A METHOD FOR ESTIMATING MASS OF LARGE PINNIPEDS

• Published in: Marine Mammal Science
• Main Authors: Haley, Michael P., Deutsch, Charles J., Boeuf, Burney J. Le
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1991
• Subjects: Aquatic Science; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Elephant Seals
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.1991.tb00562.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1748-7692.1991.tb00562.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1748-7692.1991.tb00562.x

A bstract Fifty‐two male elephant seals were weighed and photographed at Año Nuevo State Reserve, California, to establish a predictive relationship between photographically measured morphological variables (length, side area, and girth area) and body mass. Regression of mass on these variables revealed that side area, roughly equivalent to a longitudinal cross‐section, was the most useful single variable for predicting mass, and that adding the other two variables to side area slightly improved the accuracy of the photogrammetric technique. Curvilinear regressions based on a power model provided the best predictive relationships. This technique may prove useful for estimating body mass of other pinnipeds.