New insights into the diets of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) in the Salish Sea revealed by analysis of fatty acid signatures
Harbor seals (Phoca fvitulina) are an abundant predator along the west coast of North America, and there is considerable interest in their diet composition, especially in regard to predation on valued fish stocks. Available informationon harbor seal diets, primarily derived from scat analysis, sugge...
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ftoceandocs:oai:aquadocs.org:1834/30354 2023-05-15T16:33:06+02:00 New insights into the diets of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) in the Salish Sea revealed by analysis of fatty acid signatures Bromaghin, Jeffrey F. Lance, Monique M. Elliott, Elizabeth W. Jeffries, Steven J. Acevedo-Gutierrez, Alejandro Kennish, John M. 2013 application/pdf 13-26 http://hdl.handle.net/1834/30354 https://doi.org/10.7755/FB.111.1.2 en eng http://fishbull.noaa.gov/1111/bromaghin.pdf 0090-0656 doi:10.7755/FB.111.1.2 http://hdl.handle.net/1834/30354 jbromaghin@usgs.gov http://aquaticcommons.org/id/eprint/14491 403 2014-02-13 04:25:21 14491 United States National Marine Fisheries Service Biology Ecology Fisheries article TRUE 2013 ftoceandocs https://doi.org/10.7755/FB.111.1.2 2023-04-06T17:04:08Z Harbor seals (Phoca fvitulina) are an abundant predator along the west coast of North America, and there is considerable interest in their diet composition, especially in regard to predation on valued fish stocks. Available informationon harbor seal diets, primarily derived from scat analysis, suggests that adult salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasii), and gadids predominate. Because diet assessments based on scat analysis may be biased, we investigated diet composition through quantitative analysis of fatty acid signatures. Blubber samples from 49 harbor seals captured in westernNorth America from haul-outs within the area of the San Juan Islands and southern Strait of Georgia in the Salish Sea were analyzed for fatty acid composition, along with 269 fish and squid specimens representing 27 potential prey classes. Diet estimates varied spatially, demographically, and among individual harbor seals. Findings confirmed the prevalence of previously identified prey species in harbor seal diets, but other species also contributed significantly. In particular, Black (Sebastes melanops) and Yellowtail (S. flavidus) Rockfish were estimated to compose up to 50% of some individual seal diets. Specialization and high predation rates on Black and Yellowtail Rockfish by a subset of harbor seals may play a role in the population dynamics of these regional rockfish stocks that is greater than previously realized. Article in Journal/Newspaper harbor seal Phoca vitulina IODE-UNESCO: OceanDocs - E-Repository of Ocean Publications Pacific San Juan Fishery Bulletin 111 1 |
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IODE-UNESCO: OceanDocs - E-Repository of Ocean Publications |
op_collection_id |
ftoceandocs |
language |
English |
topic |
Biology Ecology Fisheries |
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Biology Ecology Fisheries Bromaghin, Jeffrey F. Lance, Monique M. Elliott, Elizabeth W. Jeffries, Steven J. Acevedo-Gutierrez, Alejandro Kennish, John M. New insights into the diets of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) in the Salish Sea revealed by analysis of fatty acid signatures |
topic_facet |
Biology Ecology Fisheries |
description |
Harbor seals (Phoca fvitulina) are an abundant predator along the west coast of North America, and there is considerable interest in their diet composition, especially in regard to predation on valued fish stocks. Available informationon harbor seal diets, primarily derived from scat analysis, suggests that adult salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasii), and gadids predominate. Because diet assessments based on scat analysis may be biased, we investigated diet composition through quantitative analysis of fatty acid signatures. Blubber samples from 49 harbor seals captured in westernNorth America from haul-outs within the area of the San Juan Islands and southern Strait of Georgia in the Salish Sea were analyzed for fatty acid composition, along with 269 fish and squid specimens representing 27 potential prey classes. Diet estimates varied spatially, demographically, and among individual harbor seals. Findings confirmed the prevalence of previously identified prey species in harbor seal diets, but other species also contributed significantly. In particular, Black (Sebastes melanops) and Yellowtail (S. flavidus) Rockfish were estimated to compose up to 50% of some individual seal diets. Specialization and high predation rates on Black and Yellowtail Rockfish by a subset of harbor seals may play a role in the population dynamics of these regional rockfish stocks that is greater than previously realized. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bromaghin, Jeffrey F. Lance, Monique M. Elliott, Elizabeth W. Jeffries, Steven J. Acevedo-Gutierrez, Alejandro Kennish, John M. |
author_facet |
Bromaghin, Jeffrey F. Lance, Monique M. Elliott, Elizabeth W. Jeffries, Steven J. Acevedo-Gutierrez, Alejandro Kennish, John M. |
author_sort |
Bromaghin, Jeffrey F. |
title |
New insights into the diets of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) in the Salish Sea revealed by analysis of fatty acid signatures |
title_short |
New insights into the diets of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) in the Salish Sea revealed by analysis of fatty acid signatures |
title_full |
New insights into the diets of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) in the Salish Sea revealed by analysis of fatty acid signatures |
title_fullStr |
New insights into the diets of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) in the Salish Sea revealed by analysis of fatty acid signatures |
title_full_unstemmed |
New insights into the diets of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) in the Salish Sea revealed by analysis of fatty acid signatures |
title_sort |
new insights into the diets of harbor seals (phoca vitulina) in the salish sea revealed by analysis of fatty acid signatures |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1834/30354 https://doi.org/10.7755/FB.111.1.2 |
geographic |
Pacific San Juan |
geographic_facet |
Pacific San Juan |
genre |
harbor seal Phoca vitulina |
genre_facet |
harbor seal Phoca vitulina |
op_source |
jbromaghin@usgs.gov http://aquaticcommons.org/id/eprint/14491 403 2014-02-13 04:25:21 14491 United States National Marine Fisheries Service |
op_relation |
http://fishbull.noaa.gov/1111/bromaghin.pdf 0090-0656 doi:10.7755/FB.111.1.2 http://hdl.handle.net/1834/30354 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7755/FB.111.1.2 |
container_title |
Fishery Bulletin |
container_volume |
111 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1766022813212213248 |