Post‐disturbance haulout behaviour of harbour seals
Abstract The impact of anthropogenic activity associated with marine renewable developments on harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina ) was investigated using controlled disturbance trials. Hauled‐out seals were approached by boat until all seals had entered the water, and this was repeated approximately ev...
Published in: | Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems |
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crwiley:10.1002/aqc.3092 2024-03-31T07:55:00+00:00 Post‐disturbance haulout behaviour of harbour seals Paterson, William D. Russell, Debbie J.F. Wu, Gi‐Mick McConnell, Bernie Currie, John I. McCafferty, Dominic J. Thompson, Dave Scottish Natural Heritage 2019 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3092 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Faqc.3092 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/aqc.3092 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/aqc.3092 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems volume 29, issue S1, page 144-156 ISSN 1052-7613 1099-0755 Nature and Landscape Conservation Ecology Aquatic Science journal-article 2019 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3092 2024-03-04T13:01:03Z Abstract The impact of anthropogenic activity associated with marine renewable developments on harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina ) was investigated using controlled disturbance trials. Hauled‐out seals were approached by boat until all seals had entered the water, and this was repeated approximately every 3 days (weather permitting). The time taken for seal counts to return to pre‐disturbance levels was determined by monitoring haulout sites using time‐lapse photography. Mean post‐disturbance counts of hauled‐out seals returned to 52% (95% confidence interval [CI] 35–69%) of pre‐disturbance counts within 30 min. However, mean counts only returned to 94% (95% CI 55–132%) of pre‐disturbance counts after 4 hr. Eight seals were tagged with Global Positioning System phone tags to provide information on haulout location and at‐sea movements, allowing investigation of how disturbance may influence haulout site choice and seal distribution. Telemetry‐tagged seals displayed a high degree of haulout site fidelity. Disturbance trials did not have a significant effect on the probability of seals moving to a different haulout site. When seals hauled out again within the same low‐tide period after disturbance trials, the proportion of time spent hauled out was high, indicating that when seals are motivated to haul out they will do so despite past disturbance. Motivation to haul out more on disturbance trial days was not linked to a cyclic pattern of hauling out more over consecutive low‐tide periods. As there was no large‐scale redistribution after disturbance, we suggest that monitoring effort to determine the effects of short‐term increases in levels of disturbance caused by boat activity can be spatially localized. However, where disturbance is likely to be longer term or impact on important haulout sites for breeding and/or moulting, monitoring may be required over a larger geographical area. Article in Journal/Newspaper Phoca vitulina Wiley Online Library Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 29 S1 144 156 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
topic |
Nature and Landscape Conservation Ecology Aquatic Science |
spellingShingle |
Nature and Landscape Conservation Ecology Aquatic Science Paterson, William D. Russell, Debbie J.F. Wu, Gi‐Mick McConnell, Bernie Currie, John I. McCafferty, Dominic J. Thompson, Dave Post‐disturbance haulout behaviour of harbour seals |
topic_facet |
Nature and Landscape Conservation Ecology Aquatic Science |
description |
Abstract The impact of anthropogenic activity associated with marine renewable developments on harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina ) was investigated using controlled disturbance trials. Hauled‐out seals were approached by boat until all seals had entered the water, and this was repeated approximately every 3 days (weather permitting). The time taken for seal counts to return to pre‐disturbance levels was determined by monitoring haulout sites using time‐lapse photography. Mean post‐disturbance counts of hauled‐out seals returned to 52% (95% confidence interval [CI] 35–69%) of pre‐disturbance counts within 30 min. However, mean counts only returned to 94% (95% CI 55–132%) of pre‐disturbance counts after 4 hr. Eight seals were tagged with Global Positioning System phone tags to provide information on haulout location and at‐sea movements, allowing investigation of how disturbance may influence haulout site choice and seal distribution. Telemetry‐tagged seals displayed a high degree of haulout site fidelity. Disturbance trials did not have a significant effect on the probability of seals moving to a different haulout site. When seals hauled out again within the same low‐tide period after disturbance trials, the proportion of time spent hauled out was high, indicating that when seals are motivated to haul out they will do so despite past disturbance. Motivation to haul out more on disturbance trial days was not linked to a cyclic pattern of hauling out more over consecutive low‐tide periods. As there was no large‐scale redistribution after disturbance, we suggest that monitoring effort to determine the effects of short‐term increases in levels of disturbance caused by boat activity can be spatially localized. However, where disturbance is likely to be longer term or impact on important haulout sites for breeding and/or moulting, monitoring may be required over a larger geographical area. |
author2 |
Scottish Natural Heritage |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Paterson, William D. Russell, Debbie J.F. Wu, Gi‐Mick McConnell, Bernie Currie, John I. McCafferty, Dominic J. Thompson, Dave |
author_facet |
Paterson, William D. Russell, Debbie J.F. Wu, Gi‐Mick McConnell, Bernie Currie, John I. McCafferty, Dominic J. Thompson, Dave |
author_sort |
Paterson, William D. |
title |
Post‐disturbance haulout behaviour of harbour seals |
title_short |
Post‐disturbance haulout behaviour of harbour seals |
title_full |
Post‐disturbance haulout behaviour of harbour seals |
title_fullStr |
Post‐disturbance haulout behaviour of harbour seals |
title_full_unstemmed |
Post‐disturbance haulout behaviour of harbour seals |
title_sort |
post‐disturbance haulout behaviour of harbour seals |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3092 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Faqc.3092 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/aqc.3092 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/aqc.3092 |
genre |
Phoca vitulina |
genre_facet |
Phoca vitulina |
op_source |
Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems volume 29, issue S1, page 144-156 ISSN 1052-7613 1099-0755 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3092 |
container_title |
Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems |
container_volume |
29 |
container_issue |
S1 |
container_start_page |
144 |
op_container_end_page |
156 |
_version_ |
1795036365962870784 |