scholarly journals Extreme dispersal or human-transport? The enigmatic case of an extralimital freshwater occurrence of a Southern elephant seal from Indiana

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e9665 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana M. Valenzuela-Toro ◽  
Maria H. Zicos ◽  
Nicholas D. Pyenson
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Extreme Case ◽  
River System ◽  
Elephant Seal ◽  
Radiometric Dating ◽  
Southern Elephant Seal ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
Freshwater Systems ◽  
Marine Invasions ◽  
Original Specimen

Elephant seals (Mirounga spp.) are the largest living pinnipeds, and the spatial scales of their ecology, with dives over 1 km in depth and foraging trips over 10,000 km long, are unrivalled by their near relatives. Here we report the discovery of an incomplete Holocene age Southern elephant seal (M. leonina) rostrum from Indiana, USA. The surviving material are two casts of the original specimen, which was collected in a construction excavation close to the Wabash River near Lafayette, Indiana. The original specimen was mostly destroyed for radiometric dating analyses in the 1970s, which resulted in an age of 1,260 ± 90 years before the present. The existence of sediments in the original specimen suggests some type of post depositional fluvial transportation. The prevalent evidence suggests that this male Southern elephant seal crossed the equator and the Gulf of Mexico, and then entered the Mississippi River system, stranding far upriver in Indiana or adjacent areas, similar to other reported examples of lost marine mammals in freshwater systems. Based on potential cut marks, we cannot exclude human-mediated transportation or scavenging by Indigenous peoples as a contributing factor of this occurrence. The material reported here represents by far the northernmost occurrence of a Southern elephant seal in the Northern Hemisphere ever recorded. The unusual occurrence of a top marine predator >1,000 km from the closest marine effluent as a potential extreme case of dispersal emphasizes how marine invasions of freshwater systems have happened frequently through historical (and likely geological) time.

scholarly journals Preliminary Screening for Microplastic Concentrations in the Surface Water of the Ob and Tom Rivers in Siberia, Russia

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 80
Author(s):  
Yulia A. Frank ◽  
Egor D. Vorobiev ◽  
Danil S. Vorobiev ◽  
Andrey A. Trifonov ◽  
Dmitry V. Antsiferov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
River System ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Preliminary Screening ◽  
Freshwater Systems ◽  
Ob River ◽  
The Arctic Ocean ◽  
Abundance And Diversity ◽  
Blank Spot

To date, the largest Russian rivers discharging to the Arctic Ocean remain a “blank spot” on the world map of data on the distribution of microplastics in freshwater systems. This study characterizes the abundance and morphology of microplastics in surface water of the Ob River and its large tributary, the Tom River, in western Siberia. The average number of particles for the two rivers ranged from 44.2 to 51.2 items per m3 or from 79.4 to 87.5 μg per m3 in the Tom River and in the Ob River, respectively. Of the recovered microplastics, 93.5% were less than 1 mm in their largest dimension, the largest group (45.5% of total counts) consisted of particles with sizes range 0.30–1.00 mm. Generally, microfragments of irregular shape were the most abundant among the Ob and Tom samples (47.4%) and exceeded microfibers (22.1%), microfilms (20.8%), and microspheres (9.74%) by average counts. Results from this study provide a baseline for understanding the scale of the transport of microplastics by the Ob River system into the Arctic Ocean and add to currently available data on microplastics abundance and diversity in freshwater systems of differing global geographic locations.

Interdependence of social structure and demography in the southern elephant seal colony of Península Valdés, Argentina

2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 681-692 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariano A. Ferrari ◽  
Mirtha N. Lewis ◽  
Miguel A. Pascual ◽  
Claudio Campagna
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Elephant Seal ◽  
Southern Elephant Seal

scholarly journals Population differentiation in the context of Holocene climate change for a migratory marine species, the southern elephant seal

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (9) ◽  
pp. 1667-1679 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. J. Corrigan ◽  
A. Fabiani ◽  
L. F. Chauke ◽  
C. R. McMahon ◽  
M. de Bruyn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Population Differentiation ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Elephant Seal ◽  
Southern Elephant Seal ◽  
Holocene Climate ◽  
Holocene Climate Change

scholarly journals The northernmost haulout site of South American sea lions and fur seals in the western South Atlantic

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Natália Procksch ◽  
M. Florencia Grandi ◽  
Paulo Henrique Ott ◽  
Karina Groch ◽  
Paulo A. C. Flores ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Model ◽  
Linear Mixed Model ◽  
Elephant Seal ◽  
Southern Elephant Seal ◽  
South American ◽  
Mirounga Leonina ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Northern Portion ◽  
Kernel Density Analysis

AbstractWe present estimates of the seasonal and spatial occupation by pinnipeds of the Wildlife Refuge of Ilha dos Lobos (WRIL), based on aerial photographic censuses. Twenty aerial photographic censuses were analysed between July 2010 and November 2018. To assess monthly differences in the numbers of pinnipeds in the WRIL we used a Generalized Linear Mixed Model. Spatial analysis was carried out using Kernel density analysis of the pinnipeds on a grid plotted along the WRIL. Subadult male South American sea lions (Otaria flavescens) were the most abundant pinniped in the WRIL. Potential females of this species were also recorded during half of the census. The maximum number of pinnipeds observed in the WRIL was 304 in September 2018, including an unexpected individual southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina), and a high number of South American fur seal yearlings (Arctocephalus australis). However, there was no statistically significant difference in counts between months. In all months analysed, pinnipeds were most often found concentrated in the northern portion of the island, with the highest abundances reported in September. This study confirms the importance of the WRIL as a haulout site for pinnipeds in Brazil, recommends that land research and recreational activities occur in months when no pinnipeds are present, and encourages a regulated marine mammal-based tourism during winter and spring months.

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