Fatty acid signatures for harbor seals and their prey in and around Prince William Sound, Alaska

• Main Authors: Kathryn Frost, Sara Iverson, Lloyd Lowry, Mike Simpkins, Jay Ver Hoef
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Gulf of Alaska Data Portal
• Subjects: harbor seal; prince william sound; pinnipeds; fatty acid; prey; food web; predator diet; feeding ecology; EVOSTC; Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council; Oil Spill; Exxon Valdez; Alaska; Pelagic; Fish; Mammals; Phoca vitulina richardsi; vitulina richardsi; Bering Sea; Gulf of Alaska; Blanchard; Lowry; Kayak; Dyer; Kayak Island; Kodiak; Phoca vitulina; Aleutian Islands
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5063/F1TB14T4

Study History: Restoration Project 01064 began in 1993 as a continuation of the initial post-spill study effort conducted as Marine Mammal Study Number 5 (Assessment of Injury to Harbor Seals in Prince William Sound, Alaska, and Adjacent Areas) in 1989 through 1991 and reclassified as Restoration Study Number 73 (Harbor Seal Restoration Study) in 1992. A final report was issued in 1994 for the combined Marine Mammal Study Number 5 and Restoration Study Number 73, entitled Assessment of Injury to Harbor Seals in Prince William Sound, Alaska, and Adjacent Areas Following the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. Subsequently, annual reports were submitted entitled Habitat Use, Behavior, and Monitoring of Harbor Seals in Prince William Sound: 1994 Annual Report, 1995 Annual Report, 1996 Annual Report , 1997 Annual Report, 1998 Annual Report, and 1999 Annual Report . Fatty acid studies funded under Restoration Project 94320-F (Trophic Interactions of Harbor Seals in Prince William Sound) were included in the 1994 annual report for 94064. Fatty acid studies were continued and reported as part of this study for the duration of the project. Publications: Iverson, S. J., K. J. Frost, and L. F. Lowry. 1997. Fatty acid signatures reveal fine scale structure of foraging distribution of harbor seals and their prey in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Marine Ecology Progress Series 151: 255-71. Iverson, S. J., K. J. Frost, and S. L. C. Lang. 2002. Fat content and fatty acid composition of forage fish and invertebrates in Prince William Sound, Alaska: factors contributing to among and within species variability. Marine Ecology Progress Series 241: 161-81. Iverson, S. J., C. Field, W. D. Bowen, and W. Blanchard. 2004. Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis: a new method of estimating predator diets. Ecological Monographs 74, no. 2: 211-35. Iverson, S. J., S. L. C. Lang, and M. H. Cooper. 2001. Comparison of the Bligh and Dyer and Folch methods for total lipid determination in a broad range of marine tissue. Lipids 36, no. 11.