At surface behaviour of juvenile and female southern elephant seals from King George Island from expeditions JUB1996 and JUB1997

Between December 1996 and February 1997, weaned pups and postmoult female southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) were fitted with satellite transmitters at King George Island (South Shetlands). Of the nine adult females tracked for more than two months, three stayed in a localized area between the South Shetlands and the South Orkneys. The other six females travelled southwest along the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula up to the Bellingshausen Sea. Two of them then moved far northeast and hauled out on South Georgia in October. One female was last located north of the South Shetlands in March 1998. In total, eight females were again sighted on King George Island and six of the transmitters removed. The tracks of the weaners contrasted with those of the adults. In January, five juveniles left King George Island for the Pacific sector ranging about four weeks in the open sea west of the De Gerlache Seamounts. Three of them returned to the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula in June, of which one was last located on the Patagonian Shelf in November 1997. A computer animation was developed to visualize the animal movements in relation to the extent and concentration of sea ice. The juveniles avoided sea ice while the adults did not. The latter displayed behavioural differences in using the pack ice habitat during winter. Some females adjusted their movement patterns to the pulsating sea ice fringe in far-distant foraging areas while others ranged in closed pack ice of up to 100 %. The feeding grounds of adult female elephant seals are more closely associated with the pack ice zone than previously assumed.

1996年12月至1997年2月期间，研究团队于南设得兰群岛的乔治王岛，为断奶幼崽与换毛后的雌性南象海豹（Mirounga leonina）安装了卫星追踪发射器。在追踪时长超过两个月的9头成年雌性个体中，有3头停留于南设得兰群岛与南奥克尼群岛之间的局部海域。其余6头雌性沿南极半岛海岸向西南方向行进，最远抵达别林斯高晋海。其中2头随后向东北远迁，并于10月在南乔治亚岛登陆。另有1头雌性的最后定位记录为1998年3月，地点位于南设得兰群岛以北海域。总计有8头雌性个体在乔治王岛被重新观测到，其中6头的追踪器被成功回收。

断奶幼崽的追踪轨迹与成年个体存在显著差异：1月，5头幼年海豹离开乔治王岛，前往太平洋海域活动，在德热尔拉什海山以西的公海区域停留时长约4周。其中3头于6月返回南极半岛尖端，另有1头的最后定位记录为1997年11月，地点位于巴塔哥尼亚陆架。

研究团队开发了计算机动画程序，用于可视化海豹移动轨迹与海冰范围及密集度的关联关系。幼年海豹会主动避开海冰区域，而成年海豹则无此行为偏好。成年雌性在冬季浮冰生境的利用上存在行为差异：部分个体的移动模式会随远距觅食区脉动的海冰边缘进行调整，其余个体则活动于海冰密集度高达100%的封闭浮冰区域。

成年雌性南象海豹的觅食场与浮冰带的关联程度，较此前学界的普遍认知更为紧密。