The diet of Antarctic fur seals, Arctocephalus gazella, at King George Island, during the summer–autumn period

The diet of non breeding male Antarctic fur seals, Arctocephalus gazella, was investigated at Stranger Point, King George Island, by scat analysis from February to April 1996. Overall, krill and fish were the most frequent prey, occurring in an average of 97% and 69% of samples (n=128), followed by Cephalopods (12%). Myctophids constituted almost 90% of the fish predated, being Electrona antarctica and Gymnoscopelus nicholsi the most abundant and frequent prey species. All fish taxa identified were krill feeding species suggesting that seals foraged primarily on krill and opportunistically on fish species associated with krill swarms. A seasonal change observed in the relative proportions of the different fish prey taxa would indicate that fur seals spent more time foraging over the shelf in summer and off shelf in autumn. During the study period commercial fishing in the area was not based upon any of the fish species identified in this study.