Mawson’s views on use of natural resources in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic

Polar Record ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter D. Shaughnessy ◽  
Mark Pharaoh
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Wildlife Sanctuary ◽  
Elephant Seals ◽  
Macquarie Island ◽  
Antarctic Expedition ◽  
Southern Elephant Seals ◽  
Meteorological Observations ◽  
The Antarctic

Abstract Sir Douglas Mawson is a well-known Antarctic explorer and scientist. Early in his career, he recognised opportunities for commerce in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic regions. While at Cape Denison, Antarctica, in 1913 on the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE), the Adelie Blizzard magazine was produced. Mawson contributed articles about Antarctic natural resources and their possible use. Later, he advocated Australia be involved in pelagic whaling. He collected seal skins and oil for their commercial value to be assessed by the Hudson’s Bay Company. During the AAE, Mawson visited Macquarie Island where an oiling gang was killing southern elephant seals and royal penguins. Mawson was concerned that they were over-exploited and lobbied successfully to stop the killing. His plans for Macquarie Island included a wildlife sanctuary, with a party to supervise access, send meteorological observations to Australia and New Zealand, and be self-funded by harvesting elephant seals and penguins. Macquarie Island was declared a sanctuary in 1933. Although Mawson has been recognised as an early proponent of conservation, his views on conservation of living natural resources were inconsistent. They should be placed in their historical context: in the early twentieth century, utilisation of living natural resources was viewed more favourably than currently.

Migrations and foraging of juvenile southern elephant seals from Macquarie Island within CCAMLR managed areas

2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
John van den Hoff ◽  
Harry R. Burton ◽  
Mark A. Hindell ◽  
Michael D. Sumner ◽  
Clive R. McMahon
Keyword(s):  
Foraging Ecology ◽  
Polar Front ◽  
Commercial Fishing ◽  
Antarctic Polar Front ◽  
Mirounga Leonina ◽  
Elephant Seals ◽  
Macquarie Island ◽  
Location Data ◽  
Southern Elephant Seals ◽  
The Antarctic

Twenty-three juvenile (8–14 months of age) southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina L.) from Macquarie Island were tracked during 1993 and 1995. Migratory tracks and ocean areas with concentrated activity, presumed to be foraging grounds, were established from location data gathered by attached geolocation-time depth recorders. The seals ranged widely (811–3258 km) and foraging activity centred on oceanographic frontal systems, especially the Antarctic Polar Front and bathymetric features such as the Campbell Plateau region. The seals spent 58.6% of their sea time within managed fishery areas while the remainder was spent on the high seas, an area of unregulated fishing. The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) areas 58.4.1, 88.2 and especially 88.1 were important and distant foraging areas for these juvenile elephant seals. From fisheries records, diet and the foraging ecology studies of the seals there appears to be little, if any, overlap or conflict between the seals and commercial fishing operations within the regulated commercial areas. However, attention is drawn to the possibility of future interactions if Southern Ocean fisheries expand or new ones commence.

Movements of southern elephant seals

1996 ◽  
Vol 74 (8) ◽  
pp. 1485-1496 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. McConnell ◽  
M. A. Fedak
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Average Rate ◽  
Stationary Phases ◽  
Mirounga Leonina ◽  
Elephant Seals ◽  
South Georgia ◽  
Southern Elephant Seals ◽  
The Antarctic

Twelve southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) were tracked for an average of 119 days as they left their breeding or moulting beaches on the island of South Georgia between 1990 and 1994. Females travelled either eastward up to 3000 km away to the open Southern Ocean or to the continental shelf on or near the Antarctic Peninsula. Males either stayed close to South Georgia or used South Georgia as a base for shorter trips. The females all left South Georgia in a directed manner at an average rate of 79.4 km/day over at least the first 15 days. Thereafter travel was interrupted by bouts of slower travel or stationary phases. The latter were localized at sites on the continental shelf or along its edge. Three seals that were tracked over more than one season repeated their outward direction of travel and used some of the same sites in subsequent years. The magnitude of the movements makes most of the Southern Ocean potentially available to elephant seals.

scholarly journals Successful foraging zones of southern elephant seals from the Kerguelen Islands in relation to oceanographic conditions

2007 ◽  
Vol 362 (1487) ◽  
pp. 2169-2181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédéric Bailleul ◽  
Jean-Benoît Charrassin ◽  
Pascal Monestiez ◽  
Fabien Roquet ◽  
Martin Biuw ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Condition ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Foraging Activity ◽  
Mirounga Leonina ◽  
Elephant Seals ◽  
Kerguelen Islands ◽  
Southern Elephant Seals ◽  
Antarctic Continent ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Oceanographic Conditions

Southern elephant seals, Mirounga leonina , undertake large-scale oceanic movements to access favourable foraging areas. Successful foraging areas of elephant seals from the Kerguelen Islands are investigated here in relation to oceanographic parameters. Movements and diving activity of the seals as well as oceanographic data were collected through a new generation of satellite relayed devices measuring and transmitting locations, pressure, temperature and salinity. For the first time, we have associated foraging behaviour, determined by high increased sinuosity in tracks, and dive density (i.e. number of dives performed per kilometre covered), and changes in body condition, determined by variations in drift rate obtained from drift dives, to identify the oceanographic conditions of successful foraging zones for this species. Two main sectors, one close to the Antarctic continent and the other along the Polar Front (PF), where both foraging activity and body condition increase, seem to be of particular interest for the seals. Within these regions, some seals tended to focus their foraging activity on zones with particular temperature signatures. Along the Antarctic continent, some seals targeted colder waters on the sea bottom during benthic dives, while at the PF the favourable zones tended to be warmer. The possible negative effect of colder waters in Antarctic on the swimming performances of potential fish or squid prey could explain the behaviour of elephant seals in these zones, while warmer waters within the PF could correspond to the optimal conditions for potential myctophid prey of elephant seals.

Against all odds: the birth of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1955–1958

Polar Record ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-61
Author(s):  
Stephen Hicks ◽  
Bryan Storey ◽  
Philippa Mein Smith
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
The United States ◽  
Weddell Sea ◽  
Antarctic Expedition ◽  
Foreign Office ◽  
Polar Research Institute ◽  
Antarctic Continent ◽  
British Foreign Office ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Antarctic

ABSTRACTWhen the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1955–1958 advance party sailed from the Millwall Docks in November 1955, bound for the Weddell Sea, their departure was the product of five years of intensive effort on the part of Vivian Fuchs to achieve the first overland crossing of the Antarctic continent. This paper investigates the many obstacles that had to be overcome leading up to Theron sailing and explains the manner in which they were overcome by the Fuchs-Wordie-Clifford triumvirate. The British Foreign Office was particularly opposed to the expedition with the office's focus on sovereignty rather than science while an alternative proposal from Duncan Carse raised a unique set of difficulties. The withdrawal from involvement by the Scott Polar Research Institute Director, Colin Bertram, indicated further disaffection. Most important, if political and financial goals were to be met, was the need for participation by several Commonwealth countries of which New Zealand was the essential partner. Fortunately, the vigorous efforts of a few Antarctic enthusiasts in New Zealand were successful in moving their government to assert its long dormant position in the Ross Dependency. New Zealand's commitment turned the tide of commonwealth apathy towards the TAE. Although the TAE preceded the IGY, events, including the dominating IGY presence of the United States, caused the two projects to become tightly interwoven. For these reasons the years leading up to the departure of Theron were as intriguing as the crossing journey itself.

Growth of female southern elephant seals Mirounga leonina at Macquarie Island

Polar Biology ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 395-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cameron M. Bell ◽  
Harry R. Burton ◽  
Mary-Anne Lea ◽  
Mark A. Hindell
Keyword(s):  
Mirounga Leonina ◽  
Elephant Seals ◽  
Macquarie Island ◽  
Southern Elephant Seals

Mules of the British Antarctic Expedition 1910–13

Polar Record ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 27 (160) ◽  
pp. 23-28
Author(s):  
D. L. Harrowfield
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Low Temperatures ◽  
Working Party ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
First Year ◽  
New Information ◽  
Antarctic Expedition ◽  
Antarctic Research ◽  
Unbalanced Diet ◽  
The Antarctic

AbstractHorses were first used in Antarctica when eight Manchurian ponies provided support for Shackleton's British Antarctic Expedition (1907–09). Scott's British Antarctic ‘Terra Nova’ Expedition (1910–13) used 17 ponies during its first year, and seven Indian mules in the following season. This paper presents new information on the mules, which suffered severely from the effects of an unbalanced diet and low temperatures. They were the last horses ever used to support an Antarctic expedition. In January 1989 when the stables of Scott's hut at Cape Evans were reclad and cleared of ice by a working party from the Antarctic Heritage Trust (New Zealand Antarctic Research Programme), artefacts relating to their occupancy by Manchurian ponies and Indian mules were located.

First-year survival of southern elephant seals, Mirounga leonina , at sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island

Polar Biology ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 279-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clive R. McMahon ◽  
Harry R. Burton ◽  
Marthan N. Bester
Keyword(s):  
First Year ◽  
Mirounga Leonina ◽  
Elephant Seals ◽  
Macquarie Island ◽  
Southern Elephant Seals

Foraging areas of southern elephant seals, Mirounga leonina, as inferred from water temperature data

1991 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 115 ◽  
Author(s):  
MA Hindell ◽  
HR Burton ◽  
DJ Slip
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Polar Front ◽  
Antarctic Polar Front ◽  
Mirounga Leonina ◽  
Elephant Seals ◽  
Antarctic Continental Shelf ◽  
Southern Elephant Seals ◽  
Water Temperature Data ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Temperature Depth

Fourteen time-depth-temperature recorders were recovered from adult southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) returning to Macquarie Island to breed or moult. The resulting temperature/depth profiles indicated that all four males spent most of their time in waters lying over the Antarctic Continental Shelf, whereas only one of the ten females spent any time there. Five of the females foraged just off the Antarctic Continental Shelf. and the other five remained near the Antarctic Polar Front.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document