Influence of storms and maternal size on mother–pup separations and fostering in the harbor seal, Phoca vitulina
Fostering behavior has been documented in a large number of mammals and birds, but its frequency of occurrence and proximate causes are poorly understood in most species. Ten percent of a sample of 76 paint-marked female harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) fostered pups for some portion of the lactation p...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Zoology |
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Language: | English |
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Canadian Science Publishing
1992
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z92-228 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z92-228 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/z92-228 2023-12-17T10:31:14+01:00 Influence of storms and maternal size on mother–pup separations and fostering in the harbor seal, Phoca vitulina Boness, Daryl J. Bowen, Don Iverson, Sara J. Oftedal, Olav T. 1992 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z92-228 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z92-228 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 70, issue 8, page 1640-1644 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 1992 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/z92-228 2023-11-19T13:39:17Z Fostering behavior has been documented in a large number of mammals and birds, but its frequency of occurrence and proximate causes are poorly understood in most species. Ten percent of a sample of 76 paint-marked female harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) fostered pups for some portion of the lactation period. Fostering appears to be associated with females having lost their own pup. In a subsample of 30 pairs that were followed closely, 3 of 16 females that lost their pups fostered, but none of 14 females that maintained continuous association with their pups throughout lactation did so. Smaller, and presumably younger, females were significantly more likely to become separated from their pups than were larger, and presumably older, females (73 vs. 33%). A high proportion (68%) of 35 separations observed occurred during the same day as, or within 1 day following, a storm. In 7 of 8 instances where we relocated pups after they were separated from their mothers during a storm, we found them in the direction of the surface current, 4.9 km from their previous location, on average. These data suggest that storms were the primary cause of separation of harbor seal mothers from their pups, and that younger mothers may be more likely to become separated from their pups. As fostering only occurs after a mother has lost her pup, we suggest that fostering, too, may be more likely among younger females. Article in Journal/Newspaper harbor seal Phoca vitulina Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) Canadian Journal of Zoology 70 8 1640 1644 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Boness, Daryl J. Bowen, Don Iverson, Sara J. Oftedal, Olav T. Influence of storms and maternal size on mother–pup separations and fostering in the harbor seal, Phoca vitulina |
topic_facet |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
Fostering behavior has been documented in a large number of mammals and birds, but its frequency of occurrence and proximate causes are poorly understood in most species. Ten percent of a sample of 76 paint-marked female harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) fostered pups for some portion of the lactation period. Fostering appears to be associated with females having lost their own pup. In a subsample of 30 pairs that were followed closely, 3 of 16 females that lost their pups fostered, but none of 14 females that maintained continuous association with their pups throughout lactation did so. Smaller, and presumably younger, females were significantly more likely to become separated from their pups than were larger, and presumably older, females (73 vs. 33%). A high proportion (68%) of 35 separations observed occurred during the same day as, or within 1 day following, a storm. In 7 of 8 instances where we relocated pups after they were separated from their mothers during a storm, we found them in the direction of the surface current, 4.9 km from their previous location, on average. These data suggest that storms were the primary cause of separation of harbor seal mothers from their pups, and that younger mothers may be more likely to become separated from their pups. As fostering only occurs after a mother has lost her pup, we suggest that fostering, too, may be more likely among younger females. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Boness, Daryl J. Bowen, Don Iverson, Sara J. Oftedal, Olav T. |
author_facet |
Boness, Daryl J. Bowen, Don Iverson, Sara J. Oftedal, Olav T. |
author_sort |
Boness, Daryl J. |
title |
Influence of storms and maternal size on mother–pup separations and fostering in the harbor seal, Phoca vitulina |
title_short |
Influence of storms and maternal size on mother–pup separations and fostering in the harbor seal, Phoca vitulina |
title_full |
Influence of storms and maternal size on mother–pup separations and fostering in the harbor seal, Phoca vitulina |
title_fullStr |
Influence of storms and maternal size on mother–pup separations and fostering in the harbor seal, Phoca vitulina |
title_full_unstemmed |
Influence of storms and maternal size on mother–pup separations and fostering in the harbor seal, Phoca vitulina |
title_sort |
influence of storms and maternal size on mother–pup separations and fostering in the harbor seal, phoca vitulina |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
1992 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z92-228 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z92-228 |
genre |
harbor seal Phoca vitulina |
genre_facet |
harbor seal Phoca vitulina |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 70, issue 8, page 1640-1644 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/z92-228 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
70 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
1640 |
op_container_end_page |
1644 |
_version_ |
1785584429250379776 |