Animal-Borne Instrumentation Systems and the Animals that Bear Them: Then (1939) and Now (2007)

2007 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 6-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald Kooyman
Keyword(s):  
Loggerhead Turtle ◽  
Video Camera ◽  
Weddell Seal ◽  
Gps Tracking ◽  
Major Step ◽  
Mcmurdo Sound ◽  
Weddell Seals ◽  
History Of ◽  
Archival Systems ◽  
Microprocessor Technology

The history of animal-borne instrumentation is reviewed from the first basic depth gauge invented in the late 1800s, to the complex animal-borne imagery and archival systems of the present day. A major breakthrough occurred in 1964 when the first time-depth recorder was deployed on a Weddell Seal in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. The next phase in the study of animals at sea was the use of microprocessors as archival recorders in the mid-1980s. These also were first attached to Weddell seals in McMurdo Sound. Microprocessor technology made possible the next major step of attaching a video camera housed in a submersible case (Crittercam) to a loggerhead turtle. Since the 1990s the field of “Biologging” has flourished, with new additions of satellite and GPS tracking, and resulted in three major international symposiums in the past four years (2003-2007).

Geographic variation in the underwater vocalizations of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddelli) from Palmer Peninsula and McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

1983 ◽  
Vol 61 (10) ◽  
pp. 2203-2212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeànette A. Thomas ◽  
Ian Stirling
Keyword(s):  
Mating System ◽  
Weddell Seal ◽  
Mirror Image ◽  
The Other ◽  
Mcmurdo Sound ◽  
Breeding Sites ◽  
Weddell Seals ◽  
Antarctic Seals ◽  
Geographic Differences ◽  
Polygynous Mating System

The Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddelli) is one of the most vocal pinnipeds. The repertoires of subice vocalizations of Weddell seals recorded at Palmer Peninsula and at McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, are different. Although seals at both sites give some of the same vocalizations, there are subtle spectral and temporal differences. In addition each population has unique vocalizations which are not heard at the other site. At Palmer Peninsula, there are several usage characteristics not exhibited at McMurdo Sound, such as mirror-image vocalization pairs and vocalization trios. Weddell seals in McMurdo Sound make extensive use of nine auxiliary sounds, while the Peninsula repertoire has none. Factors which appear to have been important in the development of these geographic differences appear to include strong fidelity to breeding sites, a polygynous mating system, and learning. Geographically different vocal repertoires have potential for identifying discrete breeding stocks of Antarctic seals.

Preweaning mortality of Weddell seal pups

1996 ◽  
Vol 74 (9) ◽  
pp. 1775-1778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason F. Schreer ◽  
Kelly K. Hastings ◽  
J. Ward Testa
Keyword(s):  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Weddell Seal ◽  
Leptonychotes Weddellii ◽  
Mark Recapture ◽  
Mcmurdo Sound ◽  
Weddell Seals ◽  
Ice Surface ◽  
Open Populations ◽  
Significant Mortality

We examined mortality prior to weaning of Weddell seal pups (Leptonychotes weddellii), using resighting data collected from 1984 to 1993 on the annual ice of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Mortality rates were estimated using counts of dead pups found on the surface and mark–recapture techniques. The standard Jolly–Seber model for open populations fit the recapture data best and corresponded well to the known biology of these animals. Yearly mortality rates estimated by mark–recapture techniques ranged from 6 to 22%, with a mean across years of 13%. These values are twice as high as those previously reported for Weddell seals and those calculated from counts of dead pups in this study. This suggests that there is significant unseen mortality due either to undiscovered fatalities on the ice surface or to significant mortality occurring in the water.

Juvenile survival and recruitment in a population of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (12) ◽  
pp. 2993-2997 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Ward Testa
Keyword(s):  
Census Data ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Breeding Population ◽  
Weddell Seal ◽  
Adult Survival ◽  
Juvenile Survival ◽  
Apparent Survival ◽  
Mcmurdo Sound ◽  
Juvenile Dispersal ◽  
Weddell Seals

Survival and recruitment of Weddell seal pups were studied in eastern McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Pups were marked and their apparent survival estimated by mark–recapture methods. The resulting estimates were used together with published estimates of adult survival, yearly sighting probabilities, and direct counts of pup production to simulate the dynamics of the population and evaluate the assumption that it is closed to immigration. Estimates derived from census data in 1982 and 1983 were over five times larger than those simulated. This discrepancy was due to the extremely low juvenile survival rates calculated from marked seals. Since few animals born in Erebus Bay return to breed, the large adult breeding population must be the result of substantial immigration, indicating an important role for juvenile dispersal in the population dynamics of Weddell seals.

Movements of the weddell seals in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

1974 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Stirling
Keyword(s):  
Weddell Seal ◽  
Behavioural Plasticity ◽  
Mcmurdo Sound ◽  
Weddell Seals ◽  
Adult Females ◽  
Ice Conditions ◽  
High Degree

Weddell seal populations are sedentary and discrete in stable ice areas. Adult females showed a high degree of fidelity to specific pupping colonies but retained the behavioural plasticity to accept adjacent colonies in unfavourable ice conditions. The movements of non-parturient females during the pupping season were not related to the colony at which they preferred to give birth.

Observations on a stabilizing population of weddell seals

1972 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Stirling ◽  
DJ Greenwood
Keyword(s):  
Weddell Seal ◽  
Mcmurdo Sound ◽  
Weddell Seals ◽  
Seal Population

The Weddell seal population of eastern McMurdo Sound, after a period of increase and subsequent decline, is now stabilizing in terms of total numbers and pup production. Increased intrasexual strife resulting mainly from competition for access to the best pupping and breeding colonies appears to be the major factor causing stabilization.

Cow-Pup Behaviour of the Weddell Seal, Leptonychotes Weddelli (Pinnipedia), in Mcmurdo Sound, Antarctica.

1979 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
RA Tedman ◽  
MM Bryden
Keyword(s):  
Weddell Seal ◽  
Diurnal Pattern ◽  
Mcmurdo Sound ◽  
Weddell Seals

Study was of the behaviour of 9 marked female Weddell seals, Leptonychotes weddelli, and their young in a colony of 35 to 40 such pairs at Turtle Rock, McMurdo Sound, off Ross Island, Antarctica. The young sucked first about 80 min after birth. Sucking was usually initiated by the young seal, which had to raise its head to reach either of the 2 nipples. After sucking for 10 to 20 sec the young seal dropped down to the ice and waited for 1 to 2 min before sucking again. It was not clear whether the young seal had to rest after supporting itself or whether it had cleared the milk from the gland cistern and had to wait while milk from alveoli and ducts refilled the cistern. For young more than 1 week old there was a diurnal pattern of sucking with peaks between 1200 and 2359 h and least between 0300 and 0600 h. When the young began to swim they used more energy, stored less fat and sucked less. Early swimming, resulting in lower bodyweight at weaning, could affect survival during the following winter. Published values for bodyweight increments of growing seals are given. Young Weddell seals accumulate less fat than some species but learn to catch food before they are weaned.

Population aspects of Weddell Seal harvesting at McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

Polar Record ◽  
1971 ◽  
Vol 15 (98) ◽  
pp. 653-667 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Stirling
Keyword(s):  
Weddell Seal ◽  
Alternative Food ◽  
Biological Research ◽  
Mcmurdo Sound ◽  
Annual Crop ◽  
Weddell Seals ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
The Antarctic

The preservation and conservation of living resources was one of the original stated objectives of the Antarctic Treaty, 1959. The harvesting of animals near bases for food, especially Weddell Seals Leptonychotes weddelli received particular attention at the Fourth Meeting of SCAR, 1960 (Polar Record,1961) and several regulations were suggested including: a permit required before killing, records to be kept of animals killed, and use of alternative food where possible. Annex D, Section (b)i states “… Without detailed biological research it is impossible to assess the permissible annual crop which the various [Weddell] seal colonies would stand, but it is certain that this figure is being seriously exceeded in many areas.”

Techniques used in measuring diving capacities of Weddell Seals

Polar Record ◽  
1965 ◽  
Vol 12 (79) ◽  
pp. 391-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald L. Kooyman
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
High Probability ◽  
Austral Summer ◽  
Weddell Seal ◽  
Maximum Depth ◽  
Diving Behaviour ◽  
Mcmurdo Sound ◽  
Weddell Seals

During the austral summer of 1963–64 an investigation was started near “Mc-Murdo” on the diving habits of the Weddell Seal (Leptonychotes weddelli). The Weddell Seal was selected for this investigation because of some unique characteristics of its behaviour and because of the environment in which it occurs at McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. For eight to ten months of each year the sea ice provides a solid cover except for tidal cracks along the coast, pressure cracks between old and new ice, and scattered holes cut for oceanographic work. This gives the seals rather specific areas where they may surface in order to breathe. When they visit these breathing holes, instruments may be attached to them with a high probability that they will revisit the same hole and allow the investigator to remove the instrument. With this knowledge of the Weddell Seal' diving behaviour, it was my intention not only to gain some idea of the maximum diving epths and submergence times, but also to obtain information on such things as rates of descent and ascent, cruising depths and submarine orientation patterns. To determine these various parameters two types of instrument were needed, a depth-time device for recording dive profiles and a smaller, more easily attached unit that could be used to measure maximum depth of dives of a large number of seals.

Possible food caching and defence in the Weddell seal: observations from McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.L. KIM ◽  
K. CONLAN ◽  
D.P. MALONE ◽  
C.V. LEWIS
Keyword(s):  
Shallow Water ◽  
Benthic Communities ◽  
Weddell Seal ◽  
Leptonychotes Weddellii ◽  
Mcmurdo Sound ◽  
Weddell Seals ◽  
Food Caching ◽  
The Common ◽  
Made In

On the basis of observations of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii Lesson) made in the course of studying shallow-water benthic communities in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, we suggest that caching and/or defence of uneaten food may be a strategy practiced by this animal. Such a phenomenon is uncommon but taxonomically widespread among vertebrates. Depending on circumstances, it is termed hoarding, caching, or storage and may be short- or long-term, include defence of the resource, or have other variable expressions, with the common threads being deferred consumption and deterrence of consumption by others (Vanderwall 1990). Many vertebrate taxa exhibit hoarding behaviour, including rodents (e.g. Sciuridae), carnivores (e.g. Canidae, Felinidae) and birds (e.g. Corvidae, Picidae). No form of food caching, to our knowledge, has ever been reported in a wild pinniped.

Helminths from the Weddell seal, Leptonychotes weddelli (Lesson, 1826), in the Antarctic

1971 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Beverley-Burton
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Data ◽  
Weddell Seal ◽  
Helminth Parasites ◽  
Intensity Of Infection ◽  
Mcmurdo Sound ◽  
Weddell Seals ◽  
The Antarctic

The alimentary tracts of seven Weddell seals taken at McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, were examined for helminth parasites. Two species of trematodes, three of cestodes, and one of nematodes were recovered. Numerical data on incidence and intensity of infection are given for each species. Heavy infections of diphyllobothriid plerocercoids were also recorded.

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