The Distributional Ecology of Antarctic Seals

9403672西尼夫将结合1994年2月和3月在阿蒙森海和别林豪森海进行的海洋物理考察，对南极海豹的生态进行研究。海洋学的目标和邮轮航道的设计为调查该地区的海豹种群提供了一个无与伦比的机会。最近一次关于南极海豹的国际研讨会确定，这些顶级捕食者可能对南大洋的碳流具有重要作用。这次研讨会提出了一些问题，以解决有关海豹在浮冰生态系统中的作用的假设。这次巡航将有助于收集关于这九个重要研究问题中的一个的数据：“浮冰海豹分布变化的原因和规模是什么？”由于巡航是多学科性质的，将收集关于海洋学参数的数据，以及鸟类丰度的数据，这将使分析成为可能，以洞察功能关系，从而了解分布模式变化的原因。海豹研究将收集有关海豹密度和分布的数据，以及用于南极地区之间遗传比较的组织样本。***

9403672 Siniff A study of the ecology of Antarctic seals will be conducted in conjunction with a physical oceanography cruise that will take place in the Amundsen and Bellingshausen Seas during February and March 1994. The objectives of the oceanography and design of the cruise track offers an unparalleled opportunity to investigate the region's seal populations. A recent international workshop on Antarctic seals has identified these top level predators as potentially important in the carbon flux of the Southern Ocean. This workshop posed questions to address hypotheses regarding the seals' roles in the pack ice ecosystem. This cruise will help collect data on one of these nine important research questions: "What are the causes and scale of variation in the distribution of pack ice seals?" Since the cruise is multidisciplinary in nature, there will be data collected on oceanographic parameters, as well as bird abundance which will make possible analyses to give insight into functional relationships and hence causes of variations in distributional patterns. The seal studies will collect data on densities and distribution, as well as tissue samples for genetic comparisons among regions of the Antarctic. ***