Abstract
Leopard seals are regular winter visitors to Bird Island, South Georgia, where they mostly prey on fur seals and penguins, and to a lesser extent on Antarctic krill and fish. Leopard seals can exploit many different species, but there are no records of predation on flying shorebirds in the wild. On 4 October 2008, an individually identified juvenile leopard seal female was observed killing and eating a South Georgia Pintail duck. It also preyed on Antarctic fur seals and gentoo and macaroni penguins during its 2-month temporary residency around the island. The varied diet of this seal exemplifies the generalist prey utilization typical of its species. Long-term diet studies at Bird Island and the published record suggest that predation on ducks is a rather exceptional finding; individual ducks are more likely to escape leopard seal attacks than penguins and provide a far less substantial ration. This note documents the first observation of this species of duck in the diet of leopard seals.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 403-405 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Polar Biology |
Volume | 33 |
Issue number | 3 |
Early online date | 15 Aug 2009 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Mar 2010 |
Keywords
- leopard seal
- pintail duck
- predation
- South Georgia
- hydrurga-leptonyx
- winter dispersal
- Antarctica
- abundance
- island