Distribution, density, and abundance of pack-ice seals in the Amundsen and Ross Seas, Antarctica

Abstract

We made three sets of population surveys of the four species of ice-inhabiting phocid pinnipeds in the Ross and Amundsen Seas between 26 December 1999 and 24 March 2000 using icebreakers and helicopters deployed from those icebreakers. We used line transect methods to survey 23,671 km by helicopter and 3,694 km by ship accounting for a total coverage of 53,217 km 2. We detected and identified 11,308 seals in 7,104 groups and estimated their abundance from estimates of densities using distance sampling methods and corrections for probability of haul out of seals derived from satellite telemetry of tagged seals. Crabeater seals were most abundant (ca 1.7 million) followed by Weddell seals (330,000), Ross seals (22,600), and leopard seals (15,000). Our estimates of abundance are difficult to directly compare with earlier estimates because of geographic areas covered and by our improvements in survey and analytical methods. Notwithstanding these limitations and with some adjustments for differences in methods, we found that our estimates of abundance for crabeater seals are similar to those from the most recent surveys in the Ross and Amundsen Seas and along the George-Oates Coast. Our estimates for Weddell seals are the first for the broad areas of pack ice that we surveyed in the Ross and Amundsen Seas but indicate that these habitats are ecologically important to this species. Our estimates of abundance of Ross seals were relatively similar to estimates for surveys in these areas in the 1970s and 1980s whereas our estimates of abundance of leopard seals were substantially lower.