctophid fish, SES's main prey. In this study, we investigated whether bioluminescence provides an accurate estimate of prey occurrence for SES. To do so, four SES were satellite-tracked during their post-breeding foraging trip and were equipped with Time-Depth-Recorders that also recorded light levels every two seconds. A total of 3386 dives were processed through a light-treatment model that detected light events higher than ambient level, i.e. bioluminescence events. The number of bioluminescence events was related to an index of foraging intensity for SES dives deep enough to avoid the influence of natural ambient light. The occurrence of bioluminescence was found to be negatively related to depth both at night and day. Foraging intensity was also positively related to bioluminescence both during day and night. This result suggests that bioluminescence likely provides SES with valuable indications of prey occurrence and might be a key element in predator-prey interactions in deep-dark marine environments.
Published: 2012
Full Text: View/download PDF

6. Assessment of the status and trends in abundance of a coastal pinniped, the Australian sea lion Neophoca cinerea

Author: Andrew D. Lowther, Simon D. Goldsworthy, Dirk Holman, Holly C. Raudino, Frédéric Bailleul, Simon Bryars, Kelly Waples, Alice I. Mackay, Brad Page, Peter D. Shaughnessy, and Tim Anderson
Subjects: 0106 biological sciences, Ecology, 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology, Endangered species, Botany, Neophoca cinerea, Biology, biology.organism_classification, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, QL1-991, Abundance (ecology), QK1-989, Sea lion, Zoology, Nature and Landscape Conservation
Abstract: Australian sea lions Neophoca cinerea are endemic to Australia, with their contemporary distribution restricted to South Australia (SA) and Western Australia (WA). Monitoring of the species has proved challenging due to prolonged breeding events that occur non-annually and asynchronously across their range. The most recent available data from 80 extant breeding sites (48 in SA, 32 in WA) enabled us to estimate the species-wide pup abundance to be 2739, with 82% (2246) in SA and 18% (493) in WA, mostly based on surveys conducted between 2014 and 2019. We evaluated 1776 individual site-surveys undertaken between 1970 and 2019 and identified admissible time-series data from 30 breeding sites, which revealed that pup abundance declined on average by 2.0% yr-1 (range 9.9% decline to 1.7% growth yr-1). The overall reduction in pup abundance over 3 generations (42.3 yr) was estimated to be 64%, with over 98% of Monte Carlo simulations producing a decline >50% over a 3-generation period, providing strong evidence that the species meets IUCN ‘Endangered’ criteria (decline ≥50% and ≤80%). The population is much smaller than previously estimated and is declining. There is a strong cline in regional abundances (increasing from west to east), with marked within-region heterogeneity in breeding site pup abundances and trends. Results from this study should improve consistency in the assessment of the species and create greater certainty among stakeholders about its conservation status. To facilitate species management and recovery, we prioritise key data gaps and identify factors to improve population monitoring.
Published: 2021

7. Correction: Satellite derived offshore migratory movements of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) from Australian and New Zealand wintering grounds

Author: Laura J. Boren, Michael C. Double, Simon Childerhouse, C. Scott Baker, John Bannister, Frédéric Bailleul, Krisa Carlyon, David Donnelly, Simon D. Goldsworthy, Virginia Andrews-Goff, Alice I. Mackay, Dirk Holman, Guido J. Parra, Emma L. Carroll, Robert Harcourt, Andrew D. Lowther, University of St Andrews. School of Biology, and University of St Andrews. Sea Mammal Research Unit
Subjects: 0106 biological sciences, Topography, Range (biology), Eubalaena australis, QH301 Biology, Marine and Aquatic Sciences, Social Sciences, 01 natural sciences, Baleen whale, Geographical Locations, Telemetry, Psychology, Foraging, Mammals, Islands, Multidisciplinary, Latitude, biology, Animal Behavior, Geography, Eukaryota, Satellite Communications, Humpback Whales, Vertebrates, Medicine, Seasons, Right Whales, Research Article, Cartography, Science, Oceania, Marine Biology, 010603 evolutionary biology, QH301, Animals, Whaling, Marine Mammals, Behavior, Landforms, Models, Statistical, 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology, Organisms, Whales, Australia, Correction, Biology and Life Sciences, DAS, Geomorphology, biology.organism_classification, Fishery, Amniotes, People and Places, Earth Sciences, Animal Migration, Subtropical front, Bay, Zoology, New Zealand
Abstract: Funding: Australian Marine Mammal Center Grant 13/48 AIM, SDG, DH, AL http://www.marinemammals.gov.au/ The Australian Marine Mammal Center was involved in study design and anlaysis through the involvement in the project by AMMC staff, Dr Mike Double and Dr Virgina Andrews-Goff Princess Melikoff Trust Marine Mammal Conservation Program KC New Zealand Department of Conservation SC. Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) migrate between Austral-winter calving and socialising grounds to offshore mid- to high latitude Austral-summer feeding grounds. In Australasia, winter calving grounds used by southern right whales extend from Western Australia across southern Australia to the New Zealand sub-Antarctic Islands. During the Austral-summer these whales are thought to migrate away from coastal waters to feed, but the location of these feeding grounds is only inferred from historical whaling data. We present new information on the satellite derived offshore migratory movements of six southern right whales from Australasian wintering grounds. Two whales were tagged at the Auckland Islands, New Zealand, and the remaining four at Australian wintering grounds, one at Pirates Bay, Tasmania, and three at Head of Bight, South Australia. The six whales were tracked for an average of 78.5 days (range: 29 to 150) with average individual distance of 38 km per day (range: 20 to 61 km). The length of individually derived tracks ranged from 645–6,381 km. Three likely foraging grounds were identified: south-west Western Australia, the Subtropical Front, and Antarctic waters, with the Subtropical Front appearing to be a feeding ground for both New Zealand and Australian southern right whales. In contrast, the individual tagged in Tasmania, from a sub-population that is not showing evidence of post-whaling recovery, displayed a distinct movement pattern to much higher latitude waters, potentially reflecting a different foraging strategy. Variable population growth rates between wintering grounds in Australasia could reflect fidelity to different quality feeding grounds. Unlike some species of baleen whale populations that show movement along migratory corridors, the new satellite tracking data presented here indicate variability in the migratory pathways taken by southern right whales from Australia and New Zealand, as well as differences in potential Austral summer foraging grounds. Publisher PDF
Published: 2020

8. Sperm whales in the Great Australian Bight: Synthesising historical and contemporary data to predict potential distribution

Author: Simon D. Goldsworthy, Alice I. Mackay, and Frédéric Bailleul
Subjects: 0106 biological sciences, geography.geographical_feature_category, biology, Continental shelf, 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology, Fishing, Oceanography, biology.organism_classification, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, Sperm, Geography, Critical habitat, Habitat, Abundance (ecology), Sperm whale, Whaling
Abstract: Sperm whales have been identified under Marine Bioregional Plans as key features in the Great Australian Bight (GAB). Although commercial whaling of sperm whales in Australian waters ceased in 1978 there is no evidence of recovery of sperm whale populations. Information on the current distribution and abundance of sperm whales in the region, which is also an important area for human activities including fishing, oil and gas exploration and tourism, is very limited. We undertook a systematic visual and passive acoustic vessel based survey in the central eastern GAB. The visual detection rate of sperm whales from the survey was 1.4 individuals per 1000 km with an acoustic density of 0.21 individuals per 1000 km2. We combined these sightings and detection data with historical and contemporary whaling and sightings data to identify critical habitat for sperm whales in the region. Using Maximum entropy modelling, suitable sperm whale habitat was predicted over the continental shelf break, but more specifically, over sub-marine canyons. Baseline information on the abundance and distribution of sperm whales, and other cetacean species, in the GAB are required to provide information to management agencies and regulators in order to assess and mitigate risks. The potential impacts of increased noise from shipping, seismic surveys and construction on cetacean species in the region need to be considered.
Published: 2018
Full Text: View/download PDF

9. Convergence of marine megafauna movement patterns in coastal and open oceans

Author: D. Hamer, Frédéric Bailleul, John Gunn, Daniel P. Costa, Ari S. Friedlaender, Patrick W. Robinson, Michael J. Weise, Eric Clua, Mahmood S. Shivji, Robert Harcourt, Jorge P. Rodríguez, Ruth H. Carmichael, Robert G. Campbell, Luciana C. Ferreira, R. Wells, Mônica M. C. Muelbert, Camrin D. Braun, M. Goebel, Mary-Anne Lea, Barbara Wienecke, Michael L. Berumen, Nicolas E. Humphries, David W. Sims, Scott A. Shaffer, Andrew D. Lowther, Mike O. Hammill, Mark A. Hindell, Graeme C. Hays, Michele Thums, Carlos M. Duarte, Clive R. McMahon, Jennifer M. Burns, M. J. Caley, A. Wiebkin, Christophe Guinet, Ana M. M. Sequeira, Alastair M. M. Baylis, Luke D. Einoder, Brad Page, Elizabeth A. McHuron, Mark G. Meekan, Jane McKenzie, Gregory B. Skomal, Allen M. Aven, Nuno Queiroz, Simon D. Goldsworthy, L. McLeay, Kerrie Mengersen, Juan Fernández-Gracia, Alice I. Mackay, Anthony M. Pagano, Luis A. Hückstädt, B. Wetherbee, Simon R. Thorrold, Michelle R. Heupel, Stella Villegas-Amtmann, Víctor M. Eguíluz, Neil Hammerschlag, University of Western Australia, UWA Oceans Institute, Australian Institute of Marine Science, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Australian Research Council, Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España), European Commission, Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte (España), Natural Environment Research Council (UK), Save Our Seas Foundation, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (Brasil), IOMRC and The UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia (UWA), Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies [Horbat] (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), University of Tasmania [Hobart, Australia] (UTAS), and Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)
Subjects: 0106 biological sciences, Root-mean-square, Databases, Factual, turning angles, Oceans and Seas, Climate change, global satellite tracking, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, Databases, Megafauna, biology.animal, Marine vertebrate, Probability density function, probability density function, Animals, Ecosystem, 14. Life underwater, root-mean-square, Life Below Water, Factual, Global satellite tracking, Multidisciplinary, geography.geographical_feature_category, Turning angles, biology, Ecology, Movement (music), 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology, Vertebrate, Biological Sciences, Arctic ice pack, Geography, Habitat, 13. Climate action, Vertebrates, [SDE]Environmental Sciences, Animal Migration, displacements, Displacements
Abstract: The extent of increasing anthropogenic impacts on large marine vertebrates partly depends on the animals’ movement patterns. Effective conservation requires identification of the key drivers of movement including intrinsic properties and extrinsic constraints associated with the dynamic nature of the environments the animals inhabit. However, the relative importance of intrinsic versus extrinsic factors remains elusive. We analyze a global dataset of ∼2.8 million locations from >2,600 tracked individuals across 50 marine vertebrates evolutionarily separated by millions of years and using different locomotion modes (fly, swim, walk/paddle). Strikingly, movement patterns show a remarkable convergence, being strongly conserved across species and independent of body length and mass, despite these traits ranging over 10 orders of magnitude among the species studied. This represents a fundamental difference between marine and terrestrial vertebrates not previously identified, likely linked to the reduced costs of locomotion in water. Movement patterns were primarily explained by the interaction between species-specific traits and the habitat(s) they move through, resulting in complex movement patterns when moving close to coasts compared with more predictable patterns when moving in open oceans. This distinct difference may be associated with greater complexity within coastal microhabitats, highlighting a critical role of preferred habitat in shaping marine vertebrate global movements. Efforts to develop understanding of the characteristics of vertebrate movement should consider the habitat(s) through which they move to identify how movement patterns will alter with forecasted severe ocean changes, such as reduced Arctic sea ice cover, sea level rise, and declining oxygen content., Workshop funding was granted by the University of Western Australia (UWA) Oceans Institute, the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). A.M.M.S. was supported by Australian Research Council Grant DE170100841 and an Indian Ocean Ocean Marine Research Centre (UWA, AIMS, Commonwealth of Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) fellowship. J.P.R., V.M.E., and J.F.G. were supported by Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI, Spain) and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) through project Spatiotemporality in Sociobological Interactions, Models and Methods (SPASIMM) (FIS2016-80067-P AEI/FEDER, European Union), and by research funding from KAUST. J.P.R. was supported by Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte (Formación de Profesorado Universitario Grant, Spain). D.W.S. was supported by the UK Natural Environment Research Council and Save Our Seas Foundation. N.Q. was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portugal). M.M.C.M. was supported by a Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de pessoal de Nível Superior fellowship (Ministry of Education).
Published: 2018
Full Text: View/download PDF

10. Under the sea ice: Exploring the relationship between sea ice and the foraging behaviour of southern elephant seals in East Antarctica

Author: Jean-Baptiste Sallée, Sara Labrousse, Clive R. McMahon, Jean-Benoît Charrassin, Robert Harcourt, Phillip Reid, Mark A. Hindell, Christophe Guinet, Alexander D. Fraser, Frédéric Bailleul, Michael D. Sumner, Robert A. Massom, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies [Hobart] (IMAS), University of Tasmania [Hobart, Australia] (UTAS), Processus de couplage à Petite Echelle, Ecosystèmes et Prédateurs Supérieurs (PEPS), Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Hokkaido University [Sapporo, Japan], Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre (ACE-CRC), Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), Australian Government, Department of the Environment and Energy, Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research (CAWCR), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Macquarie University, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney Institute of Marine Science (USIMS), The University of Sydney, South Australian Research and Development Institute, CNES-TOSCA, European Project: 637770,H2020,ERC-2014-STG,WAPITI(2015), Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies [Horbat] (IMAS), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), University of Tasmania (UTAS), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), Hokkaido University, and Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Subjects: 0106 biological sciences, Drift ice, geography, geography.geographical_feature_category, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology, Geology, Antarctic sea ice, Aquatic Science, 01 natural sciences, Arctic ice pack, Ice shelf, Oceanography, Fast ice, 13. Climate action, [SDE]Environmental Sciences, Sea ice, Environmental science, 14. Life underwater, Sea ice concentration, Seabed gouging by ice, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Abstract: Investigating ecological relationships between predators and their environment is essential to understand the response of marine ecosystems to climate variability and change. This is particularly true in polar regions, where sea ice (a sensitive climate variable) plays a crucial yet highly dynamic and variable role in how it influences the whole marine ecosystem, from phytoplankton to top predators. For mesopredators such as seals, sea ice both supports a rich (under-ice) food resource, access to which depends on local to regional coverage and conditions. Here, we investigate sex-specific relationships between the foraging strategies of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) in winter and spatio-temporal variability in sea ice concentration (SIC) and coverage in East Antarctica. We satellite-tracked 46 individuals undertaking post-moult trips in winter from Kerguelen Islands to the peri-Antarctic shelf between 2004 and 2014. These data indicate distinct general patterns of sea ice usage: while females tended to follow the sea ice edge as it extended northward, the males remained on the continental shelf despite increasing sea ice. Seal hunting time, a proxy of foraging activity inferred from the diving behaviour, was longer for females in late autumn in the outer part of the pack ice, ∼150–370 km south of the ice edge. Within persistent regions of compact sea ice, females had a longer foraging activity (i) in the highest sea ice concentration at their position, but (ii) their foraging activity was longer when there were more patches of low concentration sea ice around their position (either in time or in space; 30 days & 50 km). The high spatio-temporal variability of sea ice around female positions is probably a key factor allowing them to exploit these concentrated patches. Despite lack of information on prey availability, females may exploit mesopelagic finfishes and squids that concentrate near the ice-water interface or within the water column (from diurnal vertical migration) in the pack ice region, likely attracted by an ice algal autumn bloom that sustains an under-ice ecosystem. In contrast, male foraging effort increased when they remained deep within the sea ice (420–960 km from the ice edge) over the shelf. Males had a longer foraging activity (i) in the lowest sea ice concentration at their position, and (ii) when there were more patches of low concentration sea ice around their position (either in time or in space; 30 days & 50 km) presumably in polynyas or flaw leads between land fast and pack ice. This provides access to zones of enhanced resources in autumn or in early spring such as polynyas, the Antarctic shelf and slope. Our results suggest that some seals utilized a highly sea ice covered environment, which is key for their foraging effort, sustaining or concentrating resources during winter.
Published: 2017
Full Text: View/download PDF

11. Breeding success of a marine central place forager in the context of climate change: A modeling approach

Author: Christophe Guinet, Eric Wajnberg, Frédéric Bailleul, Lauriane Massardier-Galatà, Jennifer Morinay, Patrick Coquillard, Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, LPMC, France, COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), South Australian Research and Development Institute, Institut Sophia Agrobiotech (ISA), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (... - 2019) (UNS), COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Région Provence Alpes Cote d'Azur, ANR-11-BSV7-0022,MyctO-3D-MAP,Distribution et habitats en trois dimensions des poissons-lanternes: utilisation conjointe de données fournies par leurs prédateurs, l'écho-intégration et la modélisation(2011), Université Côte d'Azur (UCA), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut Sophia Agrobiotech [Sophia Antipolis] (ISA), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (... - 2019) (UNS), Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)-Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and ANR (Agence Nationale de la Recherche) MyctO-3D-MAP, SVSE 7 2011, Y. Cherel
Subjects: 0106 biological sciences, Atmospheric Science, Marine central place forager, Breeding success, lcsh:Medicine, Predation, Marine and Aquatic Sciences, 01 natural sciences, Biochemistry, oiseau de mer, comportement sexuel, Foraging, Milieux et Changements globaux, lcsh:Science, Apex predator, Mammals, Climatology, Multidisciplinary, Seals, Animal Behavior, Ecology, Reproduction, Fishes, optimal body length, marine top predator, prédateur, Animals, Suckling, Trophic Interactions, Individual based model, Community Ecology, [SDE]Environmental Sciences, Vertebrates, Female, bioénergétique, Research Article, Death Rates, Climate Change, Oceans and Seas, Climate change, Antarctic Regions, Context (language use), Marine Biology, Biology, Bioenergetics, Animal Sexual Behavior, 010603 evolutionary biology, Climate warming, taux de mortalite, Animals, 14. Life underwater, réchauffement climatique, Marine Mammals, Ecosystem, Demography, polar front, bioénergie, Antarctic fur seal, subantarctique, Behavior, Models, Statistical, Reproductive success, 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology, Fur Seals, lcsh:R, Global warming, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Organisms, forage, prédation, Biology and Life Sciences, Feeding Behavior, biology.organism_classification, Animals, Newborn, Death rates, Animal sexual behavior, Predatory Behavior, subantarctic areas, Amniotes, People and Places, Earth Sciences, lcsh:Q, Fur seal, [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology, Zoology
Abstract: International audience; In response to climate warming, a southward shift in productive frontal systems serving as the main foraging sites for many top predator species is likely to occur in Subantarctic areas. Central place foragers, such as seabirds and pinnipeds, are thus likely to cope with an increase in the distance between foraging locations and their land-based breeding colonies. Understanding how central place foragers should modify their foraging behavior in response to changes in prey accessibility appears crucial. A spatially explicit individual-based simulation model (Marine Central Place Forager Simulator (MarCPFS)), including bio-energetic components, was built to evaluate effects of possible changes in prey resources accessibility on individual performances and breeding success. The study was calibrated on a particular example: the Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella), which alternates between oceanic areas in which females feed and the land-based colony in which they suckle their young over a 120 days rearing period. Our model shows the importance of the distance covered to feed and prey aggregation which appeared to be key factors to which animals are highly sensitive. Memorization and learning abilities also appear to be essential breeding success traits. Females were found to be most successful for intermediate levels of prey aggregation and short distance to the resource, resulting in optimal female body length. Increased distance to resources due to climate warming should hinder pups' growth and survival while female body length should increase.
Published: 2017
Full Text: View/download PDF

12. Variability in sea ice cover and climate elicit sex specific responses in an Antarctic predator

Author: Sara Labrousse, Jean-Baptiste Sallée, Alexander D. Fraser, Rob A. Massom, Phillip Reid, William Hobbs, Christophe Guinet, Robert Harcourt, Clive McMahon, Matthieu Authier, Frédéric Bailleul, Mark A. Hindell, Jean-Benoit Charrassin
Published: 2017
Full Text: View/download PDF

13. Marine bioluminescence: measurement by a classical light sensor and related foraging behaviour of a deep diving predator

Author: Christophe Guinet, Jérôme Mallefet, Baptiste Picard, Frédéric Bailleul, Jade Vacquié-Garcia, Norwegian Polar Institute, Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), de Duve Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, South Australian Research and Development Institute, and Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Subjects: 0106 biological sciences, Light, Seals, Earless, Diving, Foraging, Prey capture, Photodetector, Biosensing Techniques, Biology, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, Biochemistry, Predation, Deep diving, Accelerometry, Animals, Bioluminescence, Seawater, 14. Life underwater, Accelerometer data, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Predator, Ecology, 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology, Reproducibility of Results, Feeding Behavior, General Medicine, Predatory Behavior, Luminescent Measurements, [SDE]Environmental Sciences, Female, Biological system
Abstract: International audience; Bioluminescence is produced by a broad range of organisms for defense, predation or communication purposes. Southern elephant seal (SES) vision is adapted to low intensity light with a peak sensitivity, matching the wavelength emitted by myctophid species, one of the main prey of female SES. A total of 11 satellite-tracked female SES were equipped with a Time-Depth-Light 3D-accelerometers (TDR10-X) in order to assess whether bioluminescence could be used by SES to locate their prey. First, we demonstrated experimentally that the TDR10-X light sensor was sensitive enough to detect natural bioluminescence; however, we highlighted a low distance detection of the sensor. Then, we linked the number of Prey Capture Attempts (PCA), assessed from accelerometer data, with the number of detected bioluminescence events. PCA was positively related to bioluminescence, which provides strong support that bioluminescence is involved in predator-prey interactions for these species. However, the limitations of the sensor did not allow us to discern whether bioluminescence (i) provided remote indication of the biological richness of the area to SES, (ii) was emitted as a mechanic reaction, or (iii) was emitted as a defense mechanism in response to SES behaviour.
Published: 2017
Full Text: View/download PDF

14. Southern elephant seal foraging success in relation to temperature and light conditions: insight into prey distribution

Author: Baptiste Picard, Yves Lebras, Christophe Guinet, Frédéric Bailleul, Morgane Viviant, John P. Y. Arnould, Jade Vacquié-Garcia, Anne-Cécile Dragon, Guillaume Bessigneul, Observatoire pour la Conservation de la Mégafaune Marine (PELAGIS), LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs), La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University [Burwood], Observatoire PELAGIS UMS 3462 (PELAGIS), LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés - UMR 7266 (LIENSs), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de La Rochelle (ULR), LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés - UMRi 7266 (LIENSs), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), and Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris)
Subjects: Polar front, Electrona, Foraging success, Light, Ecology, biology, Foraging, Prey, Temperature, Front (oceanography), Forage, Aquatic Science, Diving behaviour, biology.organism_classification, Predation, Lanternfish, Southern elephant seal, Southern elephant seals, Oceanography, [SDE]Environmental Sciences, 14. Life underwater, [SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces, environment, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Abstract: International audience; The distribution of southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina prey encounter events (PEEs) was investigated from the foraging behaviour of 29 post-breeding females simultaneously equipped with a satellite tag, a time−depth recorder and a head-mounted accelerometer. Seal diving depth and PEE were related to water temperature at 200 m (T200), and light level at the surface (L0) and at depth. Approximately half (49%) of all dives were located in waters encompassed between the southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current Front and the Polar Front. Seals dived significantly deeper during the day than at night. Diving and PEE depth increased with increasing T200 and for a given T200 according to L0 and the percentage of surface light reaching 150 m. On average, 540 PEEs per day were recorded. Seals exhibited more PEEs per unit of time spent diving during the twilight period compared with at night, and were least successful during daylight hours. Elephant seals forage in T200 ranging between −1 and 13°C; however, few PEEs were recorded at depths shallower than 400−500 m at night when the T200 exceeded 8°C. The diet of female Kerguelen elephant seals appears to be dominated by myctophids (lanternfish), and according to the average mass of their most likely myctophid prey (9 g, Electrona calsbergi and E. antarctica; 30 g Gymnoscopelus nicholsi and G. piabilis), we estimate that seals consumed 4.8−16.1 kg of fish daily. Despite lower catch rates in warmer waters, no relationship was found between the mean T200 at the scale of the foraging trip and daily or absolute mass gain, suggesting that elephant seals are compensating for lower catch rates by consuming larger/richer prey items in those waters.
Published: 2014
Full Text: View/download PDF

15. Oceanic circulation models help to predict global biogeography of pelagic yellowbellied sea snake

Author: Philippe Gaspar, Frédéric Bailleul, François Brischoux, Harvey B. Lillywhite, Cédric Cotté, Maxime Lalire, Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de La Rochelle (ULR), Processus de couplage à Petite Echelle, Ecosystèmes et Prédateurs Supérieurs (PEPS), Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), Department of Biology - University of Florida, University of Florida [Gainesville], South Australian Research and Development Institute (Aquatic Sciences), Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7), Department of Marine Ecosystems, Satellite Oceanography Division, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Biology [Gainesville] (UF|Biology), University of Florida [Gainesville] (UF), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), and Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636))
Subjects: 0106 biological sciences, Indo-Pacific oceans, Range (biology), Biogeography, Oceans and Seas, Population, Marine Biology, Hydrophis, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, drifting, oceanic currents, Tetrapod (structure), Animals, 14. Life underwater, Elapidae, education, biogeography, education.field_of_study, sea snake, biology, Ecology, 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology, Ocean current, Pelagic zone, biology.organism_classification, Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous), [SDE]Environmental Sciences, Biological dispersal, General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
Abstract: It is well recognized that most marine vertebrates, and especially tetrapods, precisely orient and actively move in apparently homogeneous oceanic environments. Here, we investigate the presumptive role of oceanic currents in biogeographic patterns observed in a secondarily marine tetrapod, the yellow-bellied sea snake ( Hydrophis [ Pelamis ] platurus ). State-of-the-art world ocean circulation models show how H. platurus , the only pelagic species of sea snake, can potentially exploit oceanic currents to disperse and maintain population mixing between localities that spread over two-thirds of the Earth's circumference. The very close association of these snakes with surface currents seems to provide a highly efficient dispersal mechanism that allowed this species to range extensively and relatively quickly well beyond the central Indo-Pacific area, the centre of origin, abundance and diversity of sea snakes. Our results further suggest that the pan-oceanic population of this species must be extraordinarily large.
Published: 2016
Full Text: View/download PDF

16. Migration phenology of beluga whales in a changing Arctic

Author: Mike O. Hammill, Véronique Lesage, D. W. Doidge, Michael Power, and Frédéric Bailleul
Subjects: Fishery, Atmospheric Science, Marine mammal, Geography, Arctic, Phenology, Ecology, Environmental Chemistry, Climate change, Beluga Whale, General Environmental Science
Published: 2012
Full Text: View/download PDF

17. Differences in diving and movement patterns of two groups of beluga whales in a changing Arctic environment reveal discrete populations

Author: Frédéric Bailleul, Mike O. Hammill, Véronique Lesage, D. W. Doidge, and Michael Power
Subjects: education.field_of_study, Ecology, biology, Population, Beluga, Metapopulation, biology.organism_classification, Fishery, Marine mammal, Geography, Critical habitat, Beluga Whale, Marine protected area, education, Bay, Nature and Landscape Conservation
Abstract: Harvest and global climate change are among the major ongoing threats to most Arc- tic marine mammal populations. Affected by commercial hunting in the past, beluga whales Del- phinapterus leucas are still harvested for subsistence in many coastal areas of the Canadian Arc- tic, while ongoing climate changes are suspected to modify factors that may have determined the distribution and degree of interaction of the different populations. Although several populations have been clearly identified, the global discreteness of the Arctic metapopulation is not yet clearly established. In this study, seasonal diving activity and movement patterns of 46 belugas from 2 neighbouring groups in Hudson Bay (Canada) were analysed in relation to physical environmen- tal characteristics and revealed significantly different migratory and habitat use patterns. Likely affected by local environmental conditions, the Eastern Hudson Bay beluga migrate, while the James Bay beluga remain resident, suggesting little overlap between the groups at all times of the year. This study provides useful baseline data for determining population interactions and habitat use. The information is also potentially useful in identifying critical habitat, which is an essential component to design and implement management and conservation policy, e.g. quota and har- vesting regulations and the design of marine protected areas.
Published: 2012
Full Text: View/download PDF

18. Spherical First Passage Time: A tool to investigate area-restricted search in three-dimensional movements

Author: Véronique Lesage, Mike O. Hammill, and Frédéric Bailleul
Subjects: Horizontal and vertical, Scale (ratio), Ecology, Sample size determination, Computer science, Ecological Modeling, Event (relativity), Path (graph theory), Spatial ecology, First-hitting-time model, Random walk, Algorithm
Abstract: A better understanding of animal movements is of crucial importance for investigating numerous ecological issues. Developments in bio-logging technologies largely contributed to the observation and recording of animal displacements. Recently, several devices were developed to track animals in a three-dimensional space. However, given the larger number of variables, these advances generated new analytical problems and currently, few methods exist to analyse 3-D movements. In this study, we present a new technique, the Spherical First Passage Time (SFPT), to determine the scale of search behaviour in a volume. Building on the development of the First Passage Time (FPT) approach, SFPT measures the time required to cross a sphere along a 3-D path. We used simulations as they provide an opportunity to better understand processes involved in a system. Moreover, they offer the advantage of considerably increasing sample size in cases where empiric data remain scarce. However, in order to be more realistic, simulations were constrained within the physiological and behavioural features inherent to a diving animal, in this case beluga whales. First, we modelled three-dimensional movements as a correlated random walk for which the vertical and horizontal dimensions were considered simultaneously. One restricted search event was included in each simulation. Spatial scales obtained with the SFPT approach were compared to those obtained from the classical FPT analysis over the corresponding horizontal path. Results indicate a significant difference between the two approaches, suggesting that, in most cases, an approach in 2-D misrepresents spatial scale of search behaviour occurring in 3-D. Although we tested the SFPT with the example of a diving marine mammal, we argue that this method is applicable for all animals moving in a three-dimensional space.
Published: 2010
Full Text: View/download PDF

19. Crossing the frontier: vertical transit rates of deep diving cormorants reveal depth zone of neutral buoyancy

Author: Amélie Lescroël, Yann Tremblay, Charles-André Bost, Frédéric Bailleul, and Timothée R. Cook
Subjects: Buoyancy, Ecology, Foraging, Aquatic Science, engineering.material, Biology, Energy budget, Locomotor activity, Oceanography, Neutral buoyancy, Deep diving, Maximum depth, Phalacrocorax melanogenis, engineering, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Abstract: Knowing the depth zone of neutral buoyancy of divers is important because buoyancy can determine how animals manage their energy budget. In this study, we estimate the depth zone of neutral buoyancy of free-ranging cormorants for the first time, using time-depth recorders. We discovered that vertical ascent rates of 12 Crozet and 15 Kerguelen diving blue-eyed shags (respectively Phalacrocorax melanogenis and P. verrucosus) slowed down considerably at the 50–60 m depth zone. We suggest this was due to birds trying to reach the surface from that point upwards using reduced locomotor activity because the force of buoyancy becomes greater than the force of gravity at that depth. The results show a shift of this depth zone in relation to maximum targeted dive depth, suggesting cormorants may control buoyancy through respiratory air volume adjustment. Interestingly, 60 m is close to the maximum depth zone reached by these two species during dives lasting 4 min, their estimated behavioural aerobic dive limit. This suggests that the decision to swim deeper has a direct consequence on the energy budget, with time spent recovering at the surface (time thus lost to foraging) strongly increasing relative to the preceding time of submergence. Resources found in deeper waters must be of sufficient quantity or quality to justify crossing the frontier of physical neutral buoyancy.
Published: 2008
Full Text: View/download PDF

20. Winter use of sea ice and ocean water mass habitat by southern elephant seals: The length and breadth of the mystery

Author: Matthieu Authier, Christophe Guinet, Karine Heerah, Jean-Benoît Charrassin, Fabien Roquet, Jean-Baptiste Sallée, Sara Labrousse, Frédéric Bailleul, Baptiste Picard, Jade Vacquié-Garcia, Mark A. Hindell, Processus de couplage à Petite Echelle, Ecosystèmes et Prédateurs Supérieurs (PEPS), Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies [Horbat] (IMAS), University of Tasmania [Hobart, Australia] (UTAS), Département Milieux et Peuplements Aquatiques, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), University of Tasmania (UTAS), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Observatoire pour la Conservation de la Mégafaune Marine (PELAGIS), LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs), La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Meteorology [Stockholm] (MISU), Stockholm University, and Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies [Hobart] (IMAS)
Subjects: geography, geography.geographical_feature_category, biology, Foraging, Geology, Pelagic zone, Antarctic sea ice, Aquatic Science, biology.organism_classification, Arctic ice pack, Oceanography, Circumpolar deep water, [SDE]Environmental Sciences, Sea ice, Elephant seal, 14. Life underwater, Sea ice concentration
Abstract: International audience; Understanding the responses of animals to the environment is crucial for identifying critical foraging habitat. Elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) from the Kerguelen Islands (49200S, 70200E) have several different foraging strategies. Why some individuals undertake long trips to the Antarctic continent while others utilize the relatively close frontal zones is poorly understood. Here, we investigate how physical properties within the sea ice zone are linked to foraging activities of southern elephant seals (SES). To do this, we first developed a new approach using indices of foraging derived from high temporal resolution dive and accelerometry data to predict foraging behaviour in an extensive, low resolution dataset from CTD-Satellite Relay Data Loggers (CTD-SRDLs). A sample of 37 post-breeding SES females were used to construct a predictive model applied to demersal and pelagic dive strategies relating prey encounter events (PEE) to dive parameters (dive duration, bottom duration, hunting-time, maximum depth, ascent speed, descent speed, sinuosity, and horizontal speed) for each strategy. We applied these models to a second sample of 35 seals, 20 males and 15 females, during the post-moult foraging trip to the Antarctic continental shelf between 2004 and 2013, which did not have fine-scale behavioural data. The females were widely distributed with important foraging activity south of the Southern Boundary Front, while males predominately travelled to the south eastern part of the East Antarctica region. Combining our predictions of PEE with environmental features (sea ice concentration, water masses at the bottom phase of dives, bathymetry and slope index) we found higher foraging activity for females over shallower seabed depths and at the boundary between the overlying Antarctic Surface Water (AASW) and the underlying Modified Circumpolar Deep Water (MCDW). Increased biological activity associated with the upper boundary of MCDW, may provide overwintering areas for SES prey. Male foraging activity was strongly associated with pelagic dives within the Antarctic Slope Front where upwelling of nutrient rich Circumpolar Deep Water onto surface water may enhance and concentrate resources. A positive association between sea ice and foraging activity was found for both sexes where increased biological activity may sustain an under-ice ecosystem. Variability of the East Antarctic sea ice season duration is likely a crucial element to allow air-breathing predators to benefit from profitable prey patches within the pack ice habitat.
Published: 2015
Full Text: View/download PDF

21. Predicting prey capture rates of southern elephant seals from track and dive parameters

Author: Morgane Viviant, Frédéric Bailleul, Nory El Ksabi, Jade Vacquié-Garcia, Anne-Cécile Dragon, Christophe Guinet, Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Collecte Localisation Satellites (CLS Argos), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de La Rochelle (ULR)
Subjects: 0106 biological sciences, Marine predator, Track parameters, Biologging, Foraging, Population, Prey capture, Aquatic Science, Biology, Track (rail transport), 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, Optimal foraging theory, Predation, Dive parameters, Range (statistics), 14. Life underwater, education, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, education.field_of_study, Ecology, business.industry, 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology, Fishery, Southern elephant seals, [SDE]Environmental Sciences, Global Positioning System, Prey capture events, business
Abstract: International audience; In the marine environment, track and dive parameter data (obtained using Argos or GPS tags and time–depth recorders) are commonly used to provide proxies for foraging behaviour of marine predators. However, their accuracy is rarely assessed. Recently, the addition of head-mounted accelerometers has allowed for detection of prey capture attempts (PCAs) at sea, allowing for more accurate estimations of foraging behaviour. Despite increased numbers of such devices being deployed, their use is still marginal compared with other tools which measure track and dive parameters. The objectives of our study were (1) to identify the most relevant combination of tracking and diving metrics in predicting the frequency of PCAs in female southern elephant seals Mirounga leonina from the Kerguelen Islands, and (2) to apply it to a broader range of individuals for which only tracking and diving data were available. The results of our models were consistent with the optimal foraging theory as well as the optimal diving theory. The model with the best predictive performance was the one that combined both tracking and diving information. However, most of the variability in the number of PCAs could be solely explained by changes in the diving behaviour of seals. Finally, we used the best predictive model on 20 individuals, which had not been fitted with accelerometers, to determine their main foraging zones. The behavioural indicators established in this study constitute a useful ecological tool for population monitoring and conservation purposes.
Published: 2015
Full Text: View/download PDF

22. Delineation of the southern elephant seal׳s main foraging environments defined by temperature and light conditions

Author: Frédéric Bailleul, Jade Vacquié-Garcia, Christophe Guinet, Cécile Laurent, Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de La Rochelle (ULR)
Subjects: 0106 biological sciences, Polar front, biology, Mesopelagic zone, Ecology, 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology, Foraging, Front (oceanography), Context (language use), Prey capture attempts, Elephants seals, biology.organism_classification, Oceanography, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, Predation, Southern elephant seal, Habitats, Predator–prey interaction, Habitat, Myctophidae, 13. Climate action, [SDE]Environmental Sciences, 14. Life underwater
Abstract: International audience; Changes in marine environments, induced by the global warming, are likely to influence the prey field distribution and consequently the foraging behaviour and the distribution of top marine predators. Thanks to bio-logging, the simultaneous measurements of fine-scale foraging behaviors and oceanographic parameters by predators allow characterizing their foraging environments and provide insights into their prey distribution. In this context, we propose to delimit and to characterize the foraging environments of a marine predator, the Southern Elephant Seal (SES). To do so, the relationship between oceanographic factors and prey encounter events (PEE) was investigated in 12 females SES from Kerguelen Island simultaneously equipped with accelerometers and with a range of physical sensors (temperature, light and depth). PEEs were assessed from the accelerometer data at high spatio-temporal precision while the physical sensors allowed the continuous monitoring of environmental conditions encountered by the SES when diving. First, visited and foraging environments were distinguished according to the oceanographic conditions encountered in the absence and in presence of PEE. Then, a hierarchical classification of the physical parameters recorded during PEEs led to the distinction of five different foraging environments. These foraging environments were structured according to the main frontal systems of the SO. One was located north to the subantarctic front (SAF) and characterized by high temperature and depth, and low light levels. Another, characterized by intermediate levels of temperature, light and depth, was located between the SAF and the polar front (PF). And finally, the last three environments were all found south to the PF and, characterized by low temperature but highly variable depth and light levels. The large physical and/or spatial differences found between these environments suggest that, depending on the location, different prey communities are targeted by SES over a broad range of water temperature, light level and depth conditions. This result highlights the versatility of this marine predator. In addition, in most cases, PEEs were found deeper during the day than during the night, which is indicative of mesopelagic prey performing nycthemeral migration, a behaviour consistent with myctophids species thought to represent the bulk of Kerguelen SES female diets.
Published: 2015
Full Text: View/download PDF

23. Ecological tracers and at-sea observations document the foraging ecology of southern long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas edwardii) in Kerguelen waters

Author: Frédéric Bailleul, Alice Carravieri, Yves Cherel, Paco Bustamante, Nicolas Gasco, Benoit Simon-Bouhet, Marina Fontaine, Christophe Guinet, Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés - UMRi 7266 (LIENSs), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques (BOREA), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Caen Normandie (UNICAEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs), La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Caen Normandie (UNICAEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés - UMR 7266 (LIENSs), and Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle de Paris ( UMS 403)
Subjects: 0106 biological sciences, mercury, Foraging, stable isotopes, Aquatic Science, Biology, marine mammal, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, Pilot whale, Marine mammal, 14. Life underwater, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Trophic level, geography, geography.geographical_feature_category, Ecology, 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology, biology.organism_classification, Crustacean, Globicephala melas, Fishery, Oceanography, Habitat, Archipelago, [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology
Abstract: International audience; The food and feeding ecology of the poorly known southern long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas edwardii) was investigated using ecological tracers (muscle and skin δ13C and δ15N, and total mercury, Hg) on individuals from two mass strandings together with at-sea observations of live animals in Kerguelen waters, southern Indian Ocean. Sightings of cetaceans from long-liners over 9 years (2003–2012) emphasized the regular occurrence of pilot whales in slope waters surrounding the archipelago. Tissue δ13C values (a proxy of consumer foraging habitat) suggest that pilot whales fed in slope waters and in oceanic subantarctic waters over the last months preceding stranding. Tissue δ15N values and Hg concentration (dietary proxies) indicate a high trophic position (~4.7) for the pilot whales, likely corresponding to a mixed diet of fish and squid (not crustaceans) of undetermined species. Both skin and muscle Hg concentrations were positively and linearly correlated to individual size with no concomitant δ15N changes, which can be interpreted as a progressive Hg accumulation in tissues of individuals throughout life with no parallel dietary shift. Skin and muscle Hg concentrations were linearly and positively related; hence, Hg skin could be used as a proxy of Hg concentration in muscle (a main Hg reservoir of the body). Kerguelen southern long-finned pilot whales were less Hg contaminated than most pilot whale populations studied so far, thus suggesting that they are not at a high risk to Hg-induced damages in the remote islands of the Southern Ocean.
Published: 2015
Full Text: View/download PDF

24. Dissolved Oxygen Sensor in Animal-Borne Instruments: An Innovation for Monitoring the Health of Oceans and Investigating the Functioning of Marine Ecosystems

Author: Frédéric Bailleul, Jade Vacquié-Garcia, Christophe Guinet, South Australian Research and Development Institute (Aquatic Sciences), Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)
Subjects: 0106 biological sciences, Water mass, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Seals, Earless, Oceans and Seas, lcsh:Medicine, Climate change, Marine life, Marine Biology, Pilot Projects, Biology, 01 natural sciences, Animals, Marine ecosystem, 14. Life underwater, lcsh:Science, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Marine biology, Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis, Multidisciplinary, Ecology, 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology, Swordfish, lcsh:R, Biogeochemistry, Oceanography, 13. Climate action, [SDE]Environmental Sciences, lcsh:Q, Female, Tuna, Research Article
Abstract: International audience; The current decline in dissolved oxygen concentration within the oceans is a sensitive indicator of the effect of climate change on marine environment. However the impact of its declining on marine life and ecosystems’ health is still quite unclear because of the difficulty in obtaining in situ data, especially in remote areas, like the Southern Ocean (SO). Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) proved to be a relevant alternative to the traditional oceanographic platforms to measure physical and biogeochemical structure of oceanic regions rarely observed. In this study, we use a new stage of development in biologging technology to draw a picture of dissolved oxygen concentration in the SO. We present the first results obtained from a dissolved oxygen sensor added to Argos CTD-SRDL tags and deployed on 5 female elephant seals at Kerguelen. From October 2010 and October 2011, 742 oxygen profiles associated with temperature and salinity measurements were recorded. Whether a part of the data must be considered cautiously, especially because of offsets and temporal drifts of the sensors, the range of values recorded was consistent with a concomitant survey conducted from a research vessel (Keops-2 project). Once again, elephant seals reinforced the relationship between marine ecology and oceanography, delivering essential information about the water masses properties and the biological status of the Southern Ocean. But more than the presentation of a new stage of development in animal-borne instrumentation, this pilot study opens a new field of investigation in marine ecology and could be enlarged in a near future to other key marine predators, especially large fish species like swordfish, tuna or sharks, for which dissolved oxygen is expected to play a crucial role in distribution and behaviour.
Published: 2015
Full Text: View/download PDF

25. Differences in foraging strategy and maternal behaviour between two sympatric fur seal species at the Crozet Islands

Author: Christophe Guinet, John P. Y. Arnould, Sebastián P. Luque, Frédéric Bailleul, and Laurent Dubroca
Subjects: Sympatry, geography, Forage (honey bee), geography.geographical_feature_category, Ecology, Foraging, Arctocephalus gazella, Aquatic Science, Biology, biology.organism_classification, Sympatric speciation, Archipelago, Fur seal, Arctocephalus tropicalis, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Abstract: Marine top-predators such as marine mammals forage in a heterogeneous environment according to their energetic requirements and to the variation in environmental characteristics. In this study, the behaviour of breeding females in 2 sympatric fur seal species, Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella and Subantarctic fur seal A. tropicalis, was investigated in relation to foraging effort. Foraging effort was hypothesised to be greater in Antarctic fur seal than in Subantarctic fur seal due to their shorter lactation period. Using satellite telemetry, time-depth recorders and satellite images of sea-surface temperature and chlorophyll a concentration, the foraging grounds, the at-sea activity budgets and the environmental features were determined for both species breeding on the Crozet Archipelago. Foraging cycle duration was similar for the 2 species, and the seals exhibited similar at-sea activity budgets. Only the proportion of time spent at sea was higher in Antarctic fur seals. Separate foraging areas were identified for the 2 species. Antarctic fur seal distribution was related to bathymetric features, while we did not find any direct relationship between chlorophyll a concentration and seal foraging areas. Our results suggest that Antarctic fur seals tend to respond to the higher needs of their pups by having a higher foraging efficiency and concentrating their foraging activity in the most productive areas.
Published: 2005
Full Text: View/download PDF

26. Identifying foraging events in deep diving southern elephant seals, Mirounga leonina, using acceleration data loggers

Author: Charles-André Bost, Jean-Benoît Charrassin, Frédéric Bailleul, Christophe Guinet, Mark A. Hindell, S.L. Gallon, Yves Handrich, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies [Hobart] (IMAS), University of Tasmania [Hobart, Australia] (UTAS), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie (DEPE-IPHC), Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC), Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies [Horbat] (IMAS), Centre d'études biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), and Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Subjects: 0106 biological sciences, diving behaviour, accelerometers, 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology, [SDV.BID.EVO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Populations and Evolution [q-bio.PE], Foraging, marine ecology, Prey capture, Kerguelen island, Biology, Oceanography, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, Optimal foraging theory, Predation, Acceleration, Deep diving, Data logger, [SDE]Environmental Sciences, 14. Life underwater, mirounga leonina, Descent (aeronautics), predator prey interactions
Abstract: International audience; Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) range widely throughout the Southern Ocean and are associated with important habitats (e.g., ice edges, shelf) where they accumulate energy to fuel their reproductive efforts on land. Knowledge of the fine scale foraging behaviour used to garner this energy, however, is limited. For the first time, acceleration loggers were deployed on three adult southern elephant seals during a translocation study at Kerguelen Island. The aims of the study were to (1) identify prey capture attempts using 2-D accelerometer tags deployed on the head of southern elephant seals, (2) compare the number of foraging dives identified by simple dive depth profiles and accelerometer profiles and (3) compare dive characteristics between prey encounter and non-prey encounter dives. The 2-D loggers recorded depth every second, surge and heave accelerations at 8 or 16 Hz and were carried for periods between 23 and 121 h. Rapid head movements were interpreted to be associated with prey encounter events. Acceleration data detected possible prey encounter events in 39-52% of dives whilst 67-80% of dives were classified as foraging dives when using dive depth profiles alone. Prey encounters occurred in successive dives during days and nights and lasted between tenths of a second and 7.6 min. Binomial linear mixed effect models showed that seals were diving significantly deeper and increased both descent rate and bottom duration when encountering prey. Dive duration, however, did not significantly increase during dives with prey encounters. These results are in accordance with optimal foraging theory, which predicts that deep divers should increase both their transit rates and the time spent at depth when a profitable prey patch is encountered. These findings indicate that this technique is promising as it more accurately detects possible prey encounter events compared with dive depth profiles alone and thus provides a better understanding of seal foraging strategies.
Published: 2013
Full Text: View/download PDF

27. New Insights into Southern Ocean Physical and Biological Processes Revealed by Instrumented Elephant Seals

Author: Stephen R. Rintoul, Birgitte I. McDonald, Iain C. Field, Marthán N Bester, Michael Meredith, Christian Lydersen, Martin Biuw, C. Guinet, Jean-Benoît Charrassin, Joachim Plötz, Kit M. Kovacs, PG Lovell, Richard Coleman, Horst Bornemann, Ole Anders Nøst, Fabien Roquet, Young-Hyang Park, M. Muelbert, Keith W. Nicholls, Sally E. Thorpe, C.M. McMahon, S. Sokolov, R. Timmermann, Fedak, Daniel P. Costa, M. Goebel, Frédéric Bailleul, Lars Boehme, Andrew J. S. Meijers, I. Tremblay, and Mark A. Hindell
Subjects: geography, Water mass, geography.geographical_feature_category, Oceanography, Continental shelf, Circumpolar deep water, Ocean current, Sea ice, Temperature salinity diagrams, Upwelling, Hydrography
Abstract: In recent years, the international “Southern Elephant seals as Oceanographic Samplers” (SEaOS) project has deployed miniaturized conductivity-temperature-depth satellite-relayed data loggers (CTD-SRDL) on elephant seals 1) to study their winter foraging ecology in relation to oceanographic conditions, and 2) to collect hydrographic data from polar regions, which are otherwise sparsely sampled. We summarize here the main results that have been published in both science components since 2003/2004. Instrumented southern elephant seals visit different regions within the Southern Ocean (frontal zones, continental shelf, and/or ice covered areas) and forage in a variety of different water masses (e.g. Circumpolar Deep Water upwelling regions, High Salinity Shelf Water), depending on their geographic distribution. Adult females and juvenile males from Kerguelen Is. forage pelagically in frontal zones of the Southern Indian Ocean, while adult males forage benthically over the Kerguelen Plateau and the Antarctic Continental Shelf, with the two groups feeding at different trophic levels as shown by stable isotopes analysis. Oceanographic studies using the data collected from the seals have, to date, concentrated on circumpolar and regional studies of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) circulation. The temperature and salinity profiles documented by elephant seals at high latitudes, including below sea ice, have permitted quasi-circumpolar mapping of the southernmost fronts of the ACC. By merging conventional data and the high temporal and spatial resolution data collected by seal-borne SRDLs, it has been possible to describe precisely 1) the large-scale features of the ACC in the South Atlantic and its variability; 2) the circulation pattern over the Kerguelen plateau, revealing that the poorly known Fawn Trough concentrates an important proportion of the ACC flow in that region. Seals that foraged in ice covered areas have made eulerian time series available that have allowed for the estimation of sea ice formation rates, a parameter that is otherwise difficult to obtain, while also providing a unique description of the wintertime ocean circulation over the central Weddell Sea continental shelf. Finally, we present the first data collected by a newly-developed fluorescence sensor that has been embedded in the regular CTD-SRDL and deployed on elephant seals at Kerguelen. The fluorometer data obtained have offered the first synoptic view of the 3 dimensional distribution of temperature, salinity and fluorescence over a vast sector of the Southern Indian Ocean, allowing us to describe both vertical and horizontal variations in chlorophyll. This paper will make a core contribution to the Plenary Sessions 2C, 3A and 4A, and will be relevant to 2A and 2B
Published: 2010
Full Text: View/download PDF

28. Looking at the unseen: combining animal bio‐logging and stable isotopes to reveal a shift in the ecological niche of a deep diving predator

Author: Yves Cherel, Frédéric Bailleul, Matthieu Authier, Christophe Guinet, Jean-Benoît Charrassin, Simon Ducatez, Fabien Roquet, Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), and Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL)
Subjects: 0106 biological sciences, Ecological niche, Ecology, 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology, Ecology (disciplines), Foraging, Niche differentiation, Biology, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, Habitat, [SDE]Environmental Sciences, 14. Life underwater, Predator, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Trophic level, Apex predator
Abstract: International audience; Understanding how marine top predators exploit their environment is a central topic in marine ecology. Among all methodologies used to investigate this part of ecology, electronic devices are very useful to track animals' movements and foraging habitats, but they do not provide any dietary information. Stable isotopes provide information on trophic levels but remain imprecise to identify small spatial-scale habitats. In this study, we combined the two approaches to obtain a synoptic view of the foraging behaviour variability of southern elephant seals Mirounga leonina. Our results suggested marked differences in distribution, diving behaviour, foraging habitats, trophic levels, and dietary habits of elephant seals according to their sex and age. Thus, we characterized main foraging habitats over the Kerguelen-Heard Plateau and the Antarctic shelf for juvenile males, while females foraged mainly in oceanic waters of the Polar Frontal Zone and the Antarctic Zone. In addition, we highlighted the ontogeny of niche partitioning in this sexually dimorphic species. While females did not exhibit a major dietary shift in relation to their age and their breeding status, a different picture emerged for males. Young males had a trophic level identical to that of all females. However, at 3–4 yr of age, males showed a progressive increase in trophic level. The inter-annual combination of bio-logging and stable isotopes could provide a powerful tool to investigate possible shifts in ecological niche between years according to environmental changes.
Published: 2010
Full Text: View/download PDF

29. The importance of oceanographic fronts to marine birds and mammals of the southern oceans

Author: Cédric Cotté, David G Ainley, Christophe Guinet, Henri Weimerskirch, Frédéric Bailleul, Yves Cherel, Charles-André Bost, Jean-Benoît Charrassin, Centre d'études biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), H.T. Harvey & Associates, Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), and Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL)
Subjects: 0106 biological sciences, [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes, Foraging, Foraging strategies, Context (language use), Aquatic Science, Biology, Oceanography, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, biology.animal, Fronts, 14. Life underwater, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Apex predator, Polar front, Bio-logging, Ecology, 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology, Front (oceanography), Seabird, 15. Life on land, Plankton, [SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environmental and Society, Sea mammals, 13. Climate action, [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology, Subtropical front
Abstract: International audience; During the last 30 years, at-sea studies of seabirds and marine mammals in the oceans south of the Subtropical Front have described an association with major frontal areas. More recently, the advancement in microtechnology has allowed the tracking of individuals and investigations into how these marine predators actually use the frontal zones. In this review, we examine 1) the relative importance to apex predators of the different frontal zones in terms of spatial distribution and carbon flux; 2) the processes that determine their preferential use; and 3) how the mesoscale dynamics of frontal structures drive at-sea foraging strategies of these predators.We review published results from southern waters and place them in a broader context with respect to what has been learned about the importance of fronts in oceans farther north. Some fronts constitute important boundaries for seabird communities in southern waters. At a mesoscale the maximum values of seabird diversity and abundance correspond to the location of the main fronts. At-sea surveys show a strong curvilinear correlation between seabird abundance and sea surface temperatures. High mean species richness and diversity for whales and seabirds are consistently associated with the southern water mass boundary of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the Subtropical Front and the Subantarctic Front; in the case of the Polar Front mean seabird densities are more variable. At small-scales, variation in seabird occurrence has been directly related to the processes at fronts in a limited number of cases. A significant positive relation was found between some plankton feeding species and frontal temperature gradient–phytoplankton variables. Telemetric studies have revealed that several apex predators (penguins, albatrosses, seals) perform long, directed foraging trips either to the Subtropical front or Polar Front, depending on locality. Seabirds with low flight costs, such as albatrosses, are able to reach fronts at long distances from colonies, showing variable foraging strategies as a function of the distances involved. Diving birds such as King penguins, that travel at a higher cost and lower speed, rely on the predictable spatial distribution of mesopelagic fish found close to the Polar Front. They may use the currents associated with eddies as oceanographic cues in the active search for frontal zones. Once in these areas they dive preferentially in and below the depth of the thermocline where catches per unit effort are high. Elephant seals concentrate foraging activity principally inside or at the boundary of cyclonic eddies. These mesoscale features appear to offer exceptional productivity favourable for foraging by various diving top predators. The connection between biophysical parameters at fronts and predators is likely to be made through biological enhancement. Top predators appear to forage at locations where prey are advected by physical processes and others where prey are produced locally. Long-term research on at-sea distributions and demographic parameters of top predators are essential to assess the consequences of potential shift in front distributions in relation to global warming. Such environmental changes would add to the impact of fish extraction by the industrial fisheries on the southern food webs.
Published: 2009
Full Text: View/download PDF

30. Southern Ocean frontal structure and sea-ice formation rates revealed by elephant seals

Author: Andrew J. S. Meijers, Michael P. Meredith, Frédéric Bailleul, Michael A. Fedak, Lars Boehme, Michael E. Goebel, Richard Coleman, R. Timmermann, S. Sokolov, Stephen R. Rintoul, Charles-André Bost, PG Lovell, Yann Tremblay, Christophe Guinet, Iain C. Field, Jean-Benoît Charrassin, Clive R. McMahon, Fabien Roquet, Young-Hyang Park, Daniel P. Costa, Mark A. Hindell, Martin Biuw, Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Antarctic Wildlife Research Unit, University of Tasmania [Hobart, Australia] (UTAS), Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) (CSIRO), Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Sea Mammal Research Unit [University of St Andrews] (SMRU), School of Biology [University of St Andrews], University of St Andrews [Scotland]-University of St Andrews [Scotland]-Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Center for Ocean Health, University of California, Center for Marine Science, Department of Bentho-pelagic processes, Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung (AWI), British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Centre d'études biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Antarctic Ecosystem Research Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC), NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California [Santa Cruz] (UCSC), University of California-University of California, Departement of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Long Marine Laboratory, School for Environmental Research, Charles Darwin University, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), University of California (UC), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), University of California [Santa Cruz] (UC Santa Cruz), and University of California (UC)-University of California (UC)
Subjects: 0106 biological sciences, Water mass, Ocean observations, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Antarctic Circumpolar Current, Seals, Earless, [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes, ocean observation, Climate change, 01 natural sciences, marine predators, Sea ice, Animals, Seawater, 14. Life underwater, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, instrumentation, geography, Multidisciplinary, geography.geographical_feature_category, 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology, Ice, Ocean current, Temperature, Arctic ice pack, [SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environmental and Society, Oceanography, antarctic circumpolar current, 13. Climate action, Physical Sciences, Thermohaline circulation, sea-ice modeling, [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology, Hydrography, Geology
Abstract: Polar regions are particularly sensitive to climate change, with the potential for significant feedbacks between ocean circulation, sea ice, and the ocean carbon cycle. However, the difficulty in obtaining in situ data means that our ability to detect and interpret change is very limited, especially in the Southern Ocean, where the ocean beneath the sea ice remains almost entirely unobserved and the rate of sea-ice formation is poorly known. Here, we show that southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonina ) equipped with oceanographic sensors can measure ocean structure and water mass changes in regions and seasons rarely observed with traditional oceanographic platforms. In particular, seals provided a 30-fold increase in hydrographic profiles from the sea-ice zone, allowing the major fronts to be mapped south of 60°S and sea-ice formation rates to be inferred from changes in upper ocean salinity. Sea-ice production rates peaked in early winter (April–May) during the rapid northward expansion of the pack ice and declined by a factor of 2 to 3 between May and August, in agreement with a three-dimensional coupled ocean–sea-ice model. By measuring the high-latitude ocean during winter, elephant seals fill a “blind spot” in our sampling coverage, enabling the establishment of a truly global ocean-observing system.
Published: 2008
Full Text: View/download PDF

31. Variations in behavior and condition of a Southern Ocean top predator in relation to in situ oceanographic conditions

Author: Michael E. Goebel, Birgitte I. McDonald, Mark A. Hindell, Christophe Guinet, F. Monks, PG Lovell, Michael A. Fedak, Nathaniel L. Bindoff, Jean-Benoît Charrassin, Daniel E. Crocker, Fabien Roquet, Sally E. Thorpe, Stephen R. Rintoul, Yann Tremblay, Martin Biuw, J. Nicholson, Frédéric Bailleul, Young-Hyang Park, Daniel P. Costa, Lars Boehme, Michael P. Meredith, Sea Mammal Research Unit [University of St Andrews] (SMRU), School of Biology [University of St Andrews], University of St Andrews [Scotland]-University of St Andrews [Scotland]-Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Centre d'études biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Antarctic Wildlife Research Unit, Center for Ocean Health, Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) (CSIRO), Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Antarctic Ecosystem Research Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC), NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Valeport Ltd., Southern Elephant Seals as Oceanographic Samplers (SEaOS) program, Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), and Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL)
Subjects: 0106 biological sciences, Ocean observations, [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes, Population Dynamics, Population, ocean observation, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, Circumpolar deep water, Animals, 14. Life underwater, oceanography, education, Apex predator, geography, education.field_of_study, Multidisciplinary, geography.geographical_feature_category, Ecology, biology, elephant seals, 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology, Circumpolar star, Biological Sciences, biology.organism_classification, Arctic ice pack, [SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environmental and Society, Caniformia, Southern elephant seal, Oceanography, 13. Climate action, Predatory Behavior, Environmental science, Upwelling, Animal Migration, Seasons, body condition, [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology
Abstract: Responses by marine top predators to environmental variability have previously been almost impossible to observe directly. By using animal-mounted instruments simultaneously recording movements, diving behavior, and in situ oceanographic properties, we studied the behavioral and physiological responses of southern elephant seals to spatial environmental variability throughout their circumpolar range. Improved body condition of seals in the Atlantic sector was associated with Circumpolar Deep Water upwelling regions within the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, whereas High-Salinity Shelf Waters or temperature/salinity gradients under winter pack ice were important in the Indian and Pacific sectors. Energetic consequences of these variations could help explain recently observed population trends, showing the usefulness of this approach in examining the sensitivity of top predators to global and regional-scale climate variability.
Published: 2007
Full Text: View/download PDF

32. Southern elephant seals from Kerguelen Islands confronted by Antarctic sea ice. Changes in movements and in diving behaviour

Author: Clive R. McMahon, Frédéric Bailleul, Iain C. Field, Jean-Benoıˆt Charrassin, Fanny Girard-Ardhuin, Christophe Guinet, Robert Ezraty, Centre d'études biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d’Oéanographie Spatiale [Plouzané] (LOS), Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER), Centre National d’Études Spatiales [Paris] (CNES), Antartic Wildlife Research Unit, School of Zoology, University of Tasmania, Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), and Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL)
Subjects: 0106 biological sciences, [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes, Foraging, Antarctic sea ice, Oceanography, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, Benthic environment, Marine ecology, Sea ice, 14. Life underwater, Diving Behaviour, Pelagic environment, geography, geography.geographical_feature_category, Continental shelf, 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology, Energetics, Temperature profiles, Pelagic zone, Arctic ice pack, [SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environmental and Society, Benthic zone, [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology, human activities, Mirounga leonina
Abstract: The behaviour of southern elephant seals from Kerguelen Island (49ring operator50′S, 70ring operator30′E) was investigated in relation to the oceanographic regions of the Southern Ocean. The oceanographic and the seal behaviour data, including location and diving activity, were collected using a new generation of satellite-relayed devices measuring and transmitting pressure, temperature, and salinity along with locations. Dive duration, maximum diving depth, time spent at the bottom of the dives, and shape of dive profiles were compared between male and female seals, and were related to the oceanographic characteristics of areas prospected by the seals. Most animals travelled to the Antarctic shelf. However, during winter, adult females travelled away from the continent, remained and foraged within the marginal sea-ice zone, while juvenile males remained within the pack ice to forage mainly on the Antarctic shelf. Therefore, as the ice expanded females appeared to shift from benthic to pelagic foraging farther north, while males continued to forage almost exclusively benthically on the continental shelf. This difference is likely related to the different energetic requirements between the two sexes, but also may be related to pregnant females having to return to Kerguelen in early spring in order to give birth and successfully raise their pups, while males can remain in the ice. Our results show an important link between elephant seals and Antarctic sea ice and suggest that changes in sea-ice conditions could strongly affect the behaviour of this species.
Published: 2007
Full Text: View/download PDF

33. NUTRITION, PHYSIOLOGY, AND STABLE ISOTOPES: NEW INFORMATION FROM FASTING AND MOLTING PENGUINS

Author: Yves Cherel, Keith A. Hobson, Frédéric Bailleul, René Groscolas, Centre d'études biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Prairie and Northern Wildlife Research Centre, Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie (DEPE-IPHC), and Université Louis Pasteur - Strasbourg I-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Subjects: nitrogen isotopes, whole blood, fasting, [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes, dietary vs. endogenous reserves, resource allocation, Aptenodytes patagonicus, feather, Isotopic signature, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, King Penguin, plasma, Trophic level, δ13C, biology, Ecology, enrichment factors, δ15N, biology.organism_classification, [SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environmental and Society, Isotopes of nitrogen, Animal ecology, carbon isotopes, Nutrition physiology, blood cells, [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology
Abstract: International audience; Stable isotopes are increasingly used in animal ecology, but little attention has been paid to the underlying physiological processes accounting for changes in 15N/14N and 13C/12C ratios, for example, the influence of protein balance on d15N values. We investigated a ‘‘professional'' faster, the King Penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus), to test the effect of long-term food deprivation on the isotopic signature of tissues that can be nondestructively sampled, i.e., blood and feathers. Fasting for 25 days induced a tissue 15N enrichment, thus leading to a moderate increase in the apparent trophic levels of penguins. As expected, 15N enrichment was higher in tissues with high protein turnover rates (e.g., plasma, 0.70‰) than in those with low turnover rates (e.g., blood cells, 0.24‰). Fasting decreased the d13C value of plasma, which was due to an increase in its lipid content, as indicated by a concomitant rise in plasma C/N ratio. Finally, food deprivation induced a 15N enrichment in keratin (1.68‰), as indicated by the lower nitrogen signature for portions of new feathers that were synthesized at sea than for those parts grown on land, thus illustrating the different pathways for resource allocation (dietary vs. endogenous reserves) in molting birds. The study also emphasized the usefulness of collecting whole blood (or blood cells) in the field to overcome both the fasting and lipid effects observed in plasma.
Published: 2005
Full Text: View/download PDF

34. Assessment of Australian Sea Lion Bycatch Mortality in a Gillnet Fishery, and Implementation and Evaluation of an Effective Mitigation Strategy

Author: Simon D. Goldsworthy, Brad Page, Derek J. Hamer, Andrew D. Lowther, Peter D. Shaughnessy, Mark A. Hindell, Paul Burch, Daniel P. Costa, Shannon L. Fowler, Kristian Peters, Rebecca R. McIntosh, Frederic Bailleul, Alice I. Mackay, Roger Kirkwood, Dirk Holman, and Simon Bryars
Subjects: Australian sea lion, bycatch estimation, bycatch mitigation, bycatch management, gillnet fishery, South Australia, Science, General. Including nature conservation, geographical distribution, QH1-199.5
Abstract: Globally, the bycatch of marine mammals in fisheries represents the greatest source of human-caused mortality that threatens the sustainability of many populations and species. The Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea) is an endangered species, whose populations off South Australia (SA) have been subject to bycatch in a demersal gillnet fishery targeting sharks since the 1960s. A comprehensive assessment was undertaken of sea lion bycatch mortality that combined independent fishery observer data with species distribution models (underpinned by satellite tracking, abundance data and population modeling) to model the relationship between at-sea foraging effort and bycatch rate. Combined with the distribution of fishing effort, these models enabled the overall level of bycatch mortality to be estimated by age, sex and subpopulation, facilitating population viability analyses that indicated most subpopulations were declining, and subject to unsustainable levels of bycatch mortality. To reduce this mortality, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority implemented an Australian Sea Lion Management Strategy that included an independent observer program (ultimately 100% electronic monitoring of gillnet fishing off SA), permanent spatial gillnet closures around all sea lion breeding sites, bycatch mortality limits that triggered temporal (18 months) spatial closures when zone-specific bycatch trigger limits were reached, and incentives for gillnet fishers to switch to an alternate fishing method (longlines). The Strategy had immediate impacts on the fishery: it resulted in significant reductions in gillnet fishing effort and on the reported bycatch of sea lions. In the next decade, there was an estimated 98% reduction in sea lion bycatch mortality from gillnet interactions and an apparent stabilization of the decline in sea lion pup abundances at some impacted breeding sites. There was an almost complete transition in the fishery from gillnets to longlines, and fishing catches returned to pre-management levels. The successful implementation of management measures to mitigate sea lion bycatch mortality in the gillnet fishery off SA was rapid, science informed, adaptive, comprehensive, and backed by strong compliance and monitoring of the fishery. It provides an important case study which demonstrates how management measures can be effectively applied to mitigate bycatch mortality of marine mammals and other marine protected species.
Published: 2022
Full Text: View/download PDF

35. Foraging in the Darkness of the Southern Ocean: Influence of Bioluminescence on a Deep Diving Predator

Author: Christophe Guinet, François Royer, Frédéric Bailleul, Jade Vacquié-Garcia, Anne-Cécile Dragon, Morgane Viviant, Centre d'études biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Collecte Localisation Satellites (CLS), and Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)
Subjects: 0106 biological sciences, Luminescence, Time Factors, Light, Seals, Earless, Diving, lcsh:Medicine, Wildlife, 01 natural sciences, Predation, Behavioral Ecology, lcsh:Science, Predator, Multidisciplinary, Ecology, Animal Behavior, Marine Ecology, Fishes, Marine Technology, Darkness, Mammalogy, [SDE]Environmental Sciences, Female, Algorithms, Research Article, Animal Types, Movement, Oceans and Seas, Acceleration, Foraging, Marine Biology, Biology, 010603 evolutionary biology, Marine Monitoring, Deep diving, Animals, Bioluminescence, Ecosystem, 14. Life underwater, Marine biology, 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology, lcsh:R, Feeding Behavior, Marine Environments, Predatory Behavior, Veterinary Science, lcsh:Q, Zoology, Ecological Environments
Abstract: International audience; How non-echolocating deep diving marine predators locate their prey while foraging remains mostly unknown. Female southern elephant seals (SES) (Mirounga leonina) have vision adapted to low intensity light with a peak sensitivity at 485 nm. This matches the wavelength of bioluminescence produced by a large range of marine organisms including myctophid fish, SES's main prey. In this study, we investigated whether bioluminescence provides an accurate estimate of prey occurrence for SES. To do so, four SES were satellite-tracked during their post-breeding foraging trip and were equipped with Time-Depth-Recorders that also recorded light levels every two seconds. A total of 3386 dives were processed through a light-treatment model that detected light events higher than ambient level, i.e. bioluminescence events. The number of bioluminescence events was related to an index of foraging intensity for SES dives deep enough to avoid the influence of natural ambient light. The occurrence of bioluminescence was found to be negatively related to depth both at night and day. Foraging intensity was also positively related to bioluminescence both during day and night. This result suggests that bioluminescence likely provides SES with valuable indications of prey occurrence and might be a key element in predator-prey interactions in deep-dark marine environments.
Published: 2012
Full Text: View/download PDF

36. Sous la banquise Antarctique : écologie alimentaire des éléphants de mer des îles Kerguelen, influence des paramètres océanographiques et de glace de mer

Author: Labrousse, Sara, Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris VI, University of Tasmania, Jean-Benoît Charrassin, Mark Hindell, Frédéric Bailleul, Processus de couplage à Petite Echelle, Ecosystèmes et Prédateurs Supérieurs (PEPS), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), and Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636))
Subjects: [SDV.EE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, environment, Écologie marine, Télémétrie, Marine antarctic ecology, Glace de mer Antarctique, Elephant seals, Polynie, Éléphants de mer du Sud, Océanographie, Marine ecosystems
Abstract: Understanding how physical properties of the environment underpin habitat selection of large marine vertebrates is crucial in identifying how and where animals acquire resources necessary for locomotion, growth and reproduction and ultimately their fitness. The Southern Ocean harbors one of the largest and most dynamic marine ecosystems on our planet which arises from the presence of two majors physical features, (i) the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and (ii) the seasonal sea ice cover region. In the Antarctic, marine predators are exposed to climate-induced shifts in atmospheric circulation and sea ice. However, because these shifts vary regionally, and because much remains to be understood about how individual animals use their environment, it has been difficult to make predictions on how animals may respond to climate variability. Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) are a major consumer of Southern Ocean resources and use two main large scale foraging strategies, (i) feeding in the frontal zone of the Southern Ocean, or (ii) feeding in the seasonal sea ice region. In the present thesis I examined the winter post-moulting foraging strategies of 46 male and female Kerguelen southern elephant seals which utilized the second strategy. Using an eleven year time-series of tracking, diving, and seal-collected hydrographic data (from 2004-2014) I assessed their movements and foraging performance in relation to in situ hydrographic and sea ice conditions. The influence of both the spatio-temporal and inter-annual variability of sea ice around seal locations was investigated, and an investigation on the role of polynya for male elephant seal during winter conducted.; Les mammifères marins de l'Océan Austral sont des éléments essentiels des écosystèmes marins antarctiques et des sentinelles de l’état des océans polaires. Comprendre comment les conditions océanographiques déterminent leurs habitats préférentiels est essentiel pour identifier de quelle façon et dans quelle région ces mammifères acquièrent les ressources nécessaires à leur déplacement, leur croissance, leur reproduction et donc leur survie. Les éléphants de mer du Sud (Mirounga leonina) se déplacent dans l’océan austral à l’échelle des bassins océaniques pour s’alimenter en plongeant en moyenne à 500 m et jusqu’à 2000 m de profondeur. En fonction de leur colonie d’origine, de leur sexe, et de leur âge, ils exploitent des régions radicalement différentes de l’océan austral, mettant ainsi en œuvre des stratégies alimentaires diversifiées. Les éléphants de mer de Kerguelen utilisent deux zones préférentiellement: la zone du Front Polaire ou la zone Antarctique couverte par la banquise. Dans cette thèse, les stratégies alimentaires des voyages post-mue Antarctiques de 46 mâles et femelles éléphants de mer de Kerguelen ont été étudiées. Une série temporelle de 11 années (2004-2014) de données de déplacement, de plongées et de données hydrologiques a été analysée pour déterminer le rôle des paramètres océanographiques et de glaces de mer impliqués dans l’acquisition des ressources alimentaires des éléphants de mer en Antarctique. L’influence de la variabilité spatio-temporelle et interannuelle de la glace de mer associée à la position des mâles et des femelles ainsi que le rôle des polynies côtières sur les stratégies alimentaires des mâles en hiver ont été examinés.
Published: 2016

Catalog

Books, media, physical & digital resources

See catalog results

Searchworks

Select search scope, currently: Articles Catalog books, media & more in Jio Institute collections Articles journal articles & other e-resources

Search

Search Constraints

Refine your results

Search Limiters

Topic

Publication Year Range

Language

Publication Type

Journal

Database

Publisher

36 results on '"Frédéric Bailleul"'

Search Results

Catalog

Select search scope, currently: Articles

Catalog

books, media & more in Jio Institute collections

Articles

journal articles & other e-resources