Eventos reproductivos del león marino común, Otaria flavescens (Shaw 1800), en el norte de Chile (Pacífico suroriental)

Abstract

Studies on the development of the breeding season of southern sea lions have been carried out primarily in populations from Uruguay and Argentina, western south Atlantic; scarce information has been published from populations of Peru and Chile. The objective of this contribution is to describe the development of the breeding season of the southern sea lion, during two consecutive seasons in the area of Punta Negra, north of Chile. The development of the reproductive events in the Punta Negra colony presented a high annual synchronization, extending from the third week of December till May, with a climax of the reproductive events in February, being the dynamics during the breeding period similar to that informed for other colonies, although with an out of fase in the breeding season with the Atlantic populations of sea lion. We conclude that the development of the reproductive events during the both breeding seasons presented a high annual synchronization, with an average out of fase of 2.0-2.5 days, being representative for most of the northern area of Chile, in the southeastern Pacific Ocean.