Diving of great shearwaters (Puffinus gravis) in cold and warm water regions of the South Atlantic Ocean

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dc.contributor.authorRonconi, Robert Aen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorRyan, Peter Gen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorRopert-Coudert, Yanen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-11-11T14:28:51Z
dc.date.available2015-11-11T14:28:51Z
dc.date.issued2010en_ZA
dc.description.abstractBACKGROUND: Among the most widespread seabirds in the world, shearwaters of the genus Puffinus are also some of the deepest diving members of the Procellariiformes. Maximum diving depths are known for several Puffinus species, but dive depths or diving behaviour have never been recorded for great shearwaters ( P. gravis ), the largest member of this genus. This study reports the first high sampling rate (2 s) of depth and diving behaviour for Puffinus shearwaters. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Time-depth recorders (TDRs) were deployed on two female great shearwaters nesting on Inaccessible Island in the South Atlantic Ocean, recording 10 consecutive days of diving activity. Remote sensing imagery and movement patterns of 8 males tracked by satellite telemetry over the same period were used to identify probable foraging areas used by TDR-equipped females. The deepest and longest dive was to 18.9 m and lasted 40 s, but most (>50%) dives were <2 m deep. Diving was most frequent near dawn and dusk, with <0.5% of dives occurring at night. The two individuals foraged in contrasting oceanographic conditions, one in cold (8 to 10°C) water of the Sub-Antarctic Front, likely 1000 km south of the breeding colony, and the other in warmer (10 to 16°C) water of the Sub-tropical Frontal Zone, at the same latitude as the colony, possibly on the Patagonian Shelf, 4000 km away. The cold water bird spent fewer days commuting, conducted four times as many dives as the warm water bird, dived deeper on average, and had a greater proportion of bottom time during dives. Conclusions/Significance General patterns of diving activity were consistent with those of other shearwaters foraging in cold and warm water habitats. Great shearwaters are likely adapted to forage in a wide range of oceanographic conditions, foraging mostly with shallow dives but capable of deep diving.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationRonconi, R. A., Ryan, P. G., & Ropert-Coudert, Y. (2010). Diving of great shearwaters (Puffinus gravis) in cold and warm water regions of the South Atlantic Ocean. <i>PLoS One</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14931en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationRonconi, Robert A, Peter G Ryan, and Yan Ropert-Coudert "Diving of great shearwaters (Puffinus gravis) in cold and warm water regions of the South Atlantic Ocean." <i>PLoS One</i> (2010) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14931en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationRonconi, R. A., Ryan, P. G., & Ropert-Coudert, Y. (2009). Diving of great shearwaters (Puffinus gravis) in cold and warm water regions of the South Atlantic Ocean. PloS one, 5(11), e15508-e15508. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0015508en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Ronconi, Robert A AU - Ryan, Peter G AU - Ropert-Coudert, Yan AB - BACKGROUND: Among the most widespread seabirds in the world, shearwaters of the genus Puffinus are also some of the deepest diving members of the Procellariiformes. Maximum diving depths are known for several Puffinus species, but dive depths or diving behaviour have never been recorded for great shearwaters ( P. gravis ), the largest member of this genus. This study reports the first high sampling rate (2 s) of depth and diving behaviour for Puffinus shearwaters. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Time-depth recorders (TDRs) were deployed on two female great shearwaters nesting on Inaccessible Island in the South Atlantic Ocean, recording 10 consecutive days of diving activity. Remote sensing imagery and movement patterns of 8 males tracked by satellite telemetry over the same period were used to identify probable foraging areas used by TDR-equipped females. The deepest and longest dive was to 18.9 m and lasted 40 s, but most (>50%) dives were <2 m deep. Diving was most frequent near dawn and dusk, with <0.5% of dives occurring at night. The two individuals foraged in contrasting oceanographic conditions, one in cold (8 to 10°C) water of the Sub-Antarctic Front, likely 1000 km south of the breeding colony, and the other in warmer (10 to 16°C) water of the Sub-tropical Frontal Zone, at the same latitude as the colony, possibly on the Patagonian Shelf, 4000 km away. The cold water bird spent fewer days commuting, conducted four times as many dives as the warm water bird, dived deeper on average, and had a greater proportion of bottom time during dives. Conclusions/Significance General patterns of diving activity were consistent with those of other shearwaters foraging in cold and warm water habitats. Great shearwaters are likely adapted to forage in a wide range of oceanographic conditions, foraging mostly with shallow dives but capable of deep diving. DA - 2010 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0015508 DP - University of Cape Town J1 - PLoS One LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2010 T1 - Diving of great shearwaters (Puffinus gravis) in cold and warm water regions of the South Atlantic Ocean TI - Diving of great shearwaters (Puffinus gravis) in cold and warm water regions of the South Atlantic Ocean UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14931 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/14931
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0015508
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationRonconi RA, Ryan PG, Ropert-Coudert Y. Diving of great shearwaters (Puffinus gravis) in cold and warm water regions of the South Atlantic Ocean. PLoS One. 2010; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14931.en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisherPublic Library of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentPercy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithologyen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.en_ZA
dc.rights.holder© 2010 Ronconi et alen_ZA
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0en_ZA
dc.sourcePLoS Oneen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://journals.plos.org/plosoneen_ZA
dc.subject.otherBirdsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherForagingen_ZA
dc.subject.otherHabitatsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherOceanographyen_ZA
dc.titleDiving of great shearwaters (Puffinus gravis) in cold and warm water regions of the South Atlantic Oceanen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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