Diving Related Changes in the Blood Oxygen Stores of Rehabilitating Harbor Seal Pups

• Main Authors: Thomas, Amber, Ono, Kathryn
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: figshare 2015
• Subjects: Physiology; FOS Biological sciences; Developmental Biology; Marine Biology; harbor seal; Phoca vitulina
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1309301; https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Diving_Related_Changes_in_the_Blood_Oxygen_Stores_of_Rehabilitating_Harbor_Seal_Pups/1309301

This dataset was collected from maternally dependent harbor seal ( Phoca vitulina ) pups that were admitted to the Marine Animal Rehabilitation and Conservation (MARC) program in Biddeford, Maine, USA in the spring/summer of 2012. All hematological data were collected for husbandry or veterinary purposes and used opportunistically for this study. The dive data available in this dataset were collected using several ReefNet Sensus Ultra units which were each attached just posterior to the scapula of rehabilitating harbor seal pups. These units recorded time, pressure and temperature and collected all of this information every 3 seconds when the pups were below the water's surface. This information could thus be used to determine the amount of time animals spent submerged during their stay in rehabilitation. The Sensus Ultra units were removed by MARC staff during periods of animal discomfort or illness, and the units were occasionally removed by the animals during times of play, so the data are discontinuous. These data were used to study the simultaneous development of blood oxygen stores and diving behaviors during rehabiltiation in harbor seal pups. Please refer to the ReadMe.txt file for more information on the files within this fileset. The data in the "12-0xx Total Dives" files were analyzed using the diveMove package in R. The script written specifically to analyze data from these ReefNet Sensus Ultra tags in diveMove is available at the following location https://zenodo.org/record/15416