Long-term study of at-sea distribution of seabirds and marine mammals in the Scotia Sea, Antarctica

Abstract

The Scotia Sea is one of the most biologically rich regions of Antarctica, and it hosts a large community of upper trophic-level predators. Long-term at-sea monitoring provides valuable information on the Antarctic marine ecosystem and relationships among top predators. This paper presents the results of at-sea monitoring of seabirds and cetaceans over five consecutive summer seasons (2010—2014) in the Scotia Sea, Antarctica. A total of 11 656 flying birds belonging to 24 species were recorded in 884 ten-minute counts. Six Procellariiformes species were abundant: Black-browed Albatross, Cape Petrel, Southern Fulmar, Antarctic Prion, Wilson’s Storm-petrel, and Black-bellied Storm-petrel. Only three of these species accounted for 82% of the total abundance: Antarctic Prion (40%), Southern Fulmar (22%), and Cape Petrel (20%). A total of 678 baleen whalesbelonging to five species were recorded along a sampling effort of 2 351 nautical miles: Humpback, Sei, Southern Right, Fin, and Minke whales, which had different abundances during the study. The Fin Whale had the highest mean encounter rate for the 5 years (0.29 whales per nautical mile), followed by the Humpback Whale (0.09 whales per nautical mile). Annual dissimilarity in abundance of both seabirds and cetaceans occurred in conjunction with changes in the sea surface temperature and ice cover, showing the dependence of top predators on environmental changes. The largest aggregations of all top predators (seabirds and cetaceans) were recorded in two regions, west and south of the South Orkney Islands, suggesting important prey availability (especially krill) in those areas. Citation: Orgeira J L, Alderete M C, Jimenez Y G, et al. Long-term study of at-sea distribution of seabirds and marine mammals in the Scotia Sea, Antarctica. Adv Polar Sci, 2015, 26: 158-167, doi: 10.13679/j.advps.2015.2.00158