The terrestrial behavior of the harbour seal, Phoca vitulina concolor, at Miquelon

• Main Author: Davis, Michael Benjamin
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 1984
• Subjects: harbour seal; Phoca vitulina
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/5852/; https://research.library.mun.ca/5852/1/Davis_MichaelBenjamin.pdf; https://research.library.mun.ca/5852/3/Davis_MichaelBenjamin.pdf

A breeding colony of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina concolor) was studied from close range at Miquelon. Quantitative records were kept of the manner in which the herds settled onto sand flats exposed at low tide. The pattern with which various sexes and age classes assembled on the beach, their site fidelity, the role of agonistic behavior and play, the impact of human and natural disturbances and the manner in which the seals returned to sea were compared over segments of the breeding and moulting seasons. Contrary to some earlier beliefs that these seals are merely loosely gregarious, the results suggested that they are organized socially, though in a simpler fashion than those pinnipeds which copulate on land.