Abstract

AVILA, Isabel Cristina; TRUJILLO, Gustavo Alberto  and  ALAVA, Juan José. First records of Elephant Seals in the Colombian Pacific: Southern elephant seals, Mirounga leonina?. Caldasia [online]. 2021, vol.43, n.2, pp.408-411.  Epub Apr 19, 2022. ISSN 0366-5232.  https://doi.org/10.15446/caldasia.v43n2.84687.

The first records of elephant seals, likely southern elephant seals, Mirounga leonina, are reported for the Colombian Pacific coast. A juvenile elephant seal was registered on the beaches of Piangüita and Magüipi (Valle del Cauca), from January 23-25, 2018. On 22 February 2018, a male juvenile, presumably the same animal, was also reported further north on the beaches of Guachalito (Chocó). Then, a group of three individuals was sighted on the beach of El Medio, the mouth of the Yurumanguí River (Valle del Cauca) from 29 December, 2019 to 20 January2020; this sighting was confirmed on January 3, 2020, by recording a subadult male individual apparently in healthy body condition. Also, a dead subadult in advanced state of decomposition was found in the river Guapi in January 8, 2021. These sightings are among the most northern extralimital records for this species with a large displacement covering 5000-8000 Km from its normal distributional range that includes southern Chile and Antarctica. The presence of the southern elephant seal in the Colombian Pacific had not been documented, and the arrival of this species could be linked to the search for food and the influence of eco-physiological processes, as well as the impact of the ENSO and ongoing environmental changes in the Southern Ocean.

Keywords : Marine mammal; migration; Phocidae; pinniped; Southeast Pacific.

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