Abstract
Most activities of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) occur during under-ice dives that extend hundreds to thousands of meters and require the seals to hold their breath for 15 min or more. In the fast-ice environment of Antarctica, holes in the ice where seals can surface to breathe are scarce. Consequently, seals must return to a previous breathing hole or locate a new one to avoid drowning; how they navigate underwater with such precision is not known. This study individually displaced ten seals, each fitted with an archival data logger, to unfamiliar locations and analyzed the three dimensional paths of voluntary dives to test eight predictions under four hypothesized way-finding tactics: geomagnetic sensitivity, path integration, pilotage, and hydrodynamic trail following. Analyses of dive tracks provided strong evidence that Weddell seals primarily used pilotage via visible, overhead features to return home during individual dives under ice cover. Upon release at an unfamiliar location, long-distance diving began only after a period of short-distance diving. Outbound paths of dives progressively increased in distance from home. Homeward paths were remarkably straight and oriented directly toward home, or they traveled to a frequented route then turned toward home. Seventy-five percent of the frequented routes were directly below known linear disturbances in the snow on the top of the sea ice. There was little evidence that seals used geomagnetic or hydrodynamic cues, nor that homing ability was hindered by low light levels (twilight). These results contribute to a growing body of literature indicating that animals can learn to use artificial, and sometimes ephemeral landmarks to guide their movements. How Weddell seals are able to dive during polar winter, with only starlight and moonlight to illuminate landmarks, remains unknown.
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Data availability
The datasets used in the analyses reported here are available in the Texas Data Repository (https://data.tdl.org), via [https://doi.org/10.18738/T8/OQRUPJ].
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank W. Buitendyk, G. Davis, E. Frolli, J. John, T. Kendall, K. McGovern, B. Richter, and M. Walker for assistance in conducting the experiments and processing the data, and the US Antarctic Program for logistical support. The manuscript benefited from comments provided by Dr. Kozue Shiomi and an anonymous referee. This research was supported by grants from the US National Science Foundation (PLR-1341441, PLR-134140, PLR-1341469). Contribution number 1720 of the University of Texas Marine Science Institute.
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Fuiman, L.A., Williams, T.M. & Davis, R.W. Homing tactics of Weddell seals in the Antarctic fast-ice environment. Mar Biol 167, 116 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-020-03730-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-020-03730-w