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Although crabeater seals Lobodon carcinophaga are among the most abundant con- sumers of Antarctic krill Euphausia superba, their diet has rarely been studied throughout most of the species' range. Using δ 13 C and δ 15 N values in vibrissae from 53 seals, we examined the trophic ecology of crabeater seals from the western Antarctic Peninsula (wAP) in 2001, 2002 and 2007. We observed a wide variability in individual seal mean δ 13 C values, which ranged from −19.8‰ to −24.9‰ , whereas mean δ 15 N value varied from 5.4‰ to 7.9‰. We identified a positive significant effect of seal mass on δ 13 C values, as well as a significant seasonal effect (higher δ 13 C values in austral winter), which likely resulted from changes in the composition of the community of pri- mary producers. δ 15 N values for crabeater seals, on the other hand, were affected by year, with individuals in 2002 having higher δ 15 N values. The median (with range) contribution of Antarctic krill to the diet of crabeater seals, as estimated using the Bayesian mixing model MixSIR, was 87.9% (81.2 to 94.8%). During 2002, krill biomass in the wAP was at one of its lowest levels during the last 2 decades, coinciding with a slight reduction in the importance of krill for the diet of the seals that year, which reached 84.5% (75.1 to 92.4%). Despite the relative plasticity observed in the diet of crabeater seals, it is unknown to what extent, and at what rate, crabeater seals might be able to switch to a more generalized diet, which might impact their fitness, given the ongoing environmental change along the wAP.

Diet of a specialist in a changing environment: the crabeater seal along the western Antarctic Peninsula