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Photographs of Arctocephalus galapagoensis at Barra El Jiote community on Jutiapa 9 June 2016 (a, b) and 10 June 2016 (c), and at Asociación de Rescate de Vida Silvestre on 14 June 2016 (d), Guatemala. The morphological characteristics captured in the photographs distinguish this species from other Arctocephalus. The characteristics include a short pointed muzzle (a, b, d) with a pale tan extending onto the face and forehead over the eyes forming a small pale mask (b, c, d); a slightly rounded crown, a short sloping forehead; and no conspicuous sagittal crest (a, b, c). Additionally, the individual had a grizzled gray-brown fur on the back of the body and sides (b). Photo credits: A. Flores (a, c) and E. Quintana-Rizzo (b, d)
Source publication
Galapagos fur seals, Arctocephalus galapagoensis, inhabit the Galapagos Archipelago. The species is considered to be non-migratory, remaining in the Galapagos year-round. On 9 June 2016, a live fur seal stranded on the Pacific coast of Guatemala. Morphological characteristics (slightly rounded crown, short pointed muzzle with a lighter colored pela...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... Muzzle size, shape and color: The fur seal had a short pointed muzzle. The muzzle was pale tan and the color extended onto the face and forehead over the eyes, forming the distinctive pale mask characteristic of the species (Fig. 2a, b). 2. Head shape: The fur seal had a slightly rounded crown, short sloping forehead and did not have a conspicuous sagittal crest characteristic of other male otariids ( Fig. 2b-d). 3. Fur coloration (body and head): The front and sides of the muzzle and underparts of the body of the dry fur of the seal were a pale tan, and the sides ...
Context 2
... muzzle. The muzzle was pale tan and the color extended onto the face and forehead over the eyes, forming the distinctive pale mask characteristic of the species (Fig. 2a, b). 2. Head shape: The fur seal had a slightly rounded crown, short sloping forehead and did not have a conspicuous sagittal crest characteristic of other male otariids ( Fig. 2b-d). 3. Fur coloration (body and head): The front and sides of the muzzle and underparts of the body of the dry fur of the seal were a pale tan, and the sides and back of the body (Fig. 2b) were grizzled ...
Context 3
... shape: The fur seal had a slightly rounded crown, short sloping forehead and did not have a conspicuous sagittal crest characteristic of other male otariids ( Fig. 2b-d). 3. Fur coloration (body and head): The front and sides of the muzzle and underparts of the body of the dry fur of the seal were a pale tan, and the sides and back of the body (Fig. 2b) were grizzled ...
Citations
... Rehabilitation of endangered otariids included the Galápagos fur seal (Arctocephalus galapagoensis) and Galápagos sea lion (Zalophus wollebaeki). Four of the five reports on the rehabilitation of these species reported on extra-limital occurrences of single individuals [22][23][24][25]. While the Galápagos species are vulnerable to climatic changes and anthropogenic activity, including entanglement in fishing gear and refuse, oil spills, and introduced pathogens, rehabilitation efforts currently appear to be limited to in situ responses [26]. ...
Rehabilitation of marine mammals is performed throughout the world, yet the impact of rehabilitation on individuals and populations is questionable given the lack of robust information on the rehabilitation process and post-release monitoring in most cases. The goals of this study were to perform a systematic review of existing literature on marine mammal rehabilitation between 2000–2023 to determine the current state of rehabilitation and to evaluate the rehabilitation and conservation factors that could be used to build a framework to assess the health of rehabilitation programs worldwide. A total of 418 publications encompassing 52 species of marine mammal were included in the systematic review. Rehabilitation efforts focused mostly on pinnipeds, and North America was the most represented region. Data are scarce for both short- and long-term post-release survival across species. Reports about species threatened with extinction were significantly more likely to include information about conservation parameters than those species of least concern. A meta-analysis demonstrated a fairly strong fit of the dimensions of the proposed framework for a rehabilitation health index. Further refinement would strengthen the utility of this tool for both rehabilitation and conservation programs.
... Reports of otariids off the Pacific coast of southern Mexico and Central America are common and include sightings of possible vagrants at sea (Acevedo-Gutiérrez, 1994;Aurioles-Gamboa et al., 2004;Montoya, 2008;Ortega-Ortiz et al., 2013;Ibarra-Portillo et al., 2016;Villegas-Zurita et al., 2016;Quintana-Rizzo et al., 2017). These sightings included Galapagos fur seals (Arctocephalus galapagoensis), Juan Fernández fur seals (Arctocephalus philippii philippii), Guadalupe fur seals (Arctocephalus philippii townsendi), Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus), South American sea lions (Otaria flavescens), California sea lions (Zalophus californianus), and Galapagos sea lions (Zalophus wollebaeki). ...
Records of pinnipeds along the Pacific coastlines of Central America are sparse, limiting our understanding of which species occur in the region. In Nicaragua, little is known about the presence and distribution of pinnipeds which visit or temporarily inhabit the Pacific coast. Compiling sighting information on pinniped occurrence and confirming species presence is a first step towards assessing local species diversity for regional regulations and species protection. To determine pinniped species occurring in the area, we gathered opportunistic sightings of fur seals and sea lions found on online public platforms and crowd-sourced through local citizen science efforts. Photographic and geographic information were collected whenever possible to confirm species through visual cues, and to identify the location of occurrence. From 2007 to 2020, we recorded nine sightings of pinnipeds including three sightings of sea lions (Genus: Zalophus) of two possible species (California sea lion Zalophus californianus and/or Galapagos sea lion Zalophus wollebaeki), and six sightings of fur seals (Genus: Arctocephalus), four of them confirmed as Galapagos fur seals (Arctocephalus galapagoensis), and two Otariids unidentified to species level. Records are distributed from the northern Pacific coast of Nicaragua (Golfo de Fonseca) to its southern coast (San Juan del Sur). This paper presents the first records of pinnipeds along the Pacific coast of Nicaragua. Future studies should examine species distribution and behavior throughout the Pacific coast of Central America to understand potential range of these species.
... Several pinniped species show a high dispersion capability during their feeding trips and oceanic distribution. This mobile capacity includes extralimital movements of vagrant adult and subadult individuals at sea and in coastal regions, hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away from their typical feeding or breeding areas in oceanic-coastal regions (e.g., Avila et al., 2014;Elorriaga-Verplancken et al., 2016;Alava & Aurioles-Gamboa, 2017;Quintana-Rizzo et al., 2017;Orr et al., 2018;Páez-Rosas et al., 2020;de Vos, 2021). These behavioral Southern Elephant Seals in the Eastern Tropical Pacific dispersions and movements have allowed researchers in recent years to document numerous records of SES adult and subadult males resting and hauling out on the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) coasts, including in México, El Salvador, Panamá, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, and Chile (Alava & Carvajal, 2005;Sepúlveda et al., 2007;Acevedo et al., 2016;Páez-Rosas et al., 2018;Redwood & Félix, 2018;Elorriaga-Verplancken et al., 2020;Avila et al., 2021;Rosero & Alava, 2021;López et al., 2022; Figure 1). ...
The southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) is a species distributed in the circumpolar region and Southern Ocean; however, a significant number of new off-range sightings have been reported over the years. Using historical and recent sightings from 1989 to 2022 of M. leonina along the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP), including the newest records in Galapagos Islands and other areas, we assessed the species occurrence in this region. Overall opportunistic observations of M. leonina were recorded, i.e., Peru (n=14), Ecuador (n= 15), Colombia (n= 4), Panamá (n= 1), Guatemala (n = 1), Salvador (n= 1), and Mexico (n= 3) between 1989 and mid-2022. To understand the presence and frequency of this species in the ETP as a potential new habitat, a habitat suitability index (HSI) was developed to correlate extralimital distribution in relation to environmental variables and sea surface temperature anomalies (Southern Oscillation Index: >-3°C to -0.5°C) associated to atmospheric-oceanographic episodes such as La Niña events. Plausible habitat suitability for this species is expected to increase (HSI anomaly= 5 to >15%) along the ETP in response to ocean environmental changes. With an increasing occurrence of M. leonina in recent years, we postulate the influence of oceanographic-climatic conditions exacerbated by climate change for the increased off-range sightings in these regions.
... Similarly, Antarctic seals such as Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii (Lesson, 1826)) have been recorded off the coast of Brazil (Frainer, Heissler & Moreno, 2018) and New Zealand (Miskelly, 2015). Tropical species also have vagrant individuals, as it is shown by a record of a Galapagos fur seal (Arctocephalus galapagoensis Heller, 1904) in Guatemala (Quintana-Rizzo et al., 2017). In particular, vagrant Southern elephant seals have been recorded on the coasts of Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Galapagos Islands, Panama, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Oman, and Mexico ( Fig. 2A) (Alava & Carvajal, 2005;Magalhães et al., 2003;Mayorga et al., 2017;Redwood & Felix, 2018;Acevedo et al., 2016;Johnson, 1990;Sepúlveda et al., 2007;De Moura et al., 2010;Pacheco, Silva & Riascos, 2014;Cárcamo et al., 2019;Sepúlveda et al., 2018;De Moura, Di Dario & Siciliano, 2011;Mertz & Bester, 2011;Mayorga et al., 2016;Shaughnessy, Kemper & Ling, 2012;Elorriaga-Verplancken et al., 2020). ...
Elephant seals ( Mirounga spp.) are the largest living pinnipeds, and the spatial scales of their ecology, with dives over 1 km in depth and foraging trips over 10,000 km long, are unrivalled by their near relatives. Here we report the discovery of an incomplete Holocene age Southern elephant seal ( M. leonina ) rostrum from Indiana, USA. The surviving material are two casts of the original specimen, which was collected in a construction excavation close to the Wabash River near Lafayette, Indiana. The original specimen was mostly destroyed for radiometric dating analyses in the 1970s, which resulted in an age of 1,260 ± 90 years before the present. The existence of sediments in the original specimen suggests some type of post depositional fluvial transportation. The prevalent evidence suggests that this male Southern elephant seal crossed the equator and the Gulf of Mexico, and then entered the Mississippi River system, stranding far upriver in Indiana or adjacent areas, similar to other reported examples of lost marine mammals in freshwater systems. Based on potential cut marks, we cannot exclude human-mediated transportation or scavenging by Indigenous peoples as a contributing factor of this occurrence. The material reported here represents by far the northernmost occurrence of a Southern elephant seal in the Northern Hemisphere ever recorded. The unusual occurrence of a top marine predator >1,000 km from the closest marine effluent as a potential extreme case of dispersal emphasizes how marine invasions of freshwater systems have happened frequently through historical (and likely geological) time.
... Oceanographic-atmospheric events such as El Niño (i.e. ENSO events) and La Niña have severe impacts affecting the migration patterns and feeding trips of pinnipeds (Alava and Salazar 2006;Avila et al. 2015;Alava and Aurioles-Gamboa 2017;Elorriaga-Verplancken et al. 2016, Páez-Rosas et al. 2017Quintana-Rizzo et al. 2017). These changes are generally associated with the availability of food due to the displacement of prey towards colder regions or deeper waters (Soto et al. 2004;Trites et al. 2007). ...
... The dispersal capacity of pinnipeds has contributed to the movement of several species (e.g., harbour seals, Phoca vitulina; hooded seal, Cystophora cristata; southern elephants seals, M. leonina, Juan Fernandez fur seal, Arctocephalus philippii; Galapagos fur seals; Arctocephalus galapagoensis; Guadalupe fur seals, Arctocephalus towsendi) hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away from their feeding or breeding areas (Johnson 1990;Reeves et al. 2002;Alava and Carvajal 2005;Avila et al. 2015;Alava and Aurioles-Gamboa 2017;Páez-Rosas et al. 2017;Quintana-Rizzo et al. 2017), with many sightings involving cases associated with vagrant adult individuals at sea and along coastal regions during their feeding trips. Southern elephant seal adults have been reported resting on the coasts of Brazil, Ecuador, Galapagos Islands, Chile, Panama, Peru, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand (Reeves et al. 2002;Magalhães et al. 2003;Vargas and Steinfurth 2004;Lewis and Campagna 2005;Alava and Carvajal 2005;Lewis et al. 2006;Sepúlveda et al. 2007;Acevedo et al. 2016;Mayorga et al. 2017;Stewart and Felix 2018). ...
Background: Extralimital observations of pinnipeds are important to understand the effects of changing climates on our oceans and the distribution of these species. The southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) is a known vagrant species that moves over long distances. We report three new records of M. leonina in interior freshwater tributaries of the Guayas River Estuary Basin (Gulf of Guayaquil) and northern coast of Ecuador between October 2017 and January 2018 during a cold episode of La Nina event in the southeastern Pacific.
Results: The elephant seals were identified according to their large size (~ 5 m for adult and 2–3 m for juveniles/ subadults), the head to neck size ratio, and the size and external morphology of the proboscis, which was used as a key trait to differentiate M. leonina from the Northern elephant seal (M. angustirostris). The observations of M. leonina
in Ecuador highlight an extreme movement covering an assumed total distance of approximately 8000 km from the circumpolar region. The cold event “La Niña” with sea surface temperature anomalies ranging − 1.5 °C to − 0.5 °C in October 2017 likely triggered the extralimital movements of these animals.
Conclusion: Recurring observations of M. leonina in the Guayaquil Gulf suggest the importance of this highly productive region and tropical estuarine-riverine habitats as temporary haulout sites for resting. These new findings indicate that vagrant individuals influenced by oceanographic events and eco-physiological processes are reaching this region more frequently than previously thought.
Occasional presence of Steller sea lions in the western coast of Mexico in a span of 24 years. The oportunistic observations were done during surveys of other pinnipeds such as northern elephant seals, California sea lions and Guadalupe fur seals in several islands of Mexico. One observation was done as far as the tropical waters of Manzanillo port.
