Project information
Project aim
Weddell seals vocalise underwater extensively during the
breeding season. Both sexes seem to learn a local "dialect". We
will determine if these dialects can be used as natural tags to
identify reproductively isolated groups along the Eastern
Antarctic coastline. We will also use DNA from blood samples to see if the groupings by sound are similar to the genetic groupings. Over the winter, tide cracks in the ice will be monitored to determine if males or females arrive first and if they use underwater calls to attract other seals to these
potential breeding sites. This will tell us more about how
Weddell seals partition their time between foraging and reproduction.
We will also record the distribution of seals along the Mawson coast through all seasons on a GIS scheme and analyse seal diet over a year from faecal samples.
Related publications
-
Weddell seal underwater calling rates during the Winter and Spring near Mawson Station, Antarctica Marine Mammal Science, 2007
(Ref: 12921)
Authors:Category 1: Peer-reviewed literature
Underwater vocalization monitoring and surveys, both on ice and underwater were used to determine if Weddell seals( Leptonychotews eddellit)n ear Mawson Station, Antarctica, remain under the fast ice during winter within close range of breeding … sites.
-
Variation of Weddell seal Leptonychotes weddellii underwater vocalizations over mesogeographic ranges. Aquatic Mammals, 2003
(Ref: 11215)
Authors:Category 1: Peer-reviewed literature
-
Variation of Weddell Seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) underwater vocalizations over mesogeographic ranges. MSc Thesis, the University of New Brunswick, 2002
(Ref: 10454)
Authors:Category 3: Thesis, higher degree