Drifting away: implications of changes in ice conditions for a pack-ice-breeding phocid, the harp seal ( Pagophilus groenlandicus )

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Zoology
• Main Authors: Bajzak, C.E., Hammill, M.O., Stenson, G.B., Prinsenberg, S.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2011
• Subjects: Animal Science and Zoology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Magdalen; Harp Seal; Pagophilus groenlandicus
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z11-081; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/z11-081; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z11-081

Harp seals ( Pagophilus groenlandicus (Erxleben, 1777)) required drifting pack-ice for birth, nursing, and as a resting platform for neonates after weaning. Data on the yearly location of whelping patches in the Gulf of St. Lawrence collected between 1977 and 2011 were combined with ice cover data (...