Display-area size, tenure length, and site fidelity in the aquatically mating male harbour seal, Phoca vitulina

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (12) ◽  
pp. 2209-2217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofie M Van Parijs ◽  
Vincent M Janik ◽  
Paul M Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Site Fidelity ◽  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
Harbour Seal ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Mating Season ◽  
Display Area ◽  
Harbour Seals ◽  
Acoustic Array ◽  
Number Of Males

Previous studies of the distribution and activity of male harbour seals, Phoca vitulina, based on telemetric techniques have shown that males restrict their range at the onset of the mating season and perform vocal and dive displays. While these data illustrated broad changes in male behaviour and distribution, they were not precise enough to reveal the extent to which individual males repeatedly return to the same locations to display. In this study we used an acoustic array to localise male vocalisations. This technique provided small-scale information on male behaviour over 3 consecutive years. This study provides the first details concerning display-area size in an aquatically mating phocid. Male vocalisations were located in two discrete areas each covering between 40 and 135 m2. Vocalisations were repeatedly located in these two areas over the 3-year period. Comparisons of four vocal parameters suggested that only one individual occupied each area throughout a mating season. Furthermore, comparative analysis suggested that males might return to the same two display areas in successive years. Although the number of males using the site was small, this study showed that acoustic localisation can be a valuable tool for detailed study of the underwater behaviour of aquatically mating pinnipeds.

Display-area size, tenure length, and site fidelity in the aquatically mating male harbour seal, Phoca vitulina

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (12) ◽  
pp. 2209-2217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofie M. Van Parijs ◽  
Vincent M. Janik ◽  
Paul M. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Site Fidelity ◽  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
Harbour Seal ◽  
Display Area

Spatial structure of harbour seal populations and the implications thereof

2001 ◽  
Vol 79 (12) ◽  
pp. 2115-2127 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Härkönen ◽  
K C Harding
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Site Fidelity ◽  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
Population Increase ◽  
Dynamic Processes ◽  
Term Study ◽  
Long Term Study ◽  
Harbour Seals ◽  
Age And Sex

A long-term study of freeze-branded harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) revealed explicit site fidelity. Individuals were followed up to 14 years of age and none of the 163 branded animals were observed to haul out beyond a 32-km distance from the site where they were branded as pups. Within this range, striking spatial segregation by age and sex prevailed. While females' site fidelity increased with age, males spent less time at their natal site with increasing age. These findings have consequences for understanding the population dynamics of harbour seals, since single "colonies" will act as partly isolated "subpopulations" in some contexts but not in others. The differing migration tendencies of the population segments lead to spatially segregated sex and age ratios of subpopulations and create a complex pattern of connectivity among these subpopulations. Ignoring the spatial scale will lead to severe misinterpretations of analyses of basic population-dynamic processes, especially rates of population increase, rates of gene flow, and the dynamics of the spread of diseases. We suggest that when studies have different aims, these should be addressed by encompassing different numbers of subpopulations.

scholarly journals Movements and site fidelity of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) in Kattegat, Denmark, with implications for the epidemiology of the phocine distemper virus

2012 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 186-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rune Dietz ◽  
Jonas Teilmann ◽  
Signe M. Andersen ◽  
Frank Rigét ◽  
Morten T. Olsen
Keyword(s):  
Gene Flow ◽  
Home Range ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Site Fidelity ◽  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
Swedish West Coast ◽  
Phocine Distemper Virus ◽  
Harbour Seals ◽  
Limited Gene Flow ◽  
Satellite Tagging

Abstract Dietz, R., Teilmann, J., Andersen S. M. Rigét, F., and Olsen, M. T. 2013. Movements and site fidelity of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) in Kattegat, Denmark, with implications for the epidemiology of the phocine distemper virus. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 70:186–195. Twenty-seven harbour seals were caught and tagged at the island of Anholt in central Kattegat, Denmark, the epicentre of the phocine distemper virus (PDV) outbreaks in 1988 and 2002 that killed 50–60% of the populations. The satellite tagging shows that harbour seals from Anholt moved widely across Kattegat with a maximum distance of 249 km from the tagging haul-out site. Overall, females travelled over a wider area compared with males [90% kernel home range (KHR) females, 5189 km2; males, 3293 km2). KHR calculated for yearlings (6414 km2) is larger than for subadults (2534 km2), which again is larger than for adult seals (1713 km2), showing a strong site fidelity, indicating limited gene flow between haul-out sites. Distances moved and home range sizes increased across autumn, peaked in February–March, and decreased through spring. During the breeding season in spring, all seals were very stationary around Anholt. The onset of the PDV epizootics in 1988 and 2002 took place when the Anholt harbour seals congregate on the Island during April. Anholt seal were also documented to have contact with infected seal locations at Hesselø, Læsø, and the Swedish west coast, although this contact takes place during winter prior to the documented summer outbreaks.

Comparison of the healing process in hot and cold brands applied to harbour seal pups (Phoca vitulina)

2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre-Yves Daoust ◽  
G. Mark Fowler ◽  
Wayne T. Stobo
Keyword(s):  
Healing Rate ◽  
Healing Process ◽  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
Hair Follicles ◽  
Harbour Seal ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Macroscopic Appearance ◽  
Short Term Study ◽  
Harbour Seals

Hot branding has been used for many years by researchers to identify seals from a long distance. In livestock, cold branding has been proposed as an alternative because it is thought to be less painful. The purpose of this study was to compare the healing process of hot and cold brands applied to harbour seal pups (Phoca vitulina). A total of 306 animals was branded with a unique set of four characters: three applied for 3–5 s with an iron heated to 500°C, and one applied for either 10 or 20 s with an iron frozen to –175°C. At three subsequent times over 10 weeks, 43, 41 and 51 animals, respectively, were recaptured, the macroscopic appearance of their brands recorded, and biopsies taken for microscopic examination. Cold brands had a faster healing rate than hot brands. However, they resulted in less destruction of hair follicles, and cold brands applied for 20 s caused more depigmentation. Regrowth of hair follicles could subsequently obscure brands, while depigmentation reduces the contrast between the brand and the surrounding fur. Cold brands applied for 20 s also caused more extensive deep vascular damage, which subsequently may have resulted in deeper wounds in some of these brands. Yet, macroscopically, other cold brands, or portions thereof, were almost invisible. On the basis of this short-term study, the technique of cold branding that we used in harbour seals does not appear to be as reliable as that of hot branding to provide permanent legible brands.

scholarly journals Vulnerability of harbour seals, Phoca vitulina, to transient industrial activities in the Strait of Dover

2005 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
pp. 1015-1016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent J.J. Seuront ◽  
Perrine Prinzivalli
Keyword(s):  
Interannual Variability ◽  
Industrial Wastewater ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
Harbour Seal ◽  
Industrial Activities ◽  
Dramatic Decline ◽  
Harbour Seals ◽  
Seal Population ◽  
Number Of Individuals

The abundance of the harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) was recorded on a tidal bar in the Dover Strait off Calais, over a six-year period between 1999 and 2004. Despite clear seasonal and interannual variability in the number of individuals hauled out on the bar, underwater activities devoted to the installation of industrial wastewater pipes conducted during seven weeks 1 km away from the bar led to a dramatic decline in the number of seals hauling out. A full 19 months after the end of the operations the harbour seal population had not recovered their initial abundance. The results of this study have critical consequences on the conservation of P. vitulina in areas impacted by anthropogenic activities.

scholarly journals Introduction: The harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) - a global perspective

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arne Bjørge ◽  
Geneviève Desportes ◽  
Gordon T Waring ◽  
Aqqalu Rosing-Asvid
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Harbour Seal ◽  
The North ◽  
Harbour Seals ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
The Baltic

Introduction to Volume 8: Harbour seals in the North Atlantic and the Baltic 

scholarly journals Observations on seals on the island of Surtsey in the period 1980-2012

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 41-43
Author(s):  
Erlingur Hauksson
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Site ◽  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
The Other ◽  
South Coast ◽  
Harbour Seal ◽  
Halichoerus Grypus ◽  
Grey Seal ◽  
The South ◽  
Breeding Sites ◽  
Harbour Seals

Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus Fabricius) and harbour seals (Phoca vitulina L.) have been surveyed on the coasts of Iceland since 1980. During the period 1980-2012, both seal species have declined markedly in numbers at the Icelandic coast. The grey seal has established a considerable breeding site on the northern spit of the Surtsey island. This is at present one of the biggest grey seal rookeries on the southern shores of Iceland, with estimated about 60 pups born there in the autumn of 2012. On the other hand, the harbour seal has not been numerous on Surtsey during breeding time in the summer. Breeding sites of harbour seals on the south coast of Iceland closest to Surtsey are in the estuaries of the glacial rivers Ölfusá, Þjórsá, Markarfljót and Kúðafljót. Harbour seals, however, haul-out in great numbers on the northern shores of Surtsey during the winter, presumably using the island as a resting place after foraging in the adjacent waters.

The seal louse, Echinophthirius horridus: an intermediate host of the seal heartworm, Dipetalonema spirocauda (Nematoda)

1981 ◽  
Vol 59 (7) ◽  
pp. 1457-1459 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Geraci ◽  
J. F. Fortin ◽  
D. J. St. Aubin ◽  
B. D. Hicks
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Intermediate Host ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
Harbour Seal ◽  
First Report ◽  
Harbour Seals

Heartworms, Dipetalonema spirocauda, are common in harbour seals, Phoca vitulina, that strand along the New England coast. Lice, Echinophthirius horridus, taken from a stranded harbour seal infected with seal heartworm carried three developmental stages of D. spirocauda. This is the first report of an intermediate host of the seal heartworm.

scholarly journals A note on the harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) in the Faroe Islands

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bjarni Mikkelsen
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
The Other ◽  
Harbour Seal ◽  
Faroe Islands ◽  
Grey Seal ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Human Settlements ◽  
Harbour Seals

The harbour seal was exterminated as a breeding species in the Faroe Islands in the mid-19th Century. Historical sources document that the harbour seal used to be a common inhabitant of the sheltered fjords where breeding occurred. It was reported to be more common than the grey seal, the other pinniped specie resident around the Faroes. But the number of harbour seals seemingly decreased as human settlements and other anthropogenic activities increased. Seal hunting was apparently already introduced by the Norse that arrived on the islands in the 7th century, a hunt that finally lead to the extermination of the harbour seal. For the last 40 years the harbour seal has only been positively identified twice in the Faroe Islands, in 2001 and 2005.

In-air and underwater vocalizations of eastern Canadian harbour seals, Phoca vitulina

2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (7) ◽  
pp. 1173-1179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofie M Van Parijs ◽  
Kit M Kovacs
Keyword(s):  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
Nearest Neighbour ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Mating Season ◽  
Agonistic Interactions ◽  
Age Classes ◽  
Harbour Seals ◽  
The World ◽  
Pinniped Species ◽  
Vocalization Type

Harbour seals, Phoca vitulina, have long been thought to be one of the least vocal pinniped species both in air and under water. However, recent studies have shown that males use underwater vocalizations intensively during the mating season. In air, harbour seals are still thought to be relatively silent. In this study we describe the vocal repertoire of Eastern Canadian harbour seals during the breeding season. Harbour seals from this area produced seven vocalization types in air and one vocalization type under water. In-air vocalizations are predominantly used by adult males during agonistic interactions. Other sex and age classes also vocalize, but less frequently. Nearest neighbour responses to in-air vocalizations were primarily agonistic when any age or sex class vocalized. In this study, seals produced an underwater roar vocalization closely resembling that produced by adult males during the mating season at other sites. Eastern Canadian harbour seals appear to be considerably more vocal when hauled out than is the norm for this species at other sites around the world.

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