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WRONG WAY HOME: AN INFANT SOUTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL (MIROUNGA LEONINA) ARRIVAL ON SOUTHEASTERN BRAZILIAN BEACHES
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Abstract in Portuguese
É reportada a ocorrência recente de um infante de elefante-marinho (Mirounga leonina) na costa do
estado do Rio de Janeiro com um intervalo aproximado de um mês entre as avistagens do mesmo
indivíduo. A comparação das fotografias obtidas em ambos os registros permitiu a comparação e
confirmação. Em adição, se discute a presença de infantes na costa brasileira, que totalizam oito
casos, mas que não apontam uma sazonalidade marcada, mas uma tendência aos registros serem
reportados em junho, seguido por outubro e novembro. Como o presente registro se deu em janeiro,
pico do verão, fatores climáticos de larga escala podem estar atuando para deslocar alguns indivíduos
muito ao longe das suas colônias.
Abstract
Records of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) as vagrants along the SE Brazilian coast
date back the late 50’s and have been relatively common over the last decades. These large marine
mammals usually call much attention when they arrive on tropical beaches worldwide and are
generally treated as ‘occasional visitors’ and ‘vagrants’. This note reports on sightings of a young
elephant seal along SE Brazil in the summer and autumn of 2020. We also reviewed records in both
the literature and open sources, totaling eight records of infant southern elephant seals known since
the late 70’s along the Brazilian coast. It was noted that the arrival of an infant in February of 2020
is coincident with a previous cyclonic activity off the SE and NE Brazilian coast. The connection
of such unlikely records of pinnipeds on tropical beaches and extreme weather events associated to
ocean currents should be better evaluated in the context of climatic change.
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