The Complete Guide to Antarctic Wildlife

by Shirihai, Hadoram

• ISBN13: 9780691136660
• ISBN10: 0691136661
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-01-14
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

This is a fully updated new edition of the award-winningComplete Guide to Antarctic Wildlife, the most comprehensive and authoritative guide to the birds and marine mammals of the vast and beautiful Antarctic region. Covering Antarctica, the southern ocean, and the subantarctic islands, this unique guide illustrates all of the region's breeding birds and mammals with some 920 color photographs and illustrations, including 300 new photographs. It features 128 color distribution maps and up-to-date species accounts that expertly detail abundance, seasonal status, and conservation prospects. The volume also covers numerous nonbreeding species, migrants, and vagrants, and the sections on albatrosses and petrels have been fully revised to make them current with the latest taxonomic knowledge. Regional chapters describe all of the subantarctic islands, in addition to most of the regularly visited sites in Antarctica, and are accompanied by maps and photographs of each area. These chapters present detailed information on geography, climate, geology, general ecology, and flora. They also address conservation efforts--past, present, and planned. The book concludes with practical information about visiting the area, including details on the best landing sites and notes on seasonal weather conditions. This is an indispensable companion for any trip to the far south, as well as an informative volume for anyone interested in the Antarctic region's remarkable, occasionally strange, and frequently beautiful animals. Features 35 color plates and some 920 color photographs Illustrates and maps the distribution of all of the region's breeding birds and marine mammals Includes information on many nonbreeders, migrants, and vagrants Features expert text reflecting recent advances in taxonomy Covers all of the subantarctic islands as well as Antarctica's regularly visited sites Offers travel tips, including weather considerations and landing sites

Table of Contents

List of colour plates	p. 4
Preface	p. 5
Referees for this book	p. 5
Acknowledgements	p. 6
Background to the research work	p. 6
Layout of the Book	p. 7
The Maps	p. 7
Synopsis of the region	p. 8
The Antarctic and Subantarctic Environments: The Southern Ocean	p. 8
Geological History	p. 12
Geography and Climate	p. 13
Sea Environment	p. 19
Habitats and Vegetation	p. 21
Avifauna	p. 23
Marine Mammals	p. 25
Conservation in the Region	p. 28
Checklist of Birds and Marine Mammals of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean	p. 31
History of Antarctic Exploration	p. 35
Species Accounts	p. 42
Birds	p. 42
Penguins	p. 42
Great albatrosses	p. 82
Small and medium albatrosses	p. 109
Sooty albatrosses, giant petrels and other distinct petrels	p. 133
Gadfly petrels	p. 149
Procellaria petrels and shearwaters	p. 172
Blue Petrel and prions	p. 191
Storm-petrels and diving-petrels	p. 206
Cormorants and shags of the Southern Ocean	p. 222
Gannets	p. 239
Large skuas	p. 242
Stercorarius skuas	p. 252
Gulls and terns	p. 257
Endemic and indigenous species of subantarctic islands in the S Indian and S Atlantic Oceans and the Falklands	p. 273
Endemic and indigenous non-passerines of New Zealand's subantarctic islands	p. 309
Endemic and indigenous passerines of New Zealand's subantarctic islands	p. 325
Marine Mammals	p. 332
Seals	p. 332
Cetaceans	p. 355
Regional descriptions (with tables of breeding species)	p. 415
Subantarctic islands off South America (and Checklist of Falkland Islands birds)	p. 415
South Shetland Islands, Antarctic Peninsula and Weddell Sea	p. 436
South Altantic Islands	p. 452
Subantarctic islands in the Indian Ocean	p. 464
Subantarctic islands south of New Zealand	p. 482
The Ross Sea	p. 509
East Antarctica	p. 517
Peter Oy	p. 522
Other Regions and Islands	p. 522
Islands off southern Chile and southern Argentina	p. 523
Tasmania Group	p. 525
Gateways to the Antarctic: pelagic and other birds and marine mammals in southern South America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand	p. 526
Ushuaia, the Beagle Channel and sea area south of Tierra del Fuego	p. 526
Seabird and whale viewing off South Africa	p. 528
Observing Southern Ocean seabirds off Australia	p. 530
Seabird and sea mammal viewing around New Zealand	p. 532
Bibliography	p. 535
Organizations and Contacts in the Region	p. 538
Biographies	p. 539
Index	p. 540
List of colour plates
King and Antarctic penguins	p. 43
Crested penguins	p. 63
Northern penguins	p. 77
Great albatrosses	p. 83
Small and medium albatrosses	p. 111
Sooty albatrosses, giant petrels and other distinct petrels	p. 135
Gadfly petrels	p. 151
Procellaria petrels and shearwaters	p. 173
Blue Petrel and prions	p. 193
Storm-petrels and diving-petrels	p. 207
Cormorants and shags of the Southern Ocean	p. 223
Cormorants and shags of New Zealand's subantarctic islands	p. 233
Gannets	p. 241
Large skuas	p. 243
Stercorarius skuas	p. 253
Gulls and terns	p. 259
Endemic and indigenous non- and near-passerines of subantarctic islands in the S Indian and S Atlantic Oceans and the Falklands	p. 274
Endemic and indigenous passerines of the S Atlantic Ocean and the Falklands	p. 299
Endemic and indigenous non-passerines of New Zealand's subantarctic islands	p. 311
Endemic and indigenous near-passerines of New Zealand's subantarctic islands	p. 321
Endemic and indigenous passerines of New Zealand's subantarctic islands	p. 327
Fur seals	p. 333
Sea lions	p. 343
Phocid or 'true' seals	p. 347
Coastal dolphins and porpoises	p. 359
Oceanic and coastal dolphins	p. 365
Dark animals with similar, prominent dorsal fins	p. 375
Small beaked whales	p. 383
Large beaked whales and small baleen whales	p. 393
Large rorquals and robust-bodied whales	p. 405
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