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The diet of female Australian fur seals as determined by animal-borne video cameras
Citation
Arnould, JPY and Dorville, N and Monk, J and Ierodiaconou, D and Hoskins, AJ and Hindell, MA and Semmens, JM and Marshall, G and Abernathy, K, The diet of female Australian fur seals as determined by animal-borne video cameras, Abstracts for the 20th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, 09-13 December, Dunedin, New Zealand, pp. 15. (2012) [Conference Extract]
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Abstract
Knowledge of predator diets is crucial for understanding their
role in ecosystems. Due to their aquatic foraging habitat, the
diets of pinnipeds has traditionally been investigated using
faecal analysis, the limitations and biases of which have been
well documented. In this study, the prey of adult female
Australian fur seals in northern Bass Strait, south-eastern
Australia, was investigated with the use of animal-borne
cameras. Video records (total 67 h) were obtained from 18
individuals during the winters of 2008-12, covering 1263
foraging dives. A total of 1693 prey encounter events were
recorded, 1128 of which were sufficiently visible to be
categorised (57.2 ± 14 per individual). A total of 26 prey types
were identified. The main items consumed were red cod (FO =
78%, NA = 6.3 ± 2.6), gurnard spp. (FO = 72%, NA = 20.6 ±
5.2), leatherjacket spp. (FO = 72%, NA = 4.3 ± 1.2), Jack
mackeral (FO = 50%, NA = 1.0 ± 0.3), octopus (FO = 56%, NA
= 1.3 ± 0.4), redbait (FO = 50%, NA = 0.9 ± 0.3), and stingray
spp. (FO = 28%, NA = 0.6 ± 0.4). The size of these prey were
similar to previously reported but they were all observed in
greater frequency and/or higher abundance than in previous
faecal studies. While these differences could result from
temporal variation in availability between this and previous
studies, they may also reflect incomplete consumption of some
prey leading to biases (e.g. the head of gurnards and the buccal
mass in octopus were regularly observed to be discarded). The
results also clearly indicated evidence for individual
specialisations in diet and highlight the value of direct
observations of prey consumption for determining diet
composition in marine mammals.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Conference Extract |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | Australian fur seal, habitat use, Bass Strait, CritterCam |
| Research Division: | Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences |
| Research Group: | Fisheries Sciences |
| Research Field: | Aquatic Ecosystem Studies and Stock Assessment |
| Objective Division: | Environment |
| Objective Group: | Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity |
| Objective Field: | Marine Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity |
| UTAS Author: | Monk, J (Dr Jacquomo Monk) |
| UTAS Author: | Hindell, MA (Professor Mark Hindell) |
| UTAS Author: | Semmens, JM (Associate Professor Jayson Semmens) |
| ID Code: | 126691 |
| Year Published: | 2012 |
| Deposited By: | Ecology and Biodiversity |
| Deposited On: | 2018-06-20 |
| Last Modified: | 2018-06-25 |
| Downloads: | 1 View Download Statistics |
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