Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: As top predators, leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) have a key role in Southern Ocean ecosystems. For example, this species has driven the local collapse of Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) at Cape Shirreff, in the northern Antarctic Peninsula. However, little is known about leopard seal haul out site fidelity and social behavior. Here, we employ "genomic tagging" and relatedness analyses from a genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) dataset obtained from 88 leopard seal tissue samples to investigate patterns of seasonal haul out site fidelity and social structure at Cape Shirreff, a leopard seal hotspot during austral summers. Although many seals were observed only once, some females had remarkably high site fidelity returning to the same location across timeframes of up to eight years. Most leopard seals were unrelated, but we identified a trio of closely related females, including a mother-daughter pair, indicating that seasonal site fidelity can span generations. Interestingly, the mother leopard seal identified through our relatedness analyses is a foraging specialist that targets Antarctic fur seal pups; her diet changed very little over the past decade. Our findings suggest high individual variability in leopard seal behavior regarding site fidelity and social structure. Such flexibility may play a key role in this species' responses to environmental change.
Source: Scientific Reports
Institutions: Hampton University, Bielefeld University, University of Münster, University of California, Santa Cruz, University of Rhode Island, British Antarctic Survey, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Southwest Fisheries Science Center
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life below water
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,690
Awards: G107627670, G1728382189, Genetische und epigenetische Mechanismen bei Nischenwahl und Nischenkonformität in einer abnehmenden Seebärenpopulation, TRR 212: Eine neue Synthese zur Individualisation für die Verhaltensforschung, Ökologie und Evolution: Nischenwahl, Nischenkonformität, Nischenkonstruktion (NC3), Excellence in Research - Genomic Inferences of Adaptation in an Antarctic Top predator: the leopard seal (EiR-GIANT), G3382848674, G4199585463, Zentrale Koordinationseinheit des Next Generation Sequencing Kompetenznetzwerks, Komparative Analyse über deletäre genetische Variation in Wildtierpopulationen, Move, Adapt, or Change: Examining the Adaptive Capacity of a Southern Ocean Apex Predator, the Leopard Seal
OpenAlex ID: W4416594249