Researchers have found that Australian sea lion pups are able to learn foraging behavior from their mothers.
The research was conducted by a team from Adelaide University and the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI). The discovery is new and was previously unknown behavior in otariids, or “eared seals.”
According to Nathan Angelakis from Adelaide University’s Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories and SARDI Aquatic Sciences:
“Social transmission of information helps young to develop specialized and complex foraging behaviors. Although this social transmission is well recognized in some marine mammals, our research has provided the first direct evidence for mother-to-pup social transmission of foraging behavior in Australian sea lions.”
Describing how the behavior may be learned, Nathan added:
“This supra-annual reproductive cycle, which is six months longer than other otariids, contrasts the highly seasonal, annual and synchronized reproductive cycles conformed to by other seals. We believe Australian sea lions’ prolonged period of maternal care could provide mothers the opportunity to demonstrate foraging behaviors to pups.”
Angelakis also described how mothers change their behavior when they have a pup as follows:
“When the adult sea lion was with her pup, the duo dived for short durations, and the majority of their time at the seafloor was spent on macroalgae-dominated reefs and macroalgae meadows. There were also fewer prey attempts on the pup-accompanied trips – just three, as opposed to 172 attempts when the mother was by herself – and the mother’s solo trips were also spent in deeper invertebrate-dominated reefs.”
The new finding could also have serious conservation implications, according to Angelakis:
“The presence of a social component to foraging in Australian sea lions could have important conservation implications, such as whether mother-pup foraging trips increase or decrease predation risk to white sharks, as well as the risk of interactions with fisheries. Investigating the trade-offs of joint foraging trips to mothers, specifically the potential benefits imparted to pups in increasing their foraging and diving abilities, relative to the energetic costs to mothers, could be important for understanding pup survival, broader population dynamics and the conservation and management implications of the species.”