Recovery of South American fur seals from Fuegian Archipelago (Argentina)

MILANO, V.N.; GRANDI, M.F.; SCHIAVINI, A.C.M.; CRESPO, E.A.

MARINE MAMMAL SCIENCE

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2020

0824-0469

Commercial sealing decimated several populationsof fur seals (Arctocephalus spp.) inthe southern hemisphere, leading some species near extinction. The recovery ofsome populations was delayed or benefited according to the place where they developed,their life history and the environmental variables they faced. The aim of this workis to present recent estimates of the abundance of Arctocephalus australis (South American fur seal, SAFS) at theFuegian Archipelago (FA: Tierra del Fuego and Isla de los Estados), analyze itstrend and describe changes in the social composition and spatial distributionof colonies through time. An aerial census was made on FA colonies and comparedthis data with historical records since 1948. An abundance of 9,550 ± 125individuals (including 998 pups) was estimated in 23 colonies. There was anincrease in population abundance, with a change of the social composition anddistribution of some colonies through time. The average annual percentage ofpopulation change were about 6.1% and 4.1% (total and pups population,respectively). This is the first data on the population trend for this area. Wefinally discuss the possibility of migration from nearby areas to favor therecovery of SAFS in the austral area of their distribution.