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Science 12 February 1999:
Vol. 283. no. 5404, pp. 993 - 996
DOI: 10.1126/science.283.5404.993
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Reports

Hunting Behavior of a Marine Mammal Beneath the Antarctic Fast Ice

R. W. Davis, 1* L. A. Fuiman, 2 T. M. Williams, 3 S. O. Collier, 1 W. P. Hagey, 4 S. B. Kanatous, 5 S. Kohin, 5 M. Horning 1

The hunting behavior of a marine mammal was studied beneath the Antarctic fast ice with an animal-borne video system and data recorder. Weddell seals stalked large Antarctic cod and the smaller subice fish Pagothenia borchgrevinki, often with the under-ice surface for backlighting, which implies that vision is important for hunting. They approached to within centimeters of cod without startling the fish. Seals flushed P. borchgrevinki by blowing air into subice crevices or pursued them into the platelet ice. These observations highlight the broad range of insights that are possible with simultaneous recordings of video, audio, three-dimensional dive paths, and locomotor effort.

1 Department of Marine Biology, Texas A&M University, 5007 Avenue U, Galveston, TX 77553, USA.
2 Department of Marine Science, University of Texas at Austin, 750 Channel View Drive, Port Aransas, TX 78373, USA.
3 Department of Biology, EMS-A316, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
4 Pisces Design, 7660 Fay Avenue, Suite H-186, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
5 University of California School of Medicine, 0623A, 9500 Gillman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: davisr{at}tamug.tamu.edu

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