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Linking predator and prey behaviour: contrasts between Antarctic fur seals and macaroni penguins at South Georgia

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Abstract

Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella and macaroni penguins Eudyptes chrysolophus are the two main land-based krill Euphausia superba consumers in the northern Scotia Sea. Using a combination of concurrent at-sea (predator observations, net hauls and multi-frequency acoustics), and land-based (animal tracking and diet analysis) techniques, we examined variability in the foraging ecology of these sympatric top predators during the austral summer and autumn of 2004. Krill availability derived from acoustic surveys was low during summer, increasing in autumn. During the breeding season, krill occurred in 80% of fur seal diet samples, with fish remains in 37% of samples. Penguin diets contained the highest proportion of fish in over 20 years of routine monitoring (46% by mass; particularly the myctophid Electrona antarctica), with krill (33%) and amphipods (Themisto gaudichaudii; 21%) also occurring. When constrained by the need to return and feed their offspring both predator species foraged to the northwest of South Georgia, consistent with an area of high macrozooplankton biomass, but fur seals were apparently more successful at exploiting krill. When unconstrained by chick-rearing (during March) penguins foraged close to the Shag Rocks shelf-break, probably exploiting the high daytime biomass of fish in this area. Penguins and seals are able to respond differently to periods of reduced krill abundance (in terms of variability in diet and foraging behaviour), without detriment to the breeding success of either species. This highlights the importance of myctophid fish as an alternative trophic pathway for land-based predators in the Scotia Sea ecosystem.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to the scientists and crew on board RRS James Clark Ross during cruise JR100, and to all members of the Bird Island science team for their assistance with instrument deployments. Thanks also to Keith Reid for advice and guidance during the early part of the study and to Sophie Fielding and three referees for useful comments on an earlier draft. This is a contribution to the Ecosystems Programme at the British Antarctic Survey.

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  1. Martin A. Collins

    Present address: Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, Government House, Stanley, Falkland Islands

Authors and Affiliations

  1. British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK

    Claire M. Waluda, Martin A. Collins, Iain J. Staniland & Philip N. Trathan

  2. Falklands Conservation, Stanley, Falkland Islands

    Andrew D. Black

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  1. Claire M. Waluda
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  2. Martin A. Collins
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Correspondence to Claire M. Waluda.

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Communicated by R. Lewison.

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Waluda, C.M., Collins, M.A., Black, A.D. et al. Linking predator and prey behaviour: contrasts between Antarctic fur seals and macaroni penguins at South Georgia. Mar Biol 157, 99–112 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-009-1299-6

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