Southern elephant seals beyond the antarctic convergence.

LEWIS,M, C.CAMPAGNA,M.R. MARIN, T.FERNANDEZ

Curitiba, Brasil

Simposio; IX SCAR International Biology Symposioum; 2005

SCAR

We report 154 sightings of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) for the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of South America. These records represent a total of 354 individuals, of which 100 were tagged/marked at the Península Valdés colony. Total area of dispersion defined as a polygon connecting the most extreme sightings covered 21 million km2 (for tagged animals only: 10 million km2). Within this area at least three breeding colonies occur: Valdés, Malvinas/Falklands and South Georgia. Animals of unknown origin reached tropical waters, with northernmost sightings in the Atlantic at 3º 52’ S (Brazil) and in the Pacific at 0º 18’ S (Ecuador). Some areas (Malvinas-Falklands Archipelago and Lobos Island, Uruguay) were visited in consecutive seasons by the same individuals tagged/marked at Valdés. The eight sightings of solitary individuals along the coast of Brazil occurred in June/July, when the cold waters of the Malvinas Current reach furthest north. Sightings and tracking of individuals at sea showed that males are found more along the coast than females, and suggest a tendency for small immatures to disperse further from their natal place.  It also shows that animals from Valdes do not mix with animals from the Subantarctic colonies and thus are a separate stock.