Recent Harp and Hooded Seal Pup Production Estimates in the Greenland Sea Suggest Ecology-Driven Declines
Pup production of the Greenland Sea populations of harp (Pagophilus groenlandicus) and hooded (Cystophora cristata) seals were estimated based upon aerial surveys in March 2018. One fixed-wing aircraft was used for large-area reconnaissance flights to identify the whelping concentrations and to carr...
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Septentrio Academic Publishing
2022
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ftunitroemsoe:oai:ojs.henry.ub.uit.no:article/5821 2023-10-09T21:49:25+02:00 Recent Harp and Hooded Seal Pup Production Estimates in the Greenland Sea Suggest Ecology-Driven Declines Biuw, Martin Øigård, Tor Arne Nilssen, Kjell Tormod Stenson, Garry Lindblom, Lotta Poltermann, Michael Kristiansen, Martin Haug, Tore 2022-01-19 application/pdf image/tiff https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/5821 https://doi.org/10.7557/3.5821 eng eng Septentrio Academic Publishing https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/5821/6475 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/5821/6477 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/5821/6478 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/5821/6479 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/5821/6480 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/5821/6481 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/5821/6482 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/5821/6483 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/5821/6484 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/5821 doi:10.7557/3.5821 Copyright (c) 2022 Martin Biuw, Tor Arne Øigård, Kjell Tormod Nilssen, Garry Stenson, Lotta Lindblom, Michael Poltermann, Martin Kristiansen, Tore Haug https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 NAMMCO Scientific Publications; Vol. 12 (2022): Marine Mammals in the North Atlantic 2309-2491 1560-2206 10.7557/3.12 Harp seals hooded seals pup production population assessment population modelling aerial survey strip transect Arctic info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2022 ftunitroemsoe https://doi.org/10.7557/3.582110.7557/3.12 2023-09-20T23:07:55Z Pup production of the Greenland Sea populations of harp (Pagophilus groenlandicus) and hooded (Cystophora cristata) seals were estimated based upon aerial surveys in March 2018. One fixed-wing aircraft was used for large-area reconnaissance flights to identify the whelping concentrations and to carry out photographic surveys along systematic transects over the whelping areas. A helicopter, operated from an ice-going vessel, flew more localised reconnaissance flights, deployed GPS beacons within the detected whelping concentrations to monitor ice movements, and determined the proportion of pups in specific age-related developmental stages. While the entire estimated pupping region should ideally be covered during one day, photographic surveys in 2018 were carried out on two consecutive days, March 27 and 28, with slightly different survey designs between the two days to account for potential gaps in coverage caused by changes in visibility and cloud cover. Surveys on the two days were partially overlapping, and pup production estimates were consistent when using different combinations of transects from the two days, suggesting that these photographic counts give a relatively robust estimate of pup production in 2018. The combination of surveys that was deemed most appropriate (in terms of maximum coverage with minimum risk of double coverage) yielded an estimated harp seal pup production of 54,181 (SE=9,236, CV=0.17), which is significantly lower than estimates obtained in similar surveys in 2002, 2007, and 2012. Estimated hooded seal pup production was 12,977 (SE=1,823, CV=0.14), which is lower than estimates obtained from surveys in 2005 and 2007, but similar to estimates from the most recent survey in 2012. The reasons for these declines are unknown, but similar declines in the Barents Sea and White Sea harp seals in the mid-2000s suggest that large-scale environmental or ecological changes affecting the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea may be important factors. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Barents Sea Cystophora cristata Greenland Greenland Sea Harp Seal hooded seal Norwegian Sea Pagophilus groenlandicus White Sea University of Tromsø: Septentrio Academic Publishing Arctic Barents Sea Greenland Norwegian Sea White Sea NAMMCO Scientific Publications 12 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Septentrio Academic Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftunitroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
Harp seals hooded seals pup production population assessment population modelling aerial survey strip transect Arctic |
spellingShingle |
Harp seals hooded seals pup production population assessment population modelling aerial survey strip transect Arctic Biuw, Martin Øigård, Tor Arne Nilssen, Kjell Tormod Stenson, Garry Lindblom, Lotta Poltermann, Michael Kristiansen, Martin Haug, Tore Recent Harp and Hooded Seal Pup Production Estimates in the Greenland Sea Suggest Ecology-Driven Declines |
topic_facet |
Harp seals hooded seals pup production population assessment population modelling aerial survey strip transect Arctic |
description |
Pup production of the Greenland Sea populations of harp (Pagophilus groenlandicus) and hooded (Cystophora cristata) seals were estimated based upon aerial surveys in March 2018. One fixed-wing aircraft was used for large-area reconnaissance flights to identify the whelping concentrations and to carry out photographic surveys along systematic transects over the whelping areas. A helicopter, operated from an ice-going vessel, flew more localised reconnaissance flights, deployed GPS beacons within the detected whelping concentrations to monitor ice movements, and determined the proportion of pups in specific age-related developmental stages. While the entire estimated pupping region should ideally be covered during one day, photographic surveys in 2018 were carried out on two consecutive days, March 27 and 28, with slightly different survey designs between the two days to account for potential gaps in coverage caused by changes in visibility and cloud cover. Surveys on the two days were partially overlapping, and pup production estimates were consistent when using different combinations of transects from the two days, suggesting that these photographic counts give a relatively robust estimate of pup production in 2018. The combination of surveys that was deemed most appropriate (in terms of maximum coverage with minimum risk of double coverage) yielded an estimated harp seal pup production of 54,181 (SE=9,236, CV=0.17), which is significantly lower than estimates obtained in similar surveys in 2002, 2007, and 2012. Estimated hooded seal pup production was 12,977 (SE=1,823, CV=0.14), which is lower than estimates obtained from surveys in 2005 and 2007, but similar to estimates from the most recent survey in 2012. The reasons for these declines are unknown, but similar declines in the Barents Sea and White Sea harp seals in the mid-2000s suggest that large-scale environmental or ecological changes affecting the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea may be important factors. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Biuw, Martin Øigård, Tor Arne Nilssen, Kjell Tormod Stenson, Garry Lindblom, Lotta Poltermann, Michael Kristiansen, Martin Haug, Tore |
author_facet |
Biuw, Martin Øigård, Tor Arne Nilssen, Kjell Tormod Stenson, Garry Lindblom, Lotta Poltermann, Michael Kristiansen, Martin Haug, Tore |
author_sort |
Biuw, Martin |
title |
Recent Harp and Hooded Seal Pup Production Estimates in the Greenland Sea Suggest Ecology-Driven Declines |
title_short |
Recent Harp and Hooded Seal Pup Production Estimates in the Greenland Sea Suggest Ecology-Driven Declines |
title_full |
Recent Harp and Hooded Seal Pup Production Estimates in the Greenland Sea Suggest Ecology-Driven Declines |
title_fullStr |
Recent Harp and Hooded Seal Pup Production Estimates in the Greenland Sea Suggest Ecology-Driven Declines |
title_full_unstemmed |
Recent Harp and Hooded Seal Pup Production Estimates in the Greenland Sea Suggest Ecology-Driven Declines |
title_sort |
recent harp and hooded seal pup production estimates in the greenland sea suggest ecology-driven declines |
publisher |
Septentrio Academic Publishing |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/5821 https://doi.org/10.7557/3.5821 |
geographic |
Arctic Barents Sea Greenland Norwegian Sea White Sea |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Barents Sea Greenland Norwegian Sea White Sea |
genre |
Arctic Barents Sea Cystophora cristata Greenland Greenland Sea Harp Seal hooded seal Norwegian Sea Pagophilus groenlandicus White Sea |
genre_facet |
Arctic Barents Sea Cystophora cristata Greenland Greenland Sea Harp Seal hooded seal Norwegian Sea Pagophilus groenlandicus White Sea |
op_source |
NAMMCO Scientific Publications; Vol. 12 (2022): Marine Mammals in the North Atlantic 2309-2491 1560-2206 10.7557/3.12 |
op_relation |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/5821/6475 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/5821/6477 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/5821/6478 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/5821/6479 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/5821/6480 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/5821/6481 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/5821/6482 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/5821/6483 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/5821/6484 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/5821 doi:10.7557/3.5821 |
op_rights |
Copyright (c) 2022 Martin Biuw, Tor Arne Øigård, Kjell Tormod Nilssen, Garry Stenson, Lotta Lindblom, Michael Poltermann, Martin Kristiansen, Tore Haug https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7557/3.582110.7557/3.12 |
container_title |
NAMMCO Scientific Publications |
container_volume |
12 |
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1779312433409556480 |