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Aggregation of mummified adult crabeater seals (Pinnipedia: Phocidae) in the eastern Antarctic Peninsula: age and sex structure, taphonomy and cause of death

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2014

Javier Negrete ,
Leopoldo h. Soibelzon ,
Esteban Soibelzon ,
María E.I. Márquez ,
Cleopatra M. Loza ,
Walter Acosta ,
Jorge Lusky  and
Marcelo Pecoraro
Javier Negrete*
Affiliation:
Departamento Biologia de Predadores Tope, Instituto Antártico Argentino, Cerrito 1248, (C1010AAZ) Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Leopoldo h. Soibelzon
Affiliation:
División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n, (1900) La Plata, Argentina Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas (Conicet), Av Rivadavia 1917 (C1033AAJ), CABA, Argentina
Esteban Soibelzon
Affiliation:
División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n, (1900) La Plata, Argentina Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas (Conicet), Av Rivadavia 1917 (C1033AAJ), CABA, Argentina
María E.I. Márquez
Affiliation:
Departamento Biologia de Predadores Tope, Instituto Antártico Argentino, Cerrito 1248, (C1010AAZ) Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Cleopatra M. Loza
Affiliation:
División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n, (1900) La Plata, Argentina
Walter Acosta
Affiliation:
Cátedra de Semiología, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Av 60 y 118 (1900) La Plata, Argentina
Jorge Lusky
Affiliation:
Departamento Técnico y Logístico Polar, Dirección Nacional del Antártico, Cerrito 1248, (C1010AAZ) Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Marcelo Pecoraro
Affiliation:
Cátedra de Virología, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Av 60 s/n (1900) La Plata, Argentina
*
negretejavi@hotmail.com
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Abstract

In Antarctica, crabeater seals tend to strand as immature animals with disorientation, due to their inexperience, given as the probable cause. In 2012 and 2013, we examined a group of 80 mummified crabeater seals on Seymour Island (Marambio). The age and gender of 28 seals was determined, and virology and stomach content analyses were performed in order to determine the cause of stranding. Around 82% of the seals examined were adults and 79% were females, some of which were pregnant. All of the seals sampled tested negative for Morbillivirus, suggesting that the stranding was not related to the mass mortality event reported in the 1950s in the region. Most seals had empty stomachs and thin blubber suggesting that they died from starvation. The state of the carcasses suggests multiple stranding events. Most of the seals were located along an ice-covered stream, suggesting that this may act as a ‘natural trap’, isolating the seals from the open ocean. This is exceptional as it is the first report of mostly adult female seals to strand in Antarctica and refutes the theory that only young animals are prone to stranding.

Keywords

Lobodon carcinophagamarine mammal strandingseal disorientationSeymour Islandvirology
Type
Biological Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 27 , Issue 3 , June 2015 , pp. 274 - 280
Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 2014 

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