Lightscapes of fear: How mesopredators balance starvation and predation in the open ocean
Roxanne S. Beltran, Jessica M. Kendall-Bar, Enrico Pirotta, Taiki Adachi, Yasuhiko Naito, Akinori Takahashi, Jolien Cremers, Patrick W. Robinson, Daniel E. Crocker, Daniel P. Costa
Abstract
= 16,000 seal days). As body condition improved from 21 to 32% fat and daylength declined from 16 to 10 hours, seals rested progressively earlier with respect to sunrise, sacrificing valuable nocturnal foraging hours to rest in the safety of darkness. Seals in superior body condition prioritized safety over energy conservation by resting >100 meters deeper where it was 300× darker. Together, these results provide empirical evidence that marine mammals actively use the three-dimensional lightscape to optimize risk-reward trade-offs based on ecological and physiological factors.