Primeros registros de elefantes marinos en el Pacífico colombiano: ¿Elefantes marinos del sur, Mirounga leonina ?

Abstract

The first records of elephant seals, likely southern elephant seals, Mirounga leonina, are reported for the Colombian Pacific coast. A juvenile elephant seal was registered on the beaches of Pianguita and Maguipi (Valle del Cauca), from January 23-25, 2018. On 22 February 2018, a male juvenile, presumably the same animal, was also reported further north on the beaches of Guachalito (Choco). Then, a group of three individuals was sighted on the beach of El Medio, the mouth of the Yurumangui River (Valle del Cauca) from 29 December, 2019 to 20 January 2020; this sighting was confirmed on January 3, 2020, by recording a subadult male individual apparently in healthy body condition. Also, a dead subadult in advanced state of decomposition was found in the river Guapi in January 8, 2021. These sightings are among the most northern extralimital records for this species with a large displacement covering 5000–8000 Km from its normal distributional range that includes southern Chile and Antarctica. The presence of the southern elephant seal in the Colombian Pacific had not been documented, and the arrival of this species could be linked to the search for food and the influence of eco-physiological processes, as well as the impact of the ENSO and ongoing environmental changes in the Southern Ocean.