Behavioral Science

Berlin, Germany

Gordon Research Seminar - Hotel Galvez, Galveston, Texas, USA

Gordon Research Conferences - Hotel Galvez, Galveston, Texas, USA

Adult male and female emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) were fitted with satellite transmitters at Pointe-G?ologie (Ad?lie Land), Dumont d'Urville Sea coast, in November 2005. Nine of 30 data sets were selected for analyses to investigate the penguins' diving behaviour at high resolution (doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.633708, doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.633709, doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.633710, doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.633711).

The physiological condition of larval Antarctic krill was investigated during austral autumn 2004 and winter 2006 in the Lazarev Sea, to provide better understanding of a critical period of their life cycle. The condition of larvae was quantified in both seasons by determining their body length (BL), dry mass (DM), elemental- and biochemical composition, as well as stomach content analysis, and rates of metabolism and growth.

Adult male and female Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) were fitted with Time-depth (TDR) and Stomach temperature recorders (STR) at Drescher Inlet (Riiser Larsen Ice Shelf), eastern Weddell Sea coast, between January and March 1995.

Between December 1996 and February 1997, weaned pups and postmoult female southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) were fitted with satellite transmitters at King George Island (South Shetlands). Of the nine adult females tracked for more than two months, three stayed in a localized area between the South Shetlands and the South Orkneys. The other six females travelled southwest along the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula up to the Bellingshausen Sea. Two of them then moved far northeast and hauled out on South Georgia in October.

A general study of biogeochemical processes (DYNAPROC cruise) was conducted in May 1995 at a time-series station in the open northwestern Mediterranean Sea where horizontal advection was weak. Short-term variations of the vertical distributions of pico- and nanophytoplankton were investigated over four 36-h cycles, along with parallel determinations of metabolic CO2 production rates and amino acid-containing colloid (AACC) concentrations at the chlorophyll maximum depth.

A general study of structure, biomass, and dynamic estimates on meiofauna was carried out during PREFLEX (1975) and FLEX (1976), in 117- 141 m water depth. On the basis of these data an attempt was made to estimate meiofauna production, and this is discussed in relation to the energy input from the spring phytoplankton bloom. Sampling was performed at five stations, but only the stations 1, 4, and 5 were covered by a complete series from August 1975 to July 1976.

A high-resolution (~4-5cm/kyr) giant piston core record (MD962085) retrieved during an IMAGES II-NAUSICAA cruise from the continental slope of the southeast Atlantic Ocean reveals striking variations in planktonic foraminifer faunal abundances and sea-surface temperatures (SST) during the past 600 000 yr. The location and high-quality sedimentary record of the core provide a good opportunity to assess the variability of the Benguela Current system and associated important features of the ocean-climate system in the southeast Atlantic.