Haul-out Behavior of Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina) in Summer on Yellow Island: Diel Patterns Contrasting Females with Pups and Solitary Seals
Knowledge of harbor seal distribution, abundance, and site fidelity is essential for conservation, as is knowledge of female-pup behavior. I focused on these elements in this study by assessing haul-out tendencies of a local population of harbor seals on Yellow Island, Washington, and contrasting th...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Format: | Other/Unknown Material |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Friday Harbor Labs
2011
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1773/26619 |
id |
ftunivwashington:oai:digital.lib.washington.edu:1773/26619 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivwashington:oai:digital.lib.washington.edu:1773/26619 2023-05-15T16:33:09+02:00 Haul-out Behavior of Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina) in Summer on Yellow Island: Diel Patterns Contrasting Females with Pups and Solitary Seals Valenzuela, Alaina 2011-09 http://hdl.handle.net/1773/26619 en_US eng Friday Harbor Labs Ecology and Conservation of Marine Birds and Mammals;SummerB, 2011 http://hdl.handle.net/1773/26619 Behavior Harbor Seals Haul-out Maternal Foraging Cycle Pupping Season San Juan Islands Site Fidelity Temperature Tides Washington Yellow Island Other 2011 ftunivwashington 2023-03-12T18:51:45Z Knowledge of harbor seal distribution, abundance, and site fidelity is essential for conservation, as is knowledge of female-pup behavior. I focused on these elements in this study by assessing haul-out tendencies of a local population of harbor seals on Yellow Island, Washington, and contrasting these characteristics between female-pup pairs and solitary seals. I found that seal abundance varied with temperature, tidal height, and time of day, although these factors were not independent and worked simultaneously to determine haul-out abundance. Female-pup pairs hauled out in proportion to the number of female-pup pairs at the study site, suggesting these pairs were not more likely to haul-out than solitary seals under any conditions. It is possible that due to the unique adaptations of harbor seals during the pupping season, including a maternal foraging cycle and comparatively precocial pups, females and their young did not have different haul-out needs than other seals. However, females with young remained in the study site for a longer period of time, even as haul-out sites decreased. This finding was consistent with other studies demonstrating the increased site fidelity and decreased length of foraging trips of females with pups during the pupping season. Aggregating in haul-out areas may also be a predator avoidance mechanism. Other/Unknown Material harbor seal Phoca vitulina University of Washington, Seattle: ResearchWorks San Juan |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Washington, Seattle: ResearchWorks |
op_collection_id |
ftunivwashington |
language |
English |
topic |
Behavior Harbor Seals Haul-out Maternal Foraging Cycle Pupping Season San Juan Islands Site Fidelity Temperature Tides Washington Yellow Island |
spellingShingle |
Behavior Harbor Seals Haul-out Maternal Foraging Cycle Pupping Season San Juan Islands Site Fidelity Temperature Tides Washington Yellow Island Valenzuela, Alaina Haul-out Behavior of Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina) in Summer on Yellow Island: Diel Patterns Contrasting Females with Pups and Solitary Seals |
topic_facet |
Behavior Harbor Seals Haul-out Maternal Foraging Cycle Pupping Season San Juan Islands Site Fidelity Temperature Tides Washington Yellow Island |
description |
Knowledge of harbor seal distribution, abundance, and site fidelity is essential for conservation, as is knowledge of female-pup behavior. I focused on these elements in this study by assessing haul-out tendencies of a local population of harbor seals on Yellow Island, Washington, and contrasting these characteristics between female-pup pairs and solitary seals. I found that seal abundance varied with temperature, tidal height, and time of day, although these factors were not independent and worked simultaneously to determine haul-out abundance. Female-pup pairs hauled out in proportion to the number of female-pup pairs at the study site, suggesting these pairs were not more likely to haul-out than solitary seals under any conditions. It is possible that due to the unique adaptations of harbor seals during the pupping season, including a maternal foraging cycle and comparatively precocial pups, females and their young did not have different haul-out needs than other seals. However, females with young remained in the study site for a longer period of time, even as haul-out sites decreased. This finding was consistent with other studies demonstrating the increased site fidelity and decreased length of foraging trips of females with pups during the pupping season. Aggregating in haul-out areas may also be a predator avoidance mechanism. |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Valenzuela, Alaina |
author_facet |
Valenzuela, Alaina |
author_sort |
Valenzuela, Alaina |
title |
Haul-out Behavior of Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina) in Summer on Yellow Island: Diel Patterns Contrasting Females with Pups and Solitary Seals |
title_short |
Haul-out Behavior of Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina) in Summer on Yellow Island: Diel Patterns Contrasting Females with Pups and Solitary Seals |
title_full |
Haul-out Behavior of Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina) in Summer on Yellow Island: Diel Patterns Contrasting Females with Pups and Solitary Seals |
title_fullStr |
Haul-out Behavior of Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina) in Summer on Yellow Island: Diel Patterns Contrasting Females with Pups and Solitary Seals |
title_full_unstemmed |
Haul-out Behavior of Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina) in Summer on Yellow Island: Diel Patterns Contrasting Females with Pups and Solitary Seals |
title_sort |
haul-out behavior of harbor seals (phoca vitulina) in summer on yellow island: diel patterns contrasting females with pups and solitary seals |
publisher |
Friday Harbor Labs |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1773/26619 |
geographic |
San Juan |
geographic_facet |
San Juan |
genre |
harbor seal Phoca vitulina |
genre_facet |
harbor seal Phoca vitulina |
op_relation |
Ecology and Conservation of Marine Birds and Mammals;SummerB, 2011 http://hdl.handle.net/1773/26619 |
_version_ |
1766022867667910656 |