Social structure and underwater behavior of harbor seals in southern Monterey Bay, California
To understand harbor seal social and mating strategies, I examined site fidelity, seasonal abundance and distribution, herd integrity, and underwater behavior of individual harbor seals in southern Monterey Bay. Individual harbor seals (n = 444) were identified by natural markings and represented gr...
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ftaquaticcommons:oai:generic.eprints.org:6823 2023-05-15T16:33:10+02:00 Social structure and underwater behavior of harbor seals in southern Monterey Bay, California Nicholson, Teri Elizabeth 2000 application/pdf http://aquaticcommons.org/6823/ http://aquaticcommons.org/6823/1/Nicholson_2000_OCR.pdf en eng http://aquaticcommons.org/6823/1/Nicholson_2000_OCR.pdf Nicholson, Teri Elizabeth (2000) Social structure and underwater behavior of harbor seals in southern Monterey Bay, California. Masters Thesis, San Francisco State University, 98pp. Biology Ecology Thesis NonPeerReviewed 2000 ftaquaticcommons 2020-02-27T09:22:13Z To understand harbor seal social and mating strategies, I examined site fidelity, seasonal abundance and distribution, herd integrity, and underwater behavior of individual harbor seals in southern Monterey Bay. Individual harbor seals (n = 444) were identified by natural markings and represented greater than 80% of an estimated 520 seals within this community. Year to year fidelity of individual harbor seals to southern Monterey Bay coastline was 84% (n = 388), and long-term associations (>2 yrs) among individuals were common (>40%). Consistent with these long-term associations, harbor seals were highly social underwater throughout the year. Underwater social behavior included three primary types: (1) visual and acoustic displays, such as vocalizing, surface splashing, and bubble-blowing; (2) playful or agonistic social behavior such as rolling, mounting, attending, and biting; and (3) signal gestures such as head-thrusting, fore-flipper scratch~ng, and growling. Frequency of these types of behavior was related to seal age, gender, season, and resource availability. Underwater behavior had a variety of functions, including promotion of learning and social development, reduction of aggression and preservation of social bonds by maintaining social hierarchy, and facilitation of mate selection during breeding season. Social behavior among adult males was significantly correlated with vocalization characteristics (r = 0.99, X2 = 37.7, p = 0.00087), indicating that seals may assess their competition based on underwater vocalization displays and adopt individual strategies for attracting females during breeding season based on social status. Individual mating strategies may include defending underwater territories, using scramble tactics, and developing social alliances. (PDF contains 105 pages) Thesis harbor seal International Association of Aquatic and Marine Science Libraries and Information Centers (IAMSLIC): Aquatic Commons |
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International Association of Aquatic and Marine Science Libraries and Information Centers (IAMSLIC): Aquatic Commons |
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ftaquaticcommons |
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English |
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Biology Ecology |
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Biology Ecology Nicholson, Teri Elizabeth Social structure and underwater behavior of harbor seals in southern Monterey Bay, California |
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Biology Ecology |
description |
To understand harbor seal social and mating strategies, I examined site fidelity, seasonal abundance and distribution, herd integrity, and underwater behavior of individual harbor seals in southern Monterey Bay. Individual harbor seals (n = 444) were identified by natural markings and represented greater than 80% of an estimated 520 seals within this community. Year to year fidelity of individual harbor seals to southern Monterey Bay coastline was 84% (n = 388), and long-term associations (>2 yrs) among individuals were common (>40%). Consistent with these long-term associations, harbor seals were highly social underwater throughout the year. Underwater social behavior included three primary types: (1) visual and acoustic displays, such as vocalizing, surface splashing, and bubble-blowing; (2) playful or agonistic social behavior such as rolling, mounting, attending, and biting; and (3) signal gestures such as head-thrusting, fore-flipper scratch~ng, and growling. Frequency of these types of behavior was related to seal age, gender, season, and resource availability. Underwater behavior had a variety of functions, including promotion of learning and social development, reduction of aggression and preservation of social bonds by maintaining social hierarchy, and facilitation of mate selection during breeding season. Social behavior among adult males was significantly correlated with vocalization characteristics (r = 0.99, X2 = 37.7, p = 0.00087), indicating that seals may assess their competition based on underwater vocalization displays and adopt individual strategies for attracting females during breeding season based on social status. Individual mating strategies may include defending underwater territories, using scramble tactics, and developing social alliances. (PDF contains 105 pages) |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Nicholson, Teri Elizabeth |
author_facet |
Nicholson, Teri Elizabeth |
author_sort |
Nicholson, Teri Elizabeth |
title |
Social structure and underwater behavior of harbor seals in southern Monterey Bay, California |
title_short |
Social structure and underwater behavior of harbor seals in southern Monterey Bay, California |
title_full |
Social structure and underwater behavior of harbor seals in southern Monterey Bay, California |
title_fullStr |
Social structure and underwater behavior of harbor seals in southern Monterey Bay, California |
title_full_unstemmed |
Social structure and underwater behavior of harbor seals in southern Monterey Bay, California |
title_sort |
social structure and underwater behavior of harbor seals in southern monterey bay, california |
publishDate |
2000 |
url |
http://aquaticcommons.org/6823/ http://aquaticcommons.org/6823/1/Nicholson_2000_OCR.pdf |
genre |
harbor seal |
genre_facet |
harbor seal |
op_relation |
http://aquaticcommons.org/6823/1/Nicholson_2000_OCR.pdf Nicholson, Teri Elizabeth (2000) Social structure and underwater behavior of harbor seals in southern Monterey Bay, California. Masters Thesis, San Francisco State University, 98pp. |
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