Hydrodynamic drag in steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus)

Juvenile Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) utilization distributions in the Gulf of Alaska

BACKGROUND

A utilization distribution quantifies the temporal and spatial probability of space use for individuals or populations. These patterns in movement arise from individuals' internal state and from their response to the external environment, and thus can provide insights for assessing factors associated with the management of threatened populations. The Western Distinct Population Segment of the Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) has declined to approximately 20% of levels encountered 40 years ago. At the height of the decline, juvenile survival appeared to be depressed and currently there is evidence that juvenile mortality due to predation may be constraining recovery in some regions. Therefore, our objectives were to identify what spaces are biologically important to juvenile Steller sea lions in the Kenai Fjords and Prince William Sound regions of the Gulf of Alaska.

METHODS

We examined geospatial location data from juvenile sea lions tagged between 2000 and 2014 (n = 84) and derived individual and pooled-population utilization distributions (UDs) from their movements. Core areas were defined from the UDs using an individual-based approach; this quantitatively confirmed that all individuals in our sample exhibited concentrated use within their home range (95% UD). Finally, we explored if variation in UD characteristics were associated with sex, season, age, or region.

RESULTS

We found evidence that individual juvenile home ranges were region and sex-specific, with males having larger home ranges on average. Core space characteristics were also sex-specific, and exhibited seasonal patterns of reduced size, increased proximity to haulouts, and increased intensity of use in the summer, but only in the Kenai Fjords-Gulf of Alaska region.

CONCLUSIONS

This study highlights the areas of biological importance during this vulnerable life history stage, and the demographic, seasonal, and spatial factors associated with variation in movement patterns for a marine mesopredator. This can be useful information for promoting species recovery, and for future efforts to understand ecological patterns such as predator-prey interactions.

Flipper strokes can predict energy expenditure and locomotion costs in free-ranging northern and Antarctic fur seals

Flipper strokes have been proposed as proxies to estimate the energy expended by marine vertebrates while foraging at sea, but this has never been validated on free-ranging otariids (fur seals and sea lions). Our goal was to investigate how well flipper strokes correlate with energy expenditure in 33 foraging northern and Antarctic fur seals equipped with accelerometers, GPS, and time-depth recorders. We concomitantly measured field metabolic rates with the doubly-labelled water method and derived activity-specific energy expenditures using fine-scale time-activity budgets for each seal. Flipper strokes were detected while diving or surface transiting using dynamic acceleration. Despite some inter-species differences in flipper stroke dynamics or frequencies, both species of fur seals spent 3.79 ± 0.39 J/kg per stroke and had a cost of transport of ~1.6–1.9 J/kg/m while diving. Also, flipper stroke counts were good predictors of energy spent while diving (R² = 0.76) and to a lesser extent while transiting (R² = 0.63). However, flipper stroke count was a poor predictor overall of total energy spent during a full foraging trip (R² = 0.50). Amplitude of flipper strokes (i.e., acceleration amplitude × number of strokes) predicted total energy expenditure (R² = 0.63) better than flipper stroke counts, but was not as accurate as other acceleration-based proxies, i.e. Overall Dynamic Body Acceleration.

Averaged Propulsive Body Acceleration (APBA) Can Be Calculated from Biologging Tags That Incorporate Gyroscopes and Accelerometers to Estimate Swimming Speed, Hydrodynamic Drag and Energy Expenditure for Steller Sea Lions

Forces due to propulsion should approximate forces due to hydrodynamic drag for animals horizontally swimming at a constant speed with negligible buoyancy forces. Propulsive forces should also correlate with energy expenditures associated with locomotion-an important cost of foraging. As such, biologging tags containing accelerometers are being used to generate proxies for animal energy expenditures despite being unable to distinguish rotational movements from linear movements. However, recent miniaturizations of gyroscopes offer the possibility of resolving this shortcoming and obtaining better estimates of body accelerations of swimming animals. We derived accelerations using gyroscope data for swimming Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus), and determined how well the measured accelerations correlated with actual swimming speeds and with theoretical drag. We also compared dive averaged dynamic body acceleration estimates that incorporate gyroscope data, with the widely used Overall Dynamic Body Acceleration (ODBA) metric, which does not use gyroscope data. Four Steller sea lions equipped with biologging tags were trained to swim alongside a boat cruising at steady speeds in the range of 4 to 10 kph. At each speed, and for each dive, we computed a measure called Gyro-Informed Dynamic Acceleration (GIDA) using a method incorporating gyroscope data with accelerometer data. We derived a new metric-Averaged Propulsive Body Acceleration (APBA), which is the average gain in speed per flipper stroke divided by mean stroke cycle duration. Our results show that the gyro-based measure (APBA) is a better predictor of speed than ODBA. We also found that APBA can estimate average thrust production during a single stroke-glide cycle, and can be used to estimate energy expended during swimming. The gyroscope-derived methods we describe should be generally applicable in swimming animals where propulsive accelerations can be clearly identified in the signal-and they should also prove useful for dead-reckoning and improving estimates of energy expenditures from locomotion.

Drag, but not buoyancy, affects swim speed in captive Steller sea lions

Swimming at an optimal speed is critical for breath-hold divers seeking to maximize the time they can spend foraging underwater. Theoretical studies have predicted that the optimal swim speed for an animal while transiting to and from depth is independent of buoyancy, but is dependent on drag and metabolic rate. However, this prediction has never been experimentally tested. Our study assessed the effects of buoyancy and drag on the swim speed of three captive Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) that made 186 dives. Our study animals were trained to dive to feed at fixed depths (10–50 m) under artificially controlled buoyancy and drag conditions. Buoyancy and drag were manipulated using a pair of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tubes attached to harnesses worn by the sea lions, and buoyancy conditions were designed to fall within the natural range of wild animals (∼12–26% subcutaneous fat). Drag conditions were changed with and without the PVC tubes, and swim speeds were recorded and compared during descent and ascent phases using an accelerometer attached to the harnesses. Generalized linear mixed-effect models with the animal as the random variable and five explanatory variables (body mass, buoyancy, dive depth, dive phase, and drag) showed that swim speed was best predicted by two variables, drag and dive phase (AIC = −139). Consistent with a previous theoretical prediction, the results of our study suggest that the optimal swim speed of Steller sea lions is a function of drag, and is independent of dive depth and buoyancy.

Pregnancy is a drag: hydrodynamics, kinematics and performance in pre- and post-parturition bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)

Constraints on locomotion could be an important component of the cost of reproduction as carrying an increased load associated with eggs or developing fetuses may contribute to decreased locomotor performance for females across taxa and environments. Diminished performance could increase susceptibility to predation, yet the mechanism(s) by which gravidity and pregnancy affect locomotion remains largely unexplored. Here we demonstrate that morphology, hydrodynamics and kinematics were altered during pregnancy, providing a mechanism for diminished locomotor performance in two near-term pregnant (10 days pre-parturition) bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Near-term pregnancy resulted in a 51±14% increase in frontal surface area, coinciding with dramatic increases in drag forces while gliding. For example, pregnant females encountered 80 N of drag at 1.7 m s–1 whereas that magnitude of drag was not encountered until speed doubled for females 18 months post-parturition. Indeed, drag coefficients based on frontal surface area were significantly greater during pregnancy (Cd,F=0.22±0.04) than at 18 months post-parturition (Cd,F=0.09±0.01). Pregnancy also induced a gait change as stroke amplitude and distance per stroke were reduced by 13 and 14%, respectively, compared with non-pregnant periods (1–24 months post-parturition). This was concomitant with a 62 and 44% reduction in mean and maximum swim speeds, respectively, during the pregnancy period. Interestingly, attack speeds of known predators of dolphins surpass maximum speeds for the pregnant dolphins in this study. Thus, pregnant dolphins may be more susceptible to predation. This study demonstrates unequivocally that changes in morphology, hydrodynamics and kinematics are associated with diminished performance during pregnancy in dolphins.

Hydrodynamic trail following in a California sea lion (Zalophus californianus)

The mystacial vibrissae of pinnipeds constitute a sensory system for active touch and detection of hydrodynamic events. Harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) and California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) can both detect hydrodynamic stimuli caused by a small sphere vibrating in the water (hydrodynamic dipole stimuli). Hydrodynamic trail following has only been shown in harbour seals. Hydrodynamical and biomechanical studies of single vibrissae of the two species showed that the specialized undulated structure of harbour seal vibrissae, as opposed to the smooth structure of sea lion vibrissae, suppresses self-generated noise in the actively moving animal. Here we tested whether also sea lions were able to perform hydrodynamic trail following in spite of their non-specialized hair structure. Hydrodynamic trails were generated by a remote-controlled miniature submarine. Linear trails could be followed with high accuracy, comparable to the performance of harbour seals, but in contrast, increasing delay resulted in a reduced performance as compared to harbour seals. The results of this study are consistent with the hypothesis that structural differences in the vibrissal hair types of otariid compared to phocid pinnipeds lead to different sensitivity of the vibrissae during forward swimming, but still reveal a good performance even in the species with non-specialized hair type.

How fast does a seal swim? Variations in swimming behaviour under differing foraging conditions

The duration of breath-hold dives and the available time for foraging in submerged prey patches is ultimately constrained by oxygen balance. There is a close relationship between swim speed and oxygen utilisation, so it is likely that breath-holding divers optimise their speeds to and from the feeding patch to maximise time spent feeding at depth. Optimal foraging models suggest that transit swim speed should decrease to minimum cost of transport (MCT) speed in deeper and longer duration dives. Observations also suggest that descent and ascent swimming mode and speed may vary in response to changes in buoyancy. We measured the swimming behaviour during simulated foraging of seven captive female grey seals (two adults and five pups). Seals had to swim horizontally underwater from a breathing box to a submerged automatic feeder. The distance to the feeder and the rate of prey food delivery could be varied to simulate different feeding conditions. Diving durations and distances travelled in dives recorded during these experiments were similar to those recorded in the wild. Mean swim speed decreased significantly with increasing distance to the patch, indicating that seals adjusted their speed in response to travel distance, consistent with optimality model predictions. There was, however, no significant relationship between the transit swim speeds and prey density at the patch. Interestingly, all seals swam 10-20% faster on their way to the prey patch compared to the return to the breathing box, despite the fact that any effect of buoyancy on swimming speed should be the same in both directions. These results suggest that the swimming behaviour exhibited by foraging grey seals might be a combination of having to overcome the forces of buoyancy during vertical swimming and also of behavioural choices made by the seals.

Ontogeny of body size and shape of Antarctic and subantarctic fur seals

Pre- and post-weaning functional demands on body size and shape of mammals are often in conflict, especially in species where weaning involves a change of habitat. Compared with long lactations, brief lactations are expected to be associated with fast rates of development and attainment of adult traits. We describe allometry and growth for several morphological traits in two closely related fur seal species with large differences in lactation duration at a sympatric site. Longitudinal data were collected from Antarctic ( Arctocephalus gazella (Peters, 1875); 120 d lactation) and subantarctic ( Arctocephalus tropicalis (Gray, 1872); 300 d lactation) fur seals. Body mass was similar in neonates of both species, but A. gazella neonates were longer, less voluminous, and had larger foreflippers. The species were similar in rate of preweaning growth in body mass, but growth rates of linear variables were faster for A. gazella pups. Consequently, neonatal differences in body shape increased over lactation, and A. gazella pups approached adult body shape faster than did A. tropicalis pups. Our results indicate that preweaning growth is associated with significant changes in body shape, involving the acquisition of a longer, more slender body with larger foreflippers in A. gazella. These differences suggest that A. gazella pups are physically more mature at approximately 100 d of age (close to weaning age) than A. tropicalis pups of the same age.

Kinematics, hydrodynamics and energetic advantages of burst-and-coast swimming of koi carps (Cyprinus carpio koi)

Koi carps frequently swim in burst-and-coast style, which consists of a burst phase and a coast phase. We quantify the swimming kinematics and the flow patterns generated by the carps in burst-and-coast swimming. In the burst phase, the carps burst in two modes: in the first, the tail beats for at least one cycle (multiple tail-beat mode); in the second, the tail beats for only a half-cycle (half tail-beat mode). The carp generates a vortex ring in each half-cycle beat. The vortex rings generated during bursting in multiple tail-beat mode form a linked chain, but only one vortex ring is generated in half tail-beat mode. The wake morphologies, such as momentum angle and jet angle, also show much difference between the two modes. In the burst phase, the kinematic data and the impulse obtained from the wake are linked to obtain the drag coefficient (C(d,burst) approximately 0.242). In the coast phase, drag coefficient (C(d,coast) approximately 0.060) is estimated from swimming speed deceleration. Our estimation suggests that nearly 45% of energy is saved when burst-and-coast swimming is used by the koi carps compared with steady swimming at the same mean speed.

Body density affects stroke patterns in Baikal seals

Buoyancy is one of the primary external forces acting on air-breathing divers and it can affect their swimming energetics. Because the body composition of marine mammals (i.e. the relative amounts of lower-density lipid and higher-density lean tissue) varies individually and seasonally,their buoyancy also fluctuates widely, and individuals would be expected to adjust their stroke patterns during dives accordingly. To test this prediction, we attached acceleration data loggers to four free-ranging Baikal seals Phoca sibirica in Lake Baikal and monitored flipper stroking activity as well as swimming speed, depth and inclination of the body axis(pitch). In addition to the logger, one seal (Individual 4) was equipped with a lead weight that was jettisoned after a predetermined time period so that we had a set of observations on the same individual with different body densities. These four data sets revealed the general diving patterns of Baikal seals and also provided direct insights into the influence of buoyancy on these patterns. Seals repeatedly performed dives of a mean duration of 7.0 min(max. 15.4 min), interrupted by a mean surface duration of 1.2 min. Dive depths were 66 m on average, but varied substantially, with a maximum depth of 324 m. The seals showed different stroke patterns among individuals; some seals stroked at lower rates during descent than ascent, while the others had higher stroke rates during descent than ascent. When the lead weight was detached from Individual 4, the seal increased its stroke rate in descent by shifting swimming mode from prolonged glides to more stroke-and-glide swimming, and decreased its stroke rate in ascent by shifting from continuous stroking to stroke-and-glide swimming. We conclude that seals adopt different stroke patterns according to their individual buoyancies. We also demonstrate that the terminal speed reached by Individual 4 during prolonged glide in descent depended on its total buoyancy and pitch, with higher speeds reached in the weighted condition and at steeper pitch. A simple physical model allowed us to estimate the body density of the seal from the speed and pitch(1027-1046 kg m-3, roughly corresponding to 32-41% lipid content,for the weighted condition; 1014-1022 kg m-3, 43-47% lipid content,for the unweighted condition).

Submerged swimming of the great cormorantPhalacrocorax carbo sinensisis a variant of the burst-and-glide gait

Cormorants are water birds that forage by submerged swimming in search and pursuit of fish. Underwater they swim by paddling with both feet simultaneously in a gait that includes long glides between consecutive strokes. At shallow swimming depths the birds are highly buoyant as a consequence of their aerial lifestyle. To counter this buoyancy cormorants swim underwater with their body at an angle to the swimming direction. This mechanical solution for foraging at shallow depth is expected to increase the cost of swimming by increasing the drag of the birds. We used kinematic analysis of video sequences of cormorants swimming underwater at shallow depth in a controlled research setup to analyze the swimming gait and estimate the resultant drag of the birds during the entire paddling cycle. The gliding drag of the birds was estimated from swimming speed deceleration during the glide stage while the drag during active paddling was estimated using a mathematical`burst-and-glide' model. The model was originally developed to estimate the energetic saving from combining glides with burst swimming and we used this fact to test whether the paddling gait of cormorants has similar advantages.

We found that swimming speed was correlated with paddling frequency(r=0.56, P<0.001, N=95) where the increase in paddling frequency was achieved mainly by shortening the glide stage(r=–0.86, P<0.001, N=95). The drag coefficient of the birds during paddling was higher on average by two- to threefold than during gliding. However, the magnitude of the drag coefficient during the glide was positively correlated with the tilt of the body(r=0.5, P<0.003, N=35) and negatively correlated with swimming speed (r=–0.65, P<0.001, N=35), while the drag coefficient during the stroke was not correlated with tilt of the body (r=–0.11, P>0.5, N=35) and was positively correlated with swimming speed(r=0.41, P<0.015, N=35). Therefore, the difference between the drag coefficient during the glide and during propulsion diminished at lower speeds and larger tilt. The mean drag of the birds for a single paddling cycle at an average swimming speed of 1.5 m s–1 was 5.5±0.68 N. The burst-and-glide model predicts that energy saving from using burst-and-glide in the paddling cycle is limited to relatively fast swimming speeds (>1.5 m s–1), but that as the birds dive deeper (>1 m where buoyancy is reduced), the burst-and-glide gait may become beneficial even at lower speeds.

Swimming gaits, passive drag and buoyancy of diving sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus

Drag and buoyancy are two primary external forces acting on diving marine mammals. The strength of these forces modulates the energetic cost of movement and may influence swimming style (gait). Here we use a high-resolution digital tag to record depth, 3-D orientation, and sounds heard and produced by 23 deep-diving sperm whales in the Ligurian Sea and Gulf of Mexico. Periods of active thrusting versus gliding were identified through analysis of oscillations measured by a 3-axis accelerometer. Accelerations during 382 ascent glides of five whales (which made two or more steep ascents and for which we obtained a measurement of length) were strongly affected by depth and speed at Reynold's numbers of 1.4-2.8x10(7). The accelerations fit a model of drag, air buoyancy and tissue buoyancy forces with an r(2) of 99.1-99.8% for each whale. The model provided estimates (mean +/- S.D.) of the drag coefficient (0.00306+/-0.00015), air carried from the surface (26.4+/-3.9 l kg(-3) mass), and tissue density (1030+/-0.8 kg m(-3)) of these five animals. The model predicts strong positive buoyancy forces in the top 100 m of the water column, decreasing to near neutral buoyancy at 250-850 m. Mean descent speeds (1.45+/-0.19 m s(-1)) were slower than ascent speeds (1.63+/-0.22 m s(-1)), even though sperm whales stroked steadily (glides 5.3+/-6.3%) throughout descents and employed predominantly stroke-and-glide swimming (glides 37.7+/-16.4%) during ascents. Whales glided more during portions of dives when buoyancy aided their movement, and whales that glided more during ascent glided less during descent (and vice versa), supporting the hypothesis that buoyancy influences behavioural swimming decisions. One whale rested at approximately 10 m depth for more than 10 min without fluking, regulating its buoyancy by releasing air bubbles.

Hydrodynamic drag of diving birds: effects of body size, body shape and feathers at steady speeds

For birds diving to depths where pressure has mostly reduced the buoyancy of air spaces, hydrodynamic drag is the main mechanical cost of steady swimming. Drag is strongly affected by body size and shape, so such differences among species should affect energy costs. Because flow around the body is complicated by the roughness and vibration of feathers, feathers must be considered in evaluating the effects of size and shape on drag. We investigated the effects of size, shape and feathers on the drag of avian divers ranging from wing-propelled auklets weighing 75 g to foot-propelled eiders weighing up to 2060 g. Laser scanning of body surfaces yielded digitized shapes that were averaged over several specimens per species and then used by a milling machine to cut foam models. These models were fitted with casts of the bill area, and their drag was compared with that of frozen specimens. Because of the roughness and vibration of the feathers, the drag of the frozen birds was 2–6 times that of the models. Plots of drag coefficient (C(D)) versus Reynolds number (Re) differed between the model and the frozen birds, with the pattern of difference varying with body shape. Thus, the drag of cast models or similar featherless shapes can differ both quantitatively and qualitatively from that of real birds. On the basis of a new towing method with no posts or stings that alter flow or angles of attack, the dimensionless C(D)/Re curves differed among a size gradient of five auklet species (75–100g) with similar shapes. Thus, extrapolation of C(D)/Re curves among related species must be performed with caution. At lower speeds, the C(D) at a given Re was generally higher for long-necked birds that swim with their neck extended (cormorants, grebes, some ducks) than for birds that swim with their head retracted (penguins, alcids), but this trend was reversed at high speeds. Because swimming birds actually travel at a range of instantaneous speeds during oscillatory strokes, species variations in drag at different speeds must be considered in the context of accelerational stroking.