Harassment during arrival on land and departure to sea in southern elephant seals

Abstract

During the breeding season female elephant seals spent most of their time on land inside harems. When they arrive on land before joining harems, and when they leave harems to return to sea, they are exposed to secondary males and may suffer intense harassment. Hence, arrival and departure present an ideal opportunity to test hypotheses concerning female tactics of harassment reduction. We studied harassment during arrival and departure in two southern elephant seal populations at Punta Delgada (Valdés Peninsula; DEL hereafter) and Sea Lion Island (Falkland Islands; SLI hereafter). Females were less likely to be intercepted by males during arrival than during departure. They also arrived mostly at high tide, thereby reducing the distance from water to the harems. Interception rate and harassment during departure were higher at DEL, where male density and the breeding sex ratio affected the likelihood of interception; on SLI, the socionomy had a small effect. Harassment was higher at low tide at DEL but not at SLI, because tide level variation was larger at DEL and this resulted in a larger variation in the distances of the harems from the water. Females departed more often than expected at high tide at DEL but not at SLI. In both populations females departed directly to sea, rarely stopping before reaching the water, and they never sought contact with males. Social distraction during departure significantly reduced the likelihood of interception. Departures were more frequent during periods of high social activity, and females departing just after other females were less prone to harassment. Accepting copulations with secondary males may reduce the dangerous effects of harassment: interactions occurring during departure were less frequently protested, but we found no indication that departing females were facilitating copulations in a special manner. Quantity and quality of protest during departures was similar to protest during the last days of residence of the females in the harem.