Antarctic fur seals
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Vital Statistics
Scientific name: Arctocephalus gazella
Weight: Females: 45 kg; males: 188 kg
Length: Females: 1.2 m; males: 1.9 m
Breeding age: 3-4 years for females, 7 years for males
Breeding frequency: Annual
Breeding season: November - late December
Age to weaning: 4 months
Longevity: 23 years for females, 15 years for males
Name Derivation: Arctocephalus roughly translates to ‘bear-headed’, with the species name attributed to the SMS Gazelle, the vessel that collected the first specimen from Kerguelen Island.
Foraging Statistics
What do I eat? Myctophid fish around Heard Island, Antarctic krill around South Georgia
What eats me? Leopard seals are known to hunt pups
Range trip time: From 24 hours to 3 weeks
Range trip length: 50 to > 2000 km depending on breeding stage
Depth of water where foraging: Generally to the mixed layer (< 50-60 m) but deeper dives have been recorded. Average dive depth of males (100-200 m) is deeper than that of females (<50 m)
Extreme dive depth/time: Dives of 250 m have been recorded
Distribution & Abundance
Distribution: Breeds on islands and the Antarctic Peninsula from 61°S northward to the Antarctic Convergence. Females may migrate north of the convergence, some males migrate south after the breeding season.
Abundance: Approximately 1.6 million, with some estimates as high as 4 million. 95% of the population breeds at South Georgia
Population Status: Populations are currently increasing at a mean annual rate of 9.8%, after being hunted to near-extinction by sealers in the late 18th century.
Conservation Status: The species is a listed marine species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and is protected by a number of international agreements (e.g. listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (CCAS) under the Antarctic Treaty).
Antarctic fur seals are also covered by the Action Plan for Australian Seals.
General Comments
Antarctic fur seals are more commonly seen on the eastern side of Heard Island, where the largest haul-outs occur and where the highest number of pups are born.
