Harbour seal movements and haul‐out patterns: implications for monitoring and management
Abstract Compliance with conservation legislation requires knowledge on the behaviour, abundance and distribution of protected species. Seal life history is characterized by a combination of marine foraging and a requirement to haul out on a solid substrate for reproduction and moulting. Thus unders...
| Published in: | Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2008
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aqc.983 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Faqc.983 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/aqc.983 |
| Summary: | Abstract Compliance with conservation legislation requires knowledge on the behaviour, abundance and distribution of protected species. Seal life history is characterized by a combination of marine foraging and a requirement to haul out on a solid substrate for reproduction and moulting. Thus understanding the use of haul out sites, where seals are counted, as well as their at‐sea movements is crucial for designing effective monitoring and management plans. This study used satellite transmitters deployed on 24 harbour seals in western Scotland to examine movements and haul‐out patterns. The proportion of time harbour seals spent hauled out (daily means of between 11 and 27%) varied spatially, temporally and according to sex. The mean haul‐out duration was 5 h, with a maximum of over 24 h. Patterns of movement were observed at two geographical scales; while some seals travelled over 100 km, 50% of trips were within 25 km of a haul‐out site. These patterns are important for the identification of a marine component to designated protected areas for the species. On average seals returned to the haul‐out sites they last used during 40% of trips, indicating a degree of site fidelity, though there was wide variation between different haul‐out sites (range 0% to >75%). Low fidelity haul‐out sites could form a network of land‐based protected areas, while high fidelity sites might form appropriate management units. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
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