Long-distance movements of harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina) from a seasonally ice-covered area, the St. Lawrence River estuary, Canada
Previous studies of harbour seal (Phoca vitulina L., 1758) movements indicate that this species is relatively sedentary throughout the year. However, few investigations have examined their movements and seasonal distribution patterns in ice-covered areas. This study used spatial analysis of ice data...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Zoology |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z04-084 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z04-084 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/z04-084 2024-06-23T07:53:31+00:00 Long-distance movements of harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina) from a seasonally ice-covered area, the St. Lawrence River estuary, Canada Lesage, Véronique Hammill, Mike O Kovacs, Kit M 2004 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z04-084 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z04-084 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 82, issue 7, page 1070-1081 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 journal-article 2004 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/z04-084 2024-06-06T04:11:17Z Previous studies of harbour seal (Phoca vitulina L., 1758) movements indicate that this species is relatively sedentary throughout the year. However, few investigations have examined their movements and seasonal distribution patterns in ice-covered areas. This study used spatial analysis of ice data and movement data from harbour seals collected via satellite (n = 7) and VHF radiotelemetry (n = 15) to explore this species' spatial use patterns in a seasonally ice-covered region, the St. Lawrence River estuary, Canada. When solid ice formed within the bays of the estuary, four of the seven satellite-tagged animals (all adult males) left their summer haul-out areas, migrating 266 ± 202 km (range 65–520 km) to over-wintering sites. The seals exhibited preference for areas of light to intermediate ice conditions during the winter months; at least six of the seven seals occupied areas with lighter ice conditions than those that prevailed generally in the study area. Evidence of high abundance of potential prey for harbour seals in the estuary during winter suggests that reduced availability of adequate food resources is not the primary factor which influences the movement and distribution patterns of harbour seals. Movement patterns observed during the ice-free period concur with previously reported harbour seal behaviour; the seals remained near the coast (<6.1–11.0 km from shore) in shallow water areas (<50 m deep in 100% VHF and 90% SLTDRs (satellite-linked time-depth recorders)) and travelled only short distances (15–45 km) from capture sites. None of the VHF- or satellite-tagged seals crossed the 350 m deep Laurentian channel, which suggests that this deep body of water might represent a physical barrier to this coastal population. Article in Journal/Newspaper harbour seal Phoca vitulina ice covered areas Canadian Science Publishing Canada Lawrence River ENVELOPE(-115.002,-115.002,58.384,58.384) Canadian Journal of Zoology 82 7 1070 1081 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
Previous studies of harbour seal (Phoca vitulina L., 1758) movements indicate that this species is relatively sedentary throughout the year. However, few investigations have examined their movements and seasonal distribution patterns in ice-covered areas. This study used spatial analysis of ice data and movement data from harbour seals collected via satellite (n = 7) and VHF radiotelemetry (n = 15) to explore this species' spatial use patterns in a seasonally ice-covered region, the St. Lawrence River estuary, Canada. When solid ice formed within the bays of the estuary, four of the seven satellite-tagged animals (all adult males) left their summer haul-out areas, migrating 266 ± 202 km (range 65–520 km) to over-wintering sites. The seals exhibited preference for areas of light to intermediate ice conditions during the winter months; at least six of the seven seals occupied areas with lighter ice conditions than those that prevailed generally in the study area. Evidence of high abundance of potential prey for harbour seals in the estuary during winter suggests that reduced availability of adequate food resources is not the primary factor which influences the movement and distribution patterns of harbour seals. Movement patterns observed during the ice-free period concur with previously reported harbour seal behaviour; the seals remained near the coast (<6.1–11.0 km from shore) in shallow water areas (<50 m deep in 100% VHF and 90% SLTDRs (satellite-linked time-depth recorders)) and travelled only short distances (15–45 km) from capture sites. None of the VHF- or satellite-tagged seals crossed the 350 m deep Laurentian channel, which suggests that this deep body of water might represent a physical barrier to this coastal population. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lesage, Véronique Hammill, Mike O Kovacs, Kit M |
spellingShingle |
Lesage, Véronique Hammill, Mike O Kovacs, Kit M Long-distance movements of harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina) from a seasonally ice-covered area, the St. Lawrence River estuary, Canada |
author_facet |
Lesage, Véronique Hammill, Mike O Kovacs, Kit M |
author_sort |
Lesage, Véronique |
title |
Long-distance movements of harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina) from a seasonally ice-covered area, the St. Lawrence River estuary, Canada |
title_short |
Long-distance movements of harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina) from a seasonally ice-covered area, the St. Lawrence River estuary, Canada |
title_full |
Long-distance movements of harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina) from a seasonally ice-covered area, the St. Lawrence River estuary, Canada |
title_fullStr |
Long-distance movements of harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina) from a seasonally ice-covered area, the St. Lawrence River estuary, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Long-distance movements of harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina) from a seasonally ice-covered area, the St. Lawrence River estuary, Canada |
title_sort |
long-distance movements of harbour seals ( phoca vitulina) from a seasonally ice-covered area, the st. lawrence river estuary, canada |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z04-084 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z04-084 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-115.002,-115.002,58.384,58.384) |
geographic |
Canada Lawrence River |
geographic_facet |
Canada Lawrence River |
genre |
harbour seal Phoca vitulina ice covered areas |
genre_facet |
harbour seal Phoca vitulina ice covered areas |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 82, issue 7, page 1070-1081 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/z04-084 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
82 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
1070 |
op_container_end_page |
1081 |
_version_ |
1802645228029476864 |