ALBERT

Beschreibung: The fur seal, Arctocephalus gazella, population at Mossman Peninsula (Laurie Island) was studied from 1985 to 1987. Weekly counts were carried out at a 4 km bachelor haul-out beach from December through June. Maxima of 2 240, 2 787 and 5 196 juvenile and adult males were counted during March of the respective years. Census data indicate an increase in the non-breeding population of 13.5% between 1985–1986 and 46.5% between 1986–1987.

Beschreibung: In the Antarctic there are large unexploited stocks of cephalopods with high potential commercial value and there are two important fisheries for squid in the cool temperate waters of the Southern Ocean, adjacent to the Antarctic, in the Atlantic and Pacific sectors. Squid fisheries can develop very rapidly, and if this were to happen in the Antarctic before adequate management plans could be established, there would be serious consequences for the squid stocks, and also for the vertebrate predator populations which depend on them. It is especially important to increase our knowledge of the Antarctic cephalopod species, their distribution and role in the food chain, and to understand their life cycles

Beschreibung: At ODP Site 661 from the continental margin of Northwest Africa, authigenic clinoptilolites were investigated in detail. Based on chemical data, crystal size and shape and their intergrowth with associated mineral phases, two types of clinoptilolite (type A and B) occur representing different diagenetic conditions under which the formation of zeolites took place. Clinoptilolite type A was found in a sediment section comprises numerous hiatuses and stratigraphically condensed sediments and could have been formed during early diagenesis. In contrast, clinoptilolite type B was precipitated in Campanian sediments during later diagenesis, after the transformation from opal-A to opal-CT had taken place. At Site 661, the silica source for the authigenesis of both clinoptilolite types is biogenic opal. Volcanic ash material occurs, but in low amounts and thus is not a prerequisite for the formation of clinoptilolite at Site 661.

Beschreibung: Respiration and nitrogen excretion rates of mature adult Loligo forbesi were investigated at the Roscoff Laboratory (North Brittany, France) during individual short-term incubation experiments in January 1986. The squids were in post-digestive condition and not actively swimming. Both oxygen uptake and nitrogen excretion are continuous processes. The metabolic rates of this active nektonic species (145 ml kg-1 h-1 oxygen uptake, 18.56 μg g-1 h-1 ammonia excretion) are distinctly higher than those of benthic cephalopods. Proteins constitute the main metabolic substrate for energetic needs. Besides ammonia, urea is also continuously released, in amounts ranging from 5 to 16% of ammonia-excretion values.

Beschreibung: First culture results are presented from four major experiments (lasting up to 478 days) on the commercially important squid species, Loligo forbesi Steenstrup, Details are provided on eggs, hatching, feeding, growth, survival, behaviour and sexual maturation. Best survival during the critical first 75 days was 15%. The hatchlings (up to 4.9mm mantle length, ML) are the largest among the genus Loligo, and the largest squid grown was a male 155mm ML and 124g. First schooling was observed only 40–50 days post-hatching. Spawning was not achieved although males reached maturity, females had maturing ova and mating was observed. The largest giant axon measured was 425μm in diameter (from a female 130mm ML), a size suitable for most biomedical applications. Laboratory data suggest a 2-year life cycle compared to fishery data which suggest a 1-year cycle.

Beschreibung: Loligo forbesi Steenstrup is a commercially and biomedically important species raneing from Scotland to North Africa and from the Azores Islands in the central Atlantic east through the Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea. Eggs were collected from Plymouth. England and from the Azores and the hatchlings were reared to adult size in recirculating seawater systems. Growth data were obtained primarily from mortalities during the course of three culture experiments which lasted 360, 240 and 480 days. Loligo forbesi hatched at a size of 5–9mg (3.0–4.6mm mantle length, ML) and grew to a maximum size of 124g (155 mm ML) in 413 days. In all experiments, growth was exponential in form for at least the first 3 months at rales of 5.8, 5.1 and 3.6% body weight per day (BW/d) at mean temperatures of 14.1, 14.0 and 13.1°C respectively. In one short-term experiment, month-old squids grew at 8.0% BW/d at 17.4°C. Growth beyond 3 months was slower and either logarithmic (as described by the power function) or exponential in form. Growth rates gradually declined to 1–2% BW/d, Analyses of mantle length growth confirmed the wet weight results. There was no evidence of sexual dimorphism in the laboratory populations, which were of small size, and the length-weight (L-W) relationships were found to be similar to those of field populations. Growth rates during the exponential growth phase appeared very sensitive to temperature, with a 1°C difference changing growth rate by 2% BW/d and producing a three-fold difference in weight at 90 days post-hatching. These dramatic effects of temperature on adult size and lifespan in nature are discussed. It is hypothesized that the small size of mature laboratory-reared squids was due to low culture temperatures during the first 3 months.

Beschreibung: The diets of five breeding seabird species were investigated on Adélie Land in January–February 1982. Stomach contents of Adélie penguins, Pygoscelis adeliae, were sampled by a water off-loading method and of Procellariiformes by spontaneous regurgitation. Diet compositions by mass were: Adélie penguin (79% euphausiid, 18% fish, 3% squid); Cape pigeon, Daption capense, (64% euphausiid, 29% fish, 7% carrion); Antarctic fulmar, Fulmarus glacialoides, (64% euphausiid, 20% carrion, 16% fish); snow petrel, Pagodroma nivea, (95% fish, 2% euphausiid, 1% carrion) and Wilson's stormpetrel, Oceanites oceanicus, (39% fish, 37% euphausiid, 13% carrion, 12% various crustaceans). The present Adélie penguin diet is consistent with those reported in other studies, given our knowledge of geographical variation in food availability. Differences in the diets of fulmarine petrels appear to relate to differences in foraging areas. The snow petrel is a fish-eating bird associated with pack-ice. Cape pigeon and Antarctic fulmar are mainly krill-eaters and we infer segregation along a neritic/oceanic gradient because of the importance of the neritic Euphausia crystallorophias in the former and the oceanic E. superba in the latter.

Beschreibung: The foraging behaviour of fur seals and two species of surface feeding seabirds was observed over swarms of vertically migrating krill along the Antarctic Peninsula in July 1987. Fur Seal haul out patterns were correlated with krill in the upper 30 m of the water column. Krill moved to the surface at night; seals subsequently foraged from 1400-0700 hours before returning to floes. Foraging was continuous through the night. Dive duration decreased as krill moved up to the surface; shorter dives may have been more successful than longer ones. It is possible that very deep dives, which occur early in a foraging bout, represent more of an attempt to assess krill depth and distribution rather than being a genuine foraging effort. Seabirds responded to the presence of a surface krill swarm by circling over it and foraging; krill at depths greater than 30 m elicited directional flight and low frequencies of prey capture attempts. Both Snow Petrels and Antarctic Terns preyed on krill, but each species approached the swarms from different habitats. Snow Petrels primarily overflew areas covered by ice; terns preferred open water. This suggested that prey encounters are essentially opportunistic, although the search for prey is limited to rather specific marine habitats. This feature may be important to our understanding of the factors that determine the pelagic distribution of seabirds.