A survey of the Van Mijen fiord, Svalbard, as habitat for ringed seals, Phoca hispida

• Published in: Ecography
• Main Authors: Lydersen, Christian, Jensen, Per Magne, Lydersen, Espen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1990
• Subjects: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Canada; Norway; Svalbard; Phoca hispida; ringed seal
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0587.1990.tb00598.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1600-0587.1990.tb00598.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1600-0587.1990.tb00598.x

The ringed seal breeding habitat of the Van Mijen fiord, Svalbard, Norway, was studied from 30 March to 22 May 1986. A Siberian husky dog was used to detect ringed seal birth lairs and breathing holes. Fifteen percent of the total fiord areas was sampled. We estimated the densitites of birth lairs and breathing holes to be 0.04 km ‐2 and 1.30 km ‐2 , respectively. The Van Mijen fiord was a poor ringed seal breeding habitat compared with breeding habitats investigated both in Canada and other parts of Svalbard. The main reason is probably shallow snow depth and lack of structures such as pressure ridges around which enough snow could accumulate for the ringed seal females to be able to dig out their lairs. The number of seals inhabiting the area during the breeding period 1986 was approximately 125 animals.