Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T19:36:48.623Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Death age, seasonality, taphonomy and colonization of seal carcasses from Ulu Peninsula, James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 September 2015

Daniel Nývlt ,
Miriam Nývltová Fišáková ,
Miloš Barták ,
Zdeněk Stachoň ,
Václav Pavel ,
Bedřich Mlčoch  and
Kamil Láska
Daniel Nývlt*
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic Czech Geological Survey, Brno branch, Leitnerova 22, 658 69 Brno, Czech Republic Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic
Miriam Nývltová Fišáková
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, v.v.i., Czech Academy of Science, Čechyňská 19, 602 00 Brno, Czech Republic
Miloš Barták
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic
Zdeněk Stachoň
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic
Václav Pavel
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology and Laboratory of Ornithology, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, 17, Listopadu 50, 771 46 Olomouc, Czech Republic
Bedřich Mlčoch
Affiliation:
Czech Geological Survey, Klárov 3, 118 21 Praha, Czech Republic
Kamil Láska
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic
*
*[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The origin and nature of seal carcasses scattered around the Ulu Peninsula, James Ross Island, is examined using robust and novel multidisciplinary analysis. Spatial distribution analysis indicates their predominance at low elevations and on surfaces with negligible slope. The seals died throughout the last century. Dental cement increments indicate that the seals died in late winter, and we interpret this to show an influence of the persistence and break-up of sea ice and the appearance of pools/cracks in the northern Prince Gustav Channel on death. Specifically, after being trapped by a late winter freeze-up the seals search for open water, become disoriented by snow-covered flat valleys and move inland. Carcasses from all age groups of crabeater seal are found on land, but inland movement is less notable for Weddell and leopard seals. Although most carcasses appear to have remained unchanged during the last 10 years due to the cold and dry conditions, a few carcasses that are located in sites of snow accumulation and subsequent melting have undergone enhanced decay. Decaying seal carcasses represent loci of nutrient release in a nutrient deficient environment and are colonized by algae, cyanobacteria, lichens and mosses. This research suggests further useful studies for the future.

Keywords

James Ross Islandpreservation statePrince Gustav Channelsea iceseal behaviour
Type
Biological Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 28 , Issue 1 , February 2016 , pp. 3 - 16
Check for updates
Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Banks, J.C., Ross, P.M. & Smith, T.E. 2010. Report of a mummified leopard seal carcass in the southern Dry Valleys, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Antarctic Science, 22, 43–44.Google Scholar
Berkman, P.A. & Forman, S.L. 1996. Pre-bomb radiocarbon and reservoir correction for calcareous marine species in the Southern Ocean. Geophysical Research Letters, 23, 363–366.Google Scholar
Björck, S., Hjort, C., Ingólfsson, Ó. & Skog, G. 1991. Radiocarbon dates from the Antarctic Peninsula region – problems and potential. Quaternary Proceedings, 1, 55–65.Google Scholar
Björck, S., Olsson, S., Ellis-Evans, C., Håkansson, H., Humlum, O. & deLirio, J.M. 1996. Late Holocene palaeoclimatic records from lake sediments on James Ross Island, Antarctica. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 121, 195–220.Google Scholar
Carrivick, J.L., Davies, B.J., Glasser, N.F., Nývlt, D. & Hambrey, M.J. 2012. Late Holocene changes in character and behaviour of land-terminating glaciers on James Ross Island, Antarctica. Journal of Glaciology, 58, 1176–1190.Google Scholar
Caughley, G. 1960. Dead seals inland. Antarctic, 2, 270–271.Google Scholar
Cook, A.J. & Vaughan, D.G. 2010. Overview of areal changes of the ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula over the past 50 years. Cryosphere, 4, 77–98.Google Scholar
Czech Geological Survey . 2009. James Ross Island – northern part. Topographic map 1:25 000. Prague: CGS.Google Scholar
Davies, B.J., Glasser, N.F., Carrivick, J.L., Hambrey, M.J., Smellie, J.L. & Nývlt, D. 2013. Landscape evolution and ice-sheet behaviour in a semi-arid polar environment: James Ross Island, NE Antarctic Peninsula. In Hambrey, M.J., Barker, P.F., Barrett, P.J., Bowman, V., Davies, B., Smellie, J.L. & Tranter, M., eds. Antarctic palaeoenvironments and earth-surface processes. Special Publication of the Geological Society of London, No. 381, 353–395.Google Scholar
Engel, Z., Nývlt, D. & Láska, K. 2012. Ice thickness, areal and volumetric changes of Davies Dome and Whisky Glacier (James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula) in 1979–2006. Journal of Glaciology, 58, 904–914.Google Scholar
Gordon, J.E. & Harkness, D.D. 1992. Magnitude and geographic variation of the radiocarbon content in Antarctic marine life: implications for reservoir correction in radiocarbon dating. Quaternary Science Reviews, 11, 697–708.Google Scholar
Harcourt, R. 2007. Weddell seal. In Riffenburgh, B., ed. Encyclopedia of the Antarctic, Vol. 2. New York, NY: Routledge, 1058–1060.Google Scholar
Hillson, S. 2005. Teeth, 2nd edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 358 pp.Google Scholar
Kopalová, K., Ochyra, R., Nedbalová, L. & van de Vijver, B. 2014. Moss-inhabiting diatoms from two contrasting Maritime Antarctic islands. Plant Ecology and Evolution, 147, 67–84.Google Scholar
Kopalová, K., Nedbalová, L., Nývlt, D., Elster, J. & van de Vijver, B. 2013. Diversity, ecology and biogeography of the freshwater diatom communities from Ulu Peninsula (James Ross Island, NE Antarctic Peninsula). Polar Biology, 36, 933–948.Google Scholar
Láska, K., Nývlt, D., Engel, Z. & Budík, L. 2012. Seasonal variation of meteorological variables and recent surface ablation/accumulation rates on Davies Dome and Whisky Glacier, James Ross Island, Antarctica. Geophysical Research Abstracts, 14, EGU2012-5545.Google Scholar
Láska, K., Barták, M., Hájek, J., Prošek, P. & Bohuslavová, O. 2011. Climatic and ecological characteristics of deglaciated area of James Ross Island, Antarctica, with a special respect to vegetation cover. Czech Polar Reports, 1, 49–62.Google Scholar
Laws, R.M. 1952. A new method of age determination in mammals. Nature, 169, 172.Google Scholar
Laws, R.M. & Taylor, R.J.F. 1957. A mass dying of crabeater seals, Lobodon carcinophagus (Gray). Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 129, 315–324.Google Scholar
Laws, R.M., Baird, A. & Bryden, M.M. 2002. Age estimation in crabeater seals (Lobodon carcinophagus). Journal of Zoology, 258, 197–203.Google Scholar
Laws, R.M., Baird, A. & Bryden, M.M. 2003. Size and growth of the crabeater seal Lobodon carcinophagus (Mammalia: Carnivora). Journal of Zoology, 259, 103–108.Google Scholar
Lewis Smith, R.I. 1997. Oases as centres of high plant diversity and dispersal. In Lyons, W.B., Howard-Williams, C. & Hawes, I., eds. Ecosystem processes in Antarctic ice-free landscapes. Rotterdam: A.A. Balkema, 119–128.Google Scholar
Mabin, M.C.G. 1985. 14C ages for ‘Heroic Era’ penguin and seal bones from Cape Evans, McMurdo Sound. New Zealand Antarctic Record, 7, 19–20.Google Scholar
Martin, P.J. & Peel, D.A. 1978. The spatial distribution of 10 m temperatures in the Antarctic Peninsula. Journal of Glaciology, 20, 311–317.Google Scholar
Nedbalová, L., Nývlt, D., Kopáček, J., Šobr, M. & Elster, J. 2013. Freshwater lakes of Ulu Peninsula, James Ross Island, north-east Antarctic Peninsula: origin, geomorphology and physical and chemical limnology. Antarctic Science, 25, 358–372.Google Scholar
Negrete, J., Soibelzon, E., Tonni, E.P., Carlini, A., Soibelzon, L.H., Poljak, S., Huarte, R.A. & Carbonari, J.E. 2011. Antarctic radiocarbon reservoir: the case of the mummified crabeater seals (Lobodon carcinophaga) in Bodman Cape, Seymour Island, Antarctica. Radiocarbon, 53, 161–166.Google Scholar
Nelson, A.E., Smellie, J.L., Williams, M. & Moreton, S. 2008. Age, geographical distribution and taphonomy of an unusual occurrence of mummified crabeater seals on James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula. Antarctic Science, 20, 485–493.Google Scholar
Nývlt, D., Košler, J., Mlčoch, B., Mixa, P., Lisá, L., Bubík, M. & Hendriks, B.W.H. 2011. The Mendel Formation: evidence for Late Miocene climatic cyclicity at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 299, 363–384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nývlt, D., Braucher, R., Engel, Z., Mlčoch, B. & ASTER Team 2014. Timing of the Northern Prince Gustav Ice Stream retreat and the deglaciation of northern James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula during the last glacial–interglacial transition. Quaternary Research, 82, 441–449.Google Scholar
Nývltová Fišáková, M. 2013. Seasonality of Gravettian sites in the Middle Danube Region and adjoining areas of Central Europe. Quaternary International, 294, 120–134.Google Scholar
Ochyra, R., Lewis Smith, R.I. & Bednarek-Ochyra, H. 2008. The illustrated moss flora of Antarctica. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 685 pp.Google Scholar
Olivero, E.B., Scasso, R.A. & Rinaldi, C.A. 1986. Revision of the Marambio Group, James Ross Island, Antarctica. Instituto Antártico Argentino, Contribución, 331, 1–28.Google Scholar
Péwé, T.L., Rivard, N.R. & Llano, G.A. 1959. Mummified seal carcasses in the McMurdo Sound region, Antarctica. Science, 130, 716.Google Scholar
Simmonds, I. 2015. Comparing and contrasting the behaviour of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice over the 35 year period 1979–2013. Annals of Glaciology, 56, 18–28.Google Scholar
Siniff, D.B., Stirling, I., Bengtson, J.L. & Reichle, R.A. 1979. Social and reproductive behavior of crabeater seals (Lobodon carcinophagus) during the austral spring. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 57, 2243–2255.Google Scholar
Stachoň, Z., Russnák, J., Nývlt, D. & Hrbáček, F. 2014. Stabilisation of geodetic points in the surroundings of Johann Gregor Mendel Station, James Ross Island, Antarctica. Czech Polar Reports, 4, 81–90.Google Scholar
Van Lipzig, N.P.M., King, J.C., Lachlan-Cope, T.A. & van den Broeke, M.R. 2004. Precipitation, sublimation, and snow drift in the Antarctic Peninsula region from a regional atmospheric model. Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres, 109, 10.1029/2004JD004701.Google Scholar
Whitham, A.G., Ineson, J.R. & Pirrie, D. 2006. Marine volcaniclastics of the Hidden Lake Formation (Coniacian) of James Ross Island, Antarctica: an enigmatic element in the history of a back-arc basin. In Francis, J.E., Pirrie, D. & Crame, J.A., eds. Cretaceous–Tertiary high-latitude palaeoenvironments, James Ross Basin, Antarctica. Special Publication of the Geological Society of London, No. 258, 21–47.Google Scholar
Zale, R. & Karlén, W. 1989. Lake sediment cores from the Antarctic Peninsula and surrounding islands. Geografiska Annaler - Physical Geography, 71A, 211–220.Google Scholar
Zvěřina, O., Láska, K., Červenka, R., Kuta, J., Coufalík, P. & Komárek, J. 2014. Analysis of mercury and other heavy metals accumulated in lichen Usnea antarctica from James Ross Island, Antarctica. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 186, 9089–9100.Google Scholar