Dive track profile, intermandibular angel sensor profile and immobilisation data of adult female Weddell seals at Drescher Inlet from expedition DRE2003

Determination of when and where animals feed and how much they consume is fundamental to understand their ecology and role in ecosystems. However, the lack of reliable data on feeding habits of wild animals, and particularly in marine endotherms, attests to the difficulty in doing this. A promising recent development proposes using a Hall sensor-magnet System - the inter-mandibular angle sensor (IMASEN) attached to animals' jaws to elucidate feeding events. We conducted trials on captive pinnipeds by feeding IMASEN-equipped animals with prey to examine the utility of this system. Most feeding events were clearly distinguishable from other jaw movements; only small prey items might not be resolved adequately. Based on the results of this study we examined feeding events from free-ranging Weddell seals fitted with IMASENs and dead-reckoners during December 2003 at Drescher Inlet (Riiser Larsen Ice Shelf, eastern Weddell Sea coast), and present data on prey capture and ingestion in relation to the three-dimensionalmovement patterns of the seals. A total of 19 Weddell seals were immobilised by using a combination of ketamine, xylazine, and diazepam. Eight seals were drugged once, six two times, and two and three were drugged three and four times each, coming to a total of 38 immobilisation procedures. Narcoses were terminated with yohimbine (doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.438931).

Paleocoenographic investigations on sediment profile GeoB6008

Near-shore waters along the northwest African margin are characterized by coastal upwelling and represent one of the world's major upwelling regions. Sea surface temperature (SST) records from Moroccan sediment cores, extending back 2500 years, reveal anomalous and unprecedented cooling during the 20th century, which is consistent with increased upwelling. Upwelling-driven SSTs also vary out of phase with millennial-scale changes in Northern Hemisphere temperature anomalies (NHTAs) and show relatively warm conditions during the Little Ice Age and relatively cool conditions during the Medieval Warm Period. Together, these results suggest that coastal upwelling varies with NHTAs and that upwelling off northwest Africa may continue to intensify as global warming and atmospheric CO2 levels increase.