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Marine Ecology Progress Series

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MEPS 461:293-298 (2012)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09890

COMMENT
Elephant seal foraging dives track prey distribution, not temperature: Comment on McIntyre et al. (2011)

Philipp H. Boersch-Supan1,2, Lars Boehme3, Jane F. Read4, Alex D. Rogers2,*, Andrew S. Brierley1,**

1Pelagic Ecology Research Group, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St. Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, UK
2Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK
3Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St. Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, UK
4National Oceanography Centre Southampton, Natural Environment Research Council, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK

ABSTRACT: McIntyre et al. (2011; Mar Ecol Prog Ser 441:257−272) concluded that climate change-related ocean warming may lead to deeper foraging dives by southern elephant seals as their prey is forced into deeper depths. They further assert that fitness for the seals will be reduced because of greater physiological costs for deep dives and the assumption that deep foraging is less successful. Their conclusions are based on an observed correlation between a temperature index and elephant seal diving depth but do not include any observations of prey. We recently observed pronounced differences in the vertical distribution of pelagic biota—biota that may well include elephant seal prey—across the same frontal zone considered by McIntyre et al. (2011) and believe that their suggested link between temperature and diving depth is actually a link between predators and distinct prey fields—a reflection of adaptive foraging behaviour in a complex and dynamic pelagic system. As such, the analysis of McIntyre et al. (2011) is uninformative about likely impacts of ocean warming.


KEY WORDS: Climate change · Effect size · Prey field · Vertical structure · Southern elephant seal · Foraging ecology · Deep scattering layer


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Cite this article as: Boersch-Supan PH, Boehme L, Read JF, Rogers AD, Brierley AS (2012) Elephant seal foraging dives track prey distribution, not temperature: Comment on McIntyre et al. (2011). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 461:293-298. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09890

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