New Insights into the Diets of Harbor Seals (Phoca Vitulina) in the Salish Sea Revealed by Analysis of Fatty Acid Signatures
Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) 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 information on harbor seal diets, primarily derived from scat analysis, sugge...
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ftwestwashington:oai:cedar.wwu.edu:biology_facpubs-1026 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-Gutiérrez, Alejandro Kennish, John M. 2013-01-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://cedar.wwu.edu/biology_facpubs/27 https://cedar.wwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1026&context=biology_facpubs English eng Western CEDAR https://cedar.wwu.edu/biology_facpubs/27 https://cedar.wwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1026&context=biology_facpubs Biology Faculty and Staff Publications Biology text 2013 ftwestwashington 2022-09-14T05:56:01Z Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) 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 information on 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 western North 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. Text harbor seal Phoca vitulina Western Washington University: CEDAR (Contributing to Education through Digital Access to Research) Pacific San Juan |
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Western Washington University: CEDAR (Contributing to Education through Digital Access to Research) |
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ftwestwashington |
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English |
topic |
Biology |
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Biology Bromaghin, Jeffrey F. Lance, Monique M. Elliott, Elizabeth W. Jeffries, Steven J. Acevedo-Gutiérrez, 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 |
description |
Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) 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 information on 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 western North 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 |
Text |
author |
Bromaghin, Jeffrey F. Lance, Monique M. Elliott, Elizabeth W. Jeffries, Steven J. Acevedo-Gutiérrez, Alejandro Kennish, John M. |
author_facet |
Bromaghin, Jeffrey F. Lance, Monique M. Elliott, Elizabeth W. Jeffries, Steven J. Acevedo-Gutiérrez, 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 |
publisher |
Western CEDAR |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://cedar.wwu.edu/biology_facpubs/27 https://cedar.wwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1026&context=biology_facpubs |
geographic |
Pacific San Juan |
geographic_facet |
Pacific San Juan |
genre |
harbor seal Phoca vitulina |
genre_facet |
harbor seal Phoca vitulina |
op_source |
Biology Faculty and Staff Publications |
op_relation |
https://cedar.wwu.edu/biology_facpubs/27 https://cedar.wwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1026&context=biology_facpubs |
_version_ |
1766022813901127680 |