Nobuyuki Miyazaki

Understanding what, how, and how often apex predators hunt is important due to their disproportionately large effects on ecosystems. In Lake Baikal with rich endemic fauna, Baikal seals appear to eat, in addition to fishes, a tiny (Macrohectopus branickii (the world’s only freshwater planktonic species). Yet, its importance as prey to seals is unclear. Globally, amphipods are rarely targeted by single-prey feeding (i.e., nonfilter-feeding) mammals, presumably due to their small size. If M. branickii is energetically important prey, Baikal seals would exhibit exceptionally high foraging rates, potentially with behavioral and morphological specializations. Here, we used animal-borne accelerometers and video cameras to record Baikal seal foraging behavior. Unlike the prevailing view that they predominantly eat fishes, they also hunted M. branickii at the highest rates (mean, 57 individuals per dive) ever recorded for single-prey feeding aquatic mammals, leading to thousands of catches per day. These rates were achieved by gradual changes in dive depth following the diel vertical migration of M. branickii swarms. Examining museum specimens revealed that Baikal seals have the most specialized comb-like postcanine teeth in the subfamily Phocinae, allowing them to expel water while retaining prey during high-speed foraging. Our findings show unique mammal–amphipod interactions in an ancient lake, demonstrating that organisms even smaller than krill can be important prey for single-prey feeding aquatic mammals if the environment and predators’ adaptations allow high foraging rates. Further, our finding that Baikal seals directly eat macroplankton may explain why they are so abundant in this ultraoligotrophic lake. Significance Despite being ubiquitous in aquatic environments, amphipods are rarely targeted by seals or toothed whales, likely because they contain too little energy to warrant catching individually. We report a remarkable case of Baikal seals in Lake Baikal, among the least studied seal species. Seals individually hunted tiny (<0.1 g) endemic amphipods (the world’s only freshwater planktonic species) at the highest rates ever recorded for aquatic mammals, primarily by following diel depth changes of amphipod swarms. Baikal seals have specialized comb-like cheek teeth, allowing them to expel water that enters the mouth during high-speed foraging. Thus, even tiny organisms can be important foods for aquatic mammals that catch prey individually, if the environment and predators’ adaptations allow high foraging rates.

Identifying characteristics of foraging activity is fundamental to understanding an animals’ lifestyle and foraging ecology. Despite its importance, monitoring the foraging activities of marine animals is difficult because direct observation is rarely possible. In this study, we use an animal-borne imaging system and three-dimensional data logger simultaneously to observe the foraging behaviour of large juvenile and adult sized loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) in their natural environment. Video recordings showed that the turtles foraged on gelatinous prey while swimming in mid-water (i.e., defined as epipelagic water column deeper than 1 m in this study). By linking video and 3D data, we found that mid-water foraging events share the common feature of a marked deceleration phase associated with the capture and handling of the sluggish prey. Analysis of high-resolution 3D movements during mid-water foraging events, including presumptive events extracted from 3D data using deceleration in swim speed as a proxy for foraging (detection rate = 0.67), showed that turtles swam straight toward prey in 171 events (i.e., turning point absent) but made a single turn toward the prey an average of 5.7±6.0 m before reaching the prey in 229 events (i.e., turning point present). Foraging events with a turning point tended to occur during the daytime, suggesting that turtles primarily used visual cues to locate prey. In addition, an incident of a turtle encountering a plastic bag while swimming in mid-water was recorded. The fact that the turtle’s movements while approaching the plastic bag were analogous to those of a true foraging event, having a turning point and deceleration phase, also support the use of vision in mid-water foraging. Our study shows that integrated video and high-resolution 3D data analysis provides unique opportunities to understand foraging behaviours in the context of the sensory ecology involved in prey location.

Coastal marine environments are considered to be the most sensitive areas for the accumulation of organotin (OT) compounds and other emerging new pollutants, such as perfluoroalkyl compounds. Contamination by these compounds is a matter of great concern due to their accumulation and possible negative impact on the coastal environment and organisms. The concentrations of tributyltin (TBT) compounds were greater in Indonesia, i.e., on the order of Bitung > Manado > Jakarta Bay > Gangga Island, and TBT in sediment from Bitung and Manado was the dominant species among butyltin (BT) compounds. Sea Nine 211, diuron, and irgarol 1051 were detected among alternative biocides in Bitung, Manado, and Gangga Island and irgarol 1051 was detected in Jakarta Bay. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorosulfonic acid (PFOS) in Jakarta Bay were detected at 0.25 to 6.1 μg kg⁻¹ dry weight (dw) and 0.58 to 3.7 μg kg⁻¹ dw, respectively, and the concentrations of PFOS at most sampling sites were greater than those of PFOA. Thus, coastal waters from Indonesia have already been contaminated by antifouling biocides and perfluoroalkyl compounds.

SUMMARY: Many diving animals undergo substantial changes in their body density that are the result of changes in lipid content over their annual fasting cycle. Because the size of the lipid stores reflects an integration of foraging effort (energy expenditure) and foraging success (energy assimilation), measuring body density is a good way to track net resource acquisition of free-ranging animals while at sea. Here, we experimentally altered the body density and mass of three free-ranging elephant seals by remotely detaching weights and floats while monitoring their swimming speed, depth and three-axis acceleration with a high-resolution data logger. Cross-validation of three methods for estimating body density from hydrodynamic gliding performance of freely diving animals showed strong positive correlation with body density estimates obtained from isotope dilution body composition analysis over density ranges of 1015 to 1060 kg m–3. All three hydrodynamic models were within 1% of, but slightly greater than, body density measurements determined by isotope dilution, and therefore have the potential to track changes in body condition of a wide range of freely diving animals. Gliding during ascent and descent clearly increased and stroke rate decreased when buoyancy manipulations aided the direction of vertical transit, but ascent and descent speed were largely unchanged. The seals adjusted stroking intensity to maintain swim speed within a narrow range, despite changes in buoyancy. During active swimming, all three seals increased the amplitude of lateral body accelerations and two of the seals altered stroke frequency in response to the need to produce thrust required to overcome combined drag and buoyancy forces.