| 1. |
- Chambault, Philippine, et al.
(författare)
-
The influence of oceanographic features on the foraging behavior of the olive ridley sea turtle Lepidochelys olivacea along the Guiana coast
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Progress in Oceanography. - : Elsevier BV. - 0079-6611 .- 1873-4472. ; 142, s. 58-71
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The circulation in the Western Equatorial Atlantic is characterized by a highly dynamic mesoscale activity that shapes the Guiana continental shelf. Olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) nesting in French Guiana cross this turbulent environment during their post-nesting migration. We studied how oceanographic and biological conditions drove the foraging behavior of 18 adult females, using satellite telemetry, remote sensing data (sea surface temperature, sea surface height, current velocity and euphotic depth), simulations of micronekton biomass (pelagic organisms) and in situ records (water temperature and salinity). The occurrence of foraging events throughout migration was located using Residence Time analysis, while an innovative proxy of the hunting time within a dive was used to identify and quantify foraging events during dives. Olive ridleys migrated northwestwards using the Guiana current and remained on the continental shelf at the edge of eddies formed by the North Brazil retroflection, an area characterized by low turbulence and high micronekton biomass. They performed mainly pelagic dives, hunting for an average 77% of their time. Hunting time within a dive increased with shallower euphotic depth and with lower water temperatures, and mean hunting depth increased with deeper thermocline. This is the first study to quantify foraging activity within dives in olive ridleys, and reveals the crucial role played by the thermocline on the foraging behavior of this carnivorous species. This study also provides novel and detailed data describing how turtles actively use oceanographic structures during post-nesting migration.
|
|
| 2. |
- Labrousse, Sara, et al.
(författare)
-
Winter use of sea ice and ocean water mass habitat by southern elephant seals : The length and breadth of the mystery
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Progress in Oceanography. - : Elsevier BV. - 0079-6611 .- 1873-4472. ; 137, s. 52-68
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Understanding the responses of animals to the environment is crucial for identifying critical foraging habitat. Elephant seals (Mirounga leonine) from the Kerguelen Islands (49 degrees 20'S, 70 degrees 20'E) have several different foraging strategies. Why some individuals undertake long trips to the Antarctic continent while others utilize the relatively close frontal zones is poorly understood. Here, we investigate how physical properties within the sea ice zone are linked to foraging activities of southern elephant seals (SES). To do this, we first developed a new approach using indices of foraging derived from high temporal resolution dive and accelerometry data to predict foraging behaviour in an extensive, low resolution dataset from CTD-Satellite Relay Data Loggers (CTD-SRDLs). A sample of 37 post-breeding SES females were used to construct a predictive model applied to demersal and pelagic dive strategies relating prey encounter events (PEE) to dive parameters (dive duration, bottom duration, hunting-time, maximum depth, ascent speed, descent speed, sinuosity, and horizontal speed) for each strategy. We applied these models to a second sample of 35 seals, 20 males and 15 females, during the post-moult foraging trip to the Antarctic continental shelf between 2004 and 2013, which did not have fine-scale behavioural data. The females were widely distributed with important foraging activity south of the Southern Boundary Front, while males predominately travelled to the south-eastern part of the East Antarctica region. Combining our predictions of PEE with environmental features (sea ice concentration, water masses at the bottom phase of dives, bathymetry and slope index) we found higher foraging activity for females over shallower seabed depths and at the boundary between the overlying Antarctic Surface Water (AASW) and the underlying Modified Circumpolar Deep Water (MCDW). Increased biological activity associated with the upper boundary of MCDW, may provide overwintering areas for SES prey. Male foraging activity was strongly associated with pelagic dives within the Antarctic Slope Front where upwelling of nutrient rich Circumpolar Deep Water onto surface water may enhance and concentrate resources. A positive association between sea ice and foraging activity was found for both sexes where increased biological activity may sustain an under-ice ecosystem. Variability of the East Antarctic sea ice season duration is likely a crucial element to allow air-breathing predators to benefit from profitable prey patches within the pack ice habitat.
|
|
| 3. |
- Mensah, Vigan, et al.
(författare)
-
A Correction for the Thermal Mass-Induced Errors of CTD Tags Mounted on Marine Mammals
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology. - 0739-0572 .- 1520-0426. ; 35:6, s. 1237-1252
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The effect of thermal mass on the salinity estimate from conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) tags sensor mounted on marine mammals is documented, and a correction scheme is proposed to mitigate its impact. The algorithm developed here allows for a direct correction of the salinity data, rather than a correction of the sample's conductivity and temperature. The amplitude of the thermal mass-induced error on salinity and its correction are evaluated via comparison between data from CTD tags and from Sea-Bird Scientific CTD used as a reference. Thermal mass error on salinity appears to be generally O(10(-2)) g kg(-1), it may reach O(10(-1)) g kg(-1), and it tends to increase together with the magnitude of the cumulated temperature gradient (T-HP) within the water column. The correction we propose yields an error decrease of up to similar to 60% if correction coefficients specific to a certain tag or environment are calculated, and up to 50% if a default value for the coefficients is provided. The correction with the default coefficients was also evaluated using over 22 000 in situ dive data from five tags deployed in the Southern Ocean and is found to yield significant and systematic improvements on the salinity data, including for profiles whose T-HP was weak and the error small. The correction proposed here yields substantial improvements in the density estimates, although a thermal mass-induced error in temperature measurements exists for very large T-HP and has yet to be corrected.
|
|
| 4. |
- Treasure, Anne M., et al.
(författare)
-
Marine Mammals Exploring the Oceans Pole to Pole A Review of the MEOP Consortium
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Oceanography. - : The Oceanography Society. - 1042-8275. ; 30:2, s. 132-138
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Polar oceans are poorly monitored despite the important role they play in regulating Earth's climate system. Marine mammals equipped with biologging devices are now being used to fill the data gaps in these logistically difficult to sample regions. Since 2002, instrumented animals have been generating exceptionally large data sets of oceanographic CTD casts (>500,000 profiles), which are now freely available to the scientific community through the MEOP data portal (http://meop.net). MEOP (Marine Mammals Exploring the Oceans Pole to Pole) is a consortium of international researchers dedicated to sharing animal-derived data and knowledge about the polar oceans. Collectively, MEOP demonstrates the power and cost-effectiveness of using marine mammals as data-collection platforms that can dramatically improve the ocean observing system for biological and physical oceanographers. Here, we review the MEOP program and database to bring it to the attention of the international community.
|
|
