1Department of Polar Science, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Tachikawa, Tokyo 190-8518, 2National Institute of Polar Research, Tachikawa, Tokyo 190-8518, 3National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries, Shimizu, Shizuoka 424-8633, 4Izu Mito Sea Paradise, Numazu, Shizuoka 410-0295, Japan
This study aimed to evaluate the utility of acceleration data for monitoring the swimming and foraging behavior of a marine mammal. We examined the matches between the acceleration records obtained by animal-borne data loggers and the video observation of flipper movement and prey capture for a captive northern fur seal. The results showed that 93% of forelimb strokes were successfully detected. Furthermore, elevated swim speed, large changes in body angle and elevated stroke frequency were detected during prey pursuit or capture events. These results suggest that the swimming costs and the number of prey pursuits or captures can be estimated in free-ranging otariids using acceleration data.