Hooded Seal ( Cystophora cristata ) Pup Production in the Gulf of St. Lawrence

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• Main Authors: Hammill, M. O., Stenson, G. B., Myers, R. A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1992
• Subjects: Aquatic Science; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Breton Island; Magdalen; Cystophora cristata; hooded seal; Prince Edward Island
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f92-281; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f92-281

Systematic visual aerial surveys were flown in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence during March 1990 and 1991 to estimate hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) pup production. In 1990, the main whelping patch, occupying an area of 264 km 2 , was located near Cape Breton Island. One hundred and five pups were counted on 17 transects, resulting in a mean density of 1.74 pups∙kim −2 and an estimated pup production of 1638 (SE = 466). In 1991, a large whelping patch was located to the west of the Magdalen Islands, a second off the coast of Prince Edward Island, and a small patch was later found south of the Magdalen Islands. The two major patches were surveyed, resulting in a pup production estimate of 1564 (SE = 101). During the 1991 surveys, an estimated 71–93% of the pups were on the ice. Correcting for the distribution of births results in a minimum 1991 pup production estimate of 2006 (SE = 190) for the Gulf of St. Lawrence.