Lifetime coastal and oceanic foraging patterns of male Guadalupe fur seals and California sea lions

Abstract

AbstractCarcasses of adult and subadult male Guadalupe fur seals (GFSs) are beached on Isla Magdalena, representing about 73% of all GFSs beachings since 2003. Analysis of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in dentin collagen from male GFSs was used in an attempt to distinguish animals from two possible locations of origin: the oceanic Guadalupe Island (GI) and the coastal San Benito Islands (SBI). Samples of conterminous and contemporary California sea lions (CSLs) were included as representative of coastal predators. Two distinct groups of GFSs were evident based on δ13C values: coastal GFSs with higher δ13C values than CSLs, and oceanic GFSs with lower δ13C values than CSLs. Significant temporal trends were observed in the δ15N values; values for oceanic GFSs and CSLs increased annually (0.082‰ and 0.089‰, respectively), while those for coastal GFS decreased annually by 0.183‰. The isotopic segregation of oceanic and coastal GFS males, presumably from GI and SBI respectively, has been present at least since the mid‐1990s. This segregation may be due to dissimilar ingestion of prey from oceanic vs. coastal origin prior to their seasonal co‐occurrence in the Gulf of Ulloa.