Evaluating southern elephant seal navigation through analysis of movement patterns and associated environmental cues
department or school: Science, Faculty of
department or school: Oceans and Fisheries, Institute for the
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Gill, Kathleen P.
issued: 2025-09-04T19:28:52Z
issued: 2025
related degree: Master of Science - MSc
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Migratory movement is integral to the life histories of many animal species, as they travel in pursuit of essential resources, favourable environmental conditions, and reproductive opportunities. The migrations of marine mammals are among the most impressive, spanning vast expanses of open ocean over months at a time. How they navigate this seemingly featureless landscape remains largely unknown, as are the potential environmental cues that may guide them. Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) provide a compelling model for studying open ocean navigation, as they spend most of their lives at sea and migrate thousands of kilometers to reach small, isolated breeding islands. Using ARGOS satellite locations from 271 southern elephant seals tracked across the Southern Ocean between 2009 and 2019, I quantified the characteristics of their long-distance movements and evaluated them against theoretical predictions that assumed reliance on lunar, solar, and geomagnetic environmental cues. I found that the migratory paths of southern elephant seals were remarkably precise and efficient when returning to breeding islands. Individuals maintained straight-line trajectories that accounted for the curvature of the Earth and corrected for drift caused by ocean currents, despite initiating travel from widely dispersed locations. These findings suggest that southern elephant seals are capable of sophisticated navigation, likely guided by specific environmental cues. My results indicate it is unlikely that lunar and solar cues are used for orientation, but the observed movement patterns closely align with predicted use of geomagnetic cues. Seals consistently followed gradients of geomagnetic inclination, total intensity, and declination, with many paths following a combination of two gradients. Sensitivity analyses suggest that successful navigation would require seals to possess high sensitivity to subtle changes in geomagnetic values, whether following individual cue gradients…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/92237
note: EVALUATING SOUTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL NAVIGATION THROUGH ANALYSIS OF MOVEMENT PATTERNS AND ASSOCIATED ENVIRONMENTAL CUES by Kathleen P. Gill B.Sc., The University of Washington, 2017 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Oceans and Fisheries) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) September 2025 © Kathleen P. Gill, 2025 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the thesis entitled: Evaluating Southern Elephant Seal Navigation Through Analysis of Movement Patterns and Associated Environmental Cues submitted by Kathleen P. Gill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Oceans and Fisheries Examining Committee: David Rosen, Assistant Professor, Institute for Oceans and Fisheries, UBC Supervisor Andrew Trites, Professor, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Marie Auger-Méthé, Associate Professor, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, UBC Supervisory Committee Member iii Abstract Migratory movement is integral to the life histories of many animal species, as they travel in pursuit of essential resources, favourable environmental conditions, and reproductive opportunities. The migrations of marine mammals are among the most impressive, spanning vast expanses of open ocean over months at a time. How they navigate this seemingly featureless landscape remains largely unknown, as are the potential environmental cues that may guide them. Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) provide a compelling model for studying open ocean navigation, as they spend most of their lives at sea and migrate thousands of kilometers to reach small, isolated breeding islands. Using ARGOS satellite locations from 271 southern elephant seals tracked across the Southern Ocean between 2009 and 2019, I quant…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2025-11
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0450043
language: eng
degree discipline: Oceans and Fisheries
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Rosen, David A. S.
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/92237