Abstract: In colonially breeding marine predators, individual movements and colonial segregation are influenced by seascape characteristics. Tidewater glacier fronts are important features of the Arctic seascape and are often described as foraging hotspots. Albeit their documented importance for wildlife, little is known about their structuring effect on Arctic predator movements and space use. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that tidewater glacier fronts can influence marine bird foraging patterns and drive spatial segregation among adjacent colonies. We analysed movements of black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) in a glacial fjord by tracking breeding individuals from five colonies. Although breeding kittiwakes were observed to travel up to ca. 280 km from the colony, individuals were more likely to use glacier fronts located closer to their colony and rarely used glacier fronts located farther away than 18 km. Such variation in the use of glacier fronts created fine-scale spatial segregation among the four closest (ca. 7 km distance on average) kittiwake colonies. Overall, our results support the hypothesis that spatially predictable foraging patches like glacier fronts can have strong structuring effects on predator movements and can modulate the magnitude of intercolonial spatial segregation in central-place foragers.

Abstract: Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) and Array Pixel Sensors (APS) can be used to image radiation-induced energy deposition. The high sensitivity of depleted silicon to ionizing radiation constitutes an opportunity to investigate radiation effects while it is a nuisance to astronomer activities. CCD and APS provide a better combination of spatial and intensity resolution for radiation events than other available types of detector. This paper proposes to analyze radiation events observed in the CCD camera and more specifically analyses of charge deposition spectra and spatially extensive events. Measurements were performed in the Pic du Midi from 2011 to 2015 and in the Concordia Antarctica station since 2018. Coupled transport models (i.e. particle transport and charge transport in semiconductors) allow investigating contributions to charge collection spectra as a function of the particle nature, i.e. neutron, proton and muon. Coupled measurements and simulations allow to access to the detected secondary CR flux and the charge deposition pattern. Results showed that high charge level events seen on atmospheric sites can be considered as hadronic component (mainly neutrons and protons) while low charge levels and punctual events are induced by muons which are able to generate up to 3 fC in the CCD camera. Hence, thanks to double level of measurement sites, muon discrimination from other secondary particles has been investigated. Cross-comparison analyses based on CCD and neutron spectrometers operated in both station/observatory investigate secondary CR dynamic.

Abstract: Fisheries modify prey availability for marine predators by extracting resources but also by providing them with new feeding opportunities. Among these, depredation, which occurs when predators feed on fish caught on fishing gear, is a behavior developed by many species as a way to acquire food through limited foraging effort. However, the extent to which depredated resources from fisheries contribute to the energetic requirements and affect the demography of depredating individuals is unknown. We investigated the contribution of Patagonian toothfish Dissostichus eleginoides depredated on longlines to the energetic requirements of killer whales Orcinus orca around the Crozet Islands (southern Indian Ocean) over the period 2007-2018. Our results indicate that during days when depredation occurred, depredating individuals fulfilled on average 94.1% of their daily energetic requirements with depredated toothfish. However, the contribution varied from 1.2 to 13.3% of the monthly energetic requirements and from 2.4 to 8.8% of the yearly energetic requirements of the total population. Together, these findings suggest that intake of depredated toothfish can be substantial at a fine scale (daily and individually), potentially leading to temporary provisioning effects and changes in predation pressures. These effects become minor (<10%), however, when considering the full population over a whole year. The contribution of depredated fish to the annual energetic requirements of the population has increased in recent years, likely due to larger fishing quotas and greater opportunities for whales to depredate, which stresses the importance of accounting for depredation in ecosystem-based management of fishing activity.