Spring and summer predation on fish by the Antarctic fur seal, Arctocephalus gazella, at King George Island, South Shetland Islands

The fish component of the diet of nonbreeding male Antarctic fur seals, Arc tocephalus gazella, was analyzed from 70 seats collected at Stranger Point, King George Island, South Shetland Islands, during the austral spring (n = 36) and summer (n = 34) of 1993-1994. Fish occurred in approximately 70% o f seats that contained food remains irrespective of season. In spring, the main fish prey were Electrona antarctica, Pleuragramma antarcticum, and Not olepis coatsi, which together gave two-thirds of the 110 otoliths recovered . In summer, 457 otoliths were retrieved; the most frequent and abundant sp ecies were Gymnoscopelus nicholsi, E. antarctica, and P. antarcticum, which represented over 80% of the otoliths recovered. A substantial increase in the amount of fish ingested by fur seals occurred from spring to summer con comitant with a change in the relative proportion of fish taxa. Most fish s pecies identified are pelagic and feed on krill. During the study period, c ommercial fishing in the area was not based upon any of the fish species id entified.