GRAY SEAL (Halichoerus grypus): Western North Atlantic Stock
The gray seal is found in the western North Atlantic from New England to Labrador and is centered in the Sabel Island region of Nova Scotia (Katona et al. 1993; Davies 1957). This stock is separated by both geography and differences in the breeding season from the eastern Atlantic stock (Bonner 1981...
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
1998
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.294.6264 http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/sars/ao1998segr-wn.pdf |
| Summary: | The gray seal is found in the western North Atlantic from New England to Labrador and is centered in the Sabel Island region of Nova Scotia (Katona et al. 1993; Davies 1957). This stock is separated by both geography and differences in the breeding season from the eastern Atlantic stock (Bonner 1981). The western Atlantic stock is distributed and breeds principally in eastern Canadian waters; however, small numbers of animals and pupping have been observed on several isolated islands along the Maine coast and in Nantucket-Vineyard Sound, Massachusetts (Katona et al. 1993; Rough 1995; J. R. Gilbert, pers. comm., University of Maine, Orono, ME). In recent years, a year-round breeding population of approximately 400 animals has been documented on the outer Cape Cod and Nantucket Island (Dennis Murley, pers. comm., Mass. Audubon Society, Wellfleet, MA). Gilbert (pers. comm) has also documented a resident colony in Maine. POPULATION SIZE Estimates of the total western Atlantic gray seal population are not available; however, four estimates of portions of the stock are available for Sable Island, the Maine coast, and Muskeget Island (Nantucket) and Monomoy, (Cape Cod) Massachusetts (Table 1). The 1986 population estimate for individuals on Sable Island, Nova Scotia that are one year old and older was between 100,000 and 130,000 animals (Stobo and Zwanenburg 1990). The 1993 estimate of the Sable Island and Gulf of St. Lawrence stocks was 143,000 animals (Mohn and Bowen 1994). The population in waters off Maine has increased from about 30 in the early 1980's to between 500-1,000 animals in 1993; recently 29-49 pups/year have been recorded in Penobscot Bay (J. R. Gilbert, pers. comm.). Maximum counts of individuals at a winter breeding colony on Muskeget Island, west of Nantucket Island obtained during the spring molt did not exceed 13 in any year during |
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