Observations on a Colony of Whelping Harbour Seals, Phoca vitulina concolor, on Sable Island, Nova Scotia
Three censuses indicated that approximately 1220 harbour seals were at Sable Island at the beginning of whelping in 1970. About 270 pups were born, representing 18% of the total seal population after whelping. Maximum whelping occurred during the last week of May. Males represented 52% of the 118 pu...
| Published in: | Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Canadian Science Publishing
1971
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f71-104 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f71-104 |
| Summary: | Three censuses indicated that approximately 1220 harbour seals were at Sable Island at the beginning of whelping in 1970. About 270 pups were born, representing 18% of the total seal population after whelping. Maximum whelping occurred during the last week of May. Males represented 52% of the 118 pups examined. At least 12% of the pups died in the 1st month of life. Pups born with lanugo represented 16% of all pups born. Males and females averaged 80 cm long and 11 kg in weight at birth; 3 weeks later, the males averaged 91 cm and 24 kg and the females 86 cm and 20 kg. |
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