Harbour seal Phoca vitulina movement patterns in the high-Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, Norway
Harbour seals Phoca vitulina are mainly considered a temperate species, but the world’s northernmost population resides year-round in the high-Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. In this study we document post-moulting at-sea movements of 30 individuals from this population using satellite relay data lo...
Published in: | Aquatic Biology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Inter-Research
2014
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00580 https://doaj.org/article/309e793183f347c2a8e385989796f5e2 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:309e793183f347c2a8e385989796f5e2 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:309e793183f347c2a8e385989796f5e2 2023-05-15T14:28:45+02:00 Harbour seal Phoca vitulina movement patterns in the high-Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, Norway MA Blanchet C Lydersen RA Ims AD Lowther KM Kovacs 2014-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00580 https://doaj.org/article/309e793183f347c2a8e385989796f5e2 EN eng Inter-Research https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/ab/v21/n3/p167-181/ https://doaj.org/toc/1864-7782 https://doaj.org/toc/1864-7790 1864-7782 1864-7790 doi:10.3354/ab00580 https://doaj.org/article/309e793183f347c2a8e385989796f5e2 Aquatic Biology, Vol 21, Iss 3, Pp 167-181 (2014) Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Microbiology QR1-502 article 2014 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00580 2022-12-31T05:05:35Z Harbour seals Phoca vitulina are mainly considered a temperate species, but the world’s northernmost population resides year-round in the high-Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. In this study we document post-moulting at-sea movements of 30 individuals from this population using satellite relay data loggers deployed in the autumns of 2009 and 2010. All of the seals showed a strong preference for the west side of the archipelago, staying mainly in coastal areas (<50 km over the continental shelf), but seldom entering the fjord systems. Distance swam per day, individual home range size, and trip duration increased throughout the winter to a peak that was reached when drifting sea ice in the region was at a maximum. No effect of age was observed, but sex differences were significant; males occupied larger areas than females. Habitat selection was quantified by modelling time spent in area (TSA) as a function of environmental parameters using Cox proportional hazard models (CPH). The harbour seals avoided heavy ice concentrations (>50%) but did occupy areas with substantial amounts of drifting ice (5 to 25%). Shallow water (<100 m) and steep bathymetric slopes were preferred to deep water or flat-bottom areas. Harbour seal distribution in Svalbard is largely restricted to coastal areas that are heavily influenced by Atlantic water brought northward in the West Spitsbergen Current; both the temperature and influx of this water type are predicted to increase in the future. It is thus likely that environmental conditions in Svalbard in the future will become more favourable for harbour seals. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Archipelago Arctic harbour seal Phoca vitulina Sea ice Svalbard Spitsbergen Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Svalbard Norway Aquatic Biology 21 3 167 181 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Microbiology QR1-502 |
spellingShingle |
Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Microbiology QR1-502 MA Blanchet C Lydersen RA Ims AD Lowther KM Kovacs Harbour seal Phoca vitulina movement patterns in the high-Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, Norway |
topic_facet |
Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Microbiology QR1-502 |
description |
Harbour seals Phoca vitulina are mainly considered a temperate species, but the world’s northernmost population resides year-round in the high-Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. In this study we document post-moulting at-sea movements of 30 individuals from this population using satellite relay data loggers deployed in the autumns of 2009 and 2010. All of the seals showed a strong preference for the west side of the archipelago, staying mainly in coastal areas (<50 km over the continental shelf), but seldom entering the fjord systems. Distance swam per day, individual home range size, and trip duration increased throughout the winter to a peak that was reached when drifting sea ice in the region was at a maximum. No effect of age was observed, but sex differences were significant; males occupied larger areas than females. Habitat selection was quantified by modelling time spent in area (TSA) as a function of environmental parameters using Cox proportional hazard models (CPH). The harbour seals avoided heavy ice concentrations (>50%) but did occupy areas with substantial amounts of drifting ice (5 to 25%). Shallow water (<100 m) and steep bathymetric slopes were preferred to deep water or flat-bottom areas. Harbour seal distribution in Svalbard is largely restricted to coastal areas that are heavily influenced by Atlantic water brought northward in the West Spitsbergen Current; both the temperature and influx of this water type are predicted to increase in the future. It is thus likely that environmental conditions in Svalbard in the future will become more favourable for harbour seals. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
MA Blanchet C Lydersen RA Ims AD Lowther KM Kovacs |
author_facet |
MA Blanchet C Lydersen RA Ims AD Lowther KM Kovacs |
author_sort |
MA Blanchet |
title |
Harbour seal Phoca vitulina movement patterns in the high-Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, Norway |
title_short |
Harbour seal Phoca vitulina movement patterns in the high-Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, Norway |
title_full |
Harbour seal Phoca vitulina movement patterns in the high-Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, Norway |
title_fullStr |
Harbour seal Phoca vitulina movement patterns in the high-Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, Norway |
title_full_unstemmed |
Harbour seal Phoca vitulina movement patterns in the high-Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, Norway |
title_sort |
harbour seal phoca vitulina movement patterns in the high-arctic archipelago of svalbard, norway |
publisher |
Inter-Research |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00580 https://doaj.org/article/309e793183f347c2a8e385989796f5e2 |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard Norway |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard Norway |
genre |
Arctic Archipelago Arctic harbour seal Phoca vitulina Sea ice Svalbard Spitsbergen |
genre_facet |
Arctic Archipelago Arctic harbour seal Phoca vitulina Sea ice Svalbard Spitsbergen |
op_source |
Aquatic Biology, Vol 21, Iss 3, Pp 167-181 (2014) |
op_relation |
https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/ab/v21/n3/p167-181/ https://doaj.org/toc/1864-7782 https://doaj.org/toc/1864-7790 1864-7782 1864-7790 doi:10.3354/ab00580 https://doaj.org/article/309e793183f347c2a8e385989796f5e2 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00580 |
container_title |
Aquatic Biology |
container_volume |
21 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
167 |
op_container_end_page |
181 |
_version_ |
1766302916276125696 |