The ontogeny of at-sea behaviour in male southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) at Marion Island

Abstract

Megafauna, such as southern elephant seals (SESs) (Mirounga leonina, Linn.), forage in diverse, seemingly limitless habitats. In pelagic settings, their behaviour is more likely to be limited by physiological ability and prey distribution, than physical barriers. For elephant seals, their rapid growth in body size corresponds to changing physiological abilities. These changes are most pronounced for male elephant seals. While most studies have compared male and female SESs in terms of changing body size and physiological ability, few studies have compared the influence of changing body size on behaviour of male SESs from the same population using long term satellite tracking data. We describe age-related differences in movement and diving behaviour for male SESs from Marion Island. We analysed satellite tracking data collected from 23 male SESs seals fitted with Sea Mammal Research Unit Satellite Relay Data Loggers at Marion Island between 2005 and 2011. Each dive was assigned a behavioural mode, either ‘searching’ or ‘transit’, using state-space modelling. We used mixed-effects models to quantify the influence of age and behavioural mode on dive duration, surface duration, dive depth and number of daily dives. Younger seals travelled significantly further from Marion Island and spent most of their dives in transit mode, whereas older seals stayed closer to the island but were in searching mode for most of their tracks. When searching, older seals dived more frequently, displayed longer dive and surface durations, and reached greater depths than younger seals. These differences in diving behaviour seem to reflect changing physiological ability. For male SESs, changes in physiological ability necessitate behavioural plasticity, which may be the key to survival and future breeding success. Robust males are more likely to breed and must therefore, maintain their body size by adapting to local oceanic conditions.