Extreme weather events influence dispersal of naive northern fur seals
Since 1975, northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus) numbers at the Pribilof Islands (PI) in the Bering Sea have declined rapidly for unknown reasons. Migratory dispersal and habitat choice may affect first-year survivorship, thereby contributing to this decline. We compared migratory behaviour of 16...
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ftunivtasmania:oai:eprints.utas.edu.au:8595 2023-05-15T15:07:03+02:00 Extreme weather events influence dispersal of naive northern fur seals Lea, M-A Johnson, D Ream, R Sterling, JT Melin, S Gelatt, T 2009-04 application/pdf https://eprints.utas.edu.au/8595/ https://eprints.utas.edu.au/8595/1/Lea_Biol_Lett_2009.pdf http://dx.doi.org/1744-9561 en eng https://eprints.utas.edu.au/8595/1/Lea_Biol_Lett_2009.pdf Lea, M-A, Johnson, D, Ream, R, Sterling, JT, Melin, S and Gelatt, T 2009 , 'Extreme weather events influence dispersal of naive northern fur seals' , Biology Letters, vol. 5, no. 2 , pp. 252-257 , doi:10.1098/rsbl.2008.0643 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0643>. cc_utas migration Alaska storms Bering Sea Article PeerReviewed 2009 ftunivtasmania https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0643 2020-05-30T07:22:19Z Since 1975, northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus) numbers at the Pribilof Islands (PI) in the Bering Sea have declined rapidly for unknown reasons. Migratory dispersal and habitat choice may affect first-year survivorship, thereby contributing to this decline. We compared migratory behaviour of 166 naive pups during 2 years from islands with disparate population trends (increasing: Bogoslof and San Miguel Islands; declining: PI), hypothesizing that climatic conditions at weaning may differentially affect dispersal and survival. Atmospheric conditions (Bering Sea) in autumn 2005–2006 were anomalously cold, while 2006–2007 was considerably warmer and less stormy. In 2005, pups departed earlier at all sites, and the majority of PI pups (68–85%) departed within 1 day of Arctic storms and dispersed quickly, travelling southwards through the Aleutian Islands. Tailwinds enabled faster rates of travel than headwinds, a trend not previously shown for marine mammals. Weather effects were less pronounced at Bogoslof Island (approx. 400 km further south), and, at San Miguel Island, (California) departures were more gradual, and only influenced by wind and air pressure in 2005. We suggest that increasingly variable climatic conditions at weaning, particularly timing, frequency and intensity of autumnal storms in the Bering Sea, may alter timing, direction of dispersal and potentially survival of pups. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Bering Sea Alaska Aleutian Islands Callorhinus ursinus Northern fur seal University of Tasmania: UTas ePrints Arctic Bering Sea San Miguel ENVELOPE(-57.467,-57.467,-63.650,-63.650) Miguel Islands ENVELOPE(-64.282,-64.282,60.234,60.234) Biology Letters 5 2 252 257 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tasmania: UTas ePrints |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtasmania |
language |
English |
topic |
migration Alaska storms Bering Sea |
spellingShingle |
migration Alaska storms Bering Sea Lea, M-A Johnson, D Ream, R Sterling, JT Melin, S Gelatt, T Extreme weather events influence dispersal of naive northern fur seals |
topic_facet |
migration Alaska storms Bering Sea |
description |
Since 1975, northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus) numbers at the Pribilof Islands (PI) in the Bering Sea have declined rapidly for unknown reasons. Migratory dispersal and habitat choice may affect first-year survivorship, thereby contributing to this decline. We compared migratory behaviour of 166 naive pups during 2 years from islands with disparate population trends (increasing: Bogoslof and San Miguel Islands; declining: PI), hypothesizing that climatic conditions at weaning may differentially affect dispersal and survival. Atmospheric conditions (Bering Sea) in autumn 2005–2006 were anomalously cold, while 2006–2007 was considerably warmer and less stormy. In 2005, pups departed earlier at all sites, and the majority of PI pups (68–85%) departed within 1 day of Arctic storms and dispersed quickly, travelling southwards through the Aleutian Islands. Tailwinds enabled faster rates of travel than headwinds, a trend not previously shown for marine mammals. Weather effects were less pronounced at Bogoslof Island (approx. 400 km further south), and, at San Miguel Island, (California) departures were more gradual, and only influenced by wind and air pressure in 2005. We suggest that increasingly variable climatic conditions at weaning, particularly timing, frequency and intensity of autumnal storms in the Bering Sea, may alter timing, direction of dispersal and potentially survival of pups. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lea, M-A Johnson, D Ream, R Sterling, JT Melin, S Gelatt, T |
author_facet |
Lea, M-A Johnson, D Ream, R Sterling, JT Melin, S Gelatt, T |
author_sort |
Lea, M-A |
title |
Extreme weather events influence dispersal of naive northern fur seals |
title_short |
Extreme weather events influence dispersal of naive northern fur seals |
title_full |
Extreme weather events influence dispersal of naive northern fur seals |
title_fullStr |
Extreme weather events influence dispersal of naive northern fur seals |
title_full_unstemmed |
Extreme weather events influence dispersal of naive northern fur seals |
title_sort |
extreme weather events influence dispersal of naive northern fur seals |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
https://eprints.utas.edu.au/8595/ https://eprints.utas.edu.au/8595/1/Lea_Biol_Lett_2009.pdf http://dx.doi.org/1744-9561 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-57.467,-57.467,-63.650,-63.650) ENVELOPE(-64.282,-64.282,60.234,60.234) |
geographic |
Arctic Bering Sea San Miguel Miguel Islands |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Bering Sea San Miguel Miguel Islands |
genre |
Arctic Bering Sea Alaska Aleutian Islands Callorhinus ursinus Northern fur seal |
genre_facet |
Arctic Bering Sea Alaska Aleutian Islands Callorhinus ursinus Northern fur seal |
op_relation |
https://eprints.utas.edu.au/8595/1/Lea_Biol_Lett_2009.pdf Lea, M-A, Johnson, D, Ream, R, Sterling, JT, Melin, S and Gelatt, T 2009 , 'Extreme weather events influence dispersal of naive northern fur seals' , Biology Letters, vol. 5, no. 2 , pp. 252-257 , doi:10.1098/rsbl.2008.0643 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0643>. |
op_rights |
cc_utas |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0643 |
container_title |
Biology Letters |
container_volume |
5 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
252 |
op_container_end_page |
257 |
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1766338615146708992 |