Novel foraging strategies observed in a growing leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx) population at Livingston Island, Antarctic Peninsula

Table 1 Individual leopard seal deployment details and hunting tactics

Animal ID	Deployment date	Deployment length (d)	Dive depth (m)	No. trips	Mass (kg)	Standard length (cm)	Carcass	Target prey—hunting tactics
406Y	January 8, 2013	9.12	12.2 ± 8.2	4	498	312	4	2—ambush, 4—chase, 3—chase
394Y	February 1, 2013	4.69	13.1 ± 6.5	2	416	285	–	–
422Y	January 12, 2013	0.86	14.1 ± 9.3	1	416	293	2	2—ambush, 3—chase
397G	January 16, 2014	5.82	14.6 ± 10.5	3	385	289	–	2—ambush
16OR	February 12, 2014	4.65	17.7 ± 12.2	1	494	311	–	1—chase, 2—chase
401Y	January 14, 2014	4.12	16.1 ± 8.6	2	485	301	2	1—chase, 3—flush and stalk
37OR	January 23, 2014	4.30	15.0 ± 8.8	3	406	298	–	3—chase

Deployment dates, lengths and the number of foraging trips are listed per individual. Dive depth is mean (\(\bar{X}\)) ± standard deviation (SD). Listed mass obtained during recovery capture. Target prey: 1 Antarctic fur seal adult, 2 Antarctic fur seal pup, 3 notothen fish, 4 penguin. Carcass indicates the consumption of a scavenged/cached carcass within an individual’s video record. Seal 394Y made no capture attempts within the video record. Hunting tactics that were successful >50% of the time are highlighted in italics.

ISSN: 2050-3385