Spatial coherence between predators and prey has rarely been observed in pelagic marine ecosystems. We used measures of the environment, prey abundance, prey quality, and prey distribution to explain the observed distributions of three co-occurring predator species breeding on islands in the southeastern Bering Sea: black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla), thick-billed murres (Uria lomvia), and northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus). Predictions of statistical models were tested using movement patterns obtained from satellite-tracked individual animals. With the most commonly used measures to quantify prey distributions - areal biomass, density, and numerical abundance - we were unable to find a spatial relationship between predators and their prey. We instead found that habitat use by all three predators was predicted most strongly by prey patch characteristics such as depth and local density within spatial aggregations. Additional prey patch characteristics and physical habitat also contributed significantly to characterizing predator patterns. Our results indicate that the small-scale prey patch characteristics are critical to how predators perceive the quality of their food supply and the mechanisms they use to exploit it, regardless of time of day, sampling year, or source colony. The three focal predator species had different constraints and employed different foraging strategies – a shallow diver that makes trips of moderate distance (kittiwakes), a deep diver that makes trip of short distances (murres), and a deep diver that makes extensive trips (fur seals). However, all three were similarly linked by patchiness of prey rather than by the distribution of overall biomass. This supports the hypothesis that patchiness may be critical for understanding predator-prey relationships in pelagic marine systems more generally.
Quantitative fatty acid (FA) signature analysis (QFASA) has recently been developed to estimate the species composition of predator diets by statistically comparing FA signatures of predator adipose tissue with that of their potential prey. Captive feeding trials were used to further test the technique with newly weaned harbour seals Phoca vitulina richardsi (N = 21). Two groups of seals were fed monotypic diets of either Pacific herring Clupea pallasii or surf smelt Hypomesus pretiosus for 42 d while a third group was fed smelt for 21 d followed by herring for 21 d. Blubber biopsies were taken dorsally at Days 0, 21 and 42. Specific calibration coefficients (CC) used by QFASA were developed from 4 juvenile harbour seals and in some cases differed by 2-fold with previously reported phocid CC values. The QFASA diet estimates were evaluated using 2 CC sets, 15 FA subsets and a library of 3 to 11 potential prey species. Diet switches were best tracked using the harbour seal CC and the new FA subset. Overall prey misclassifications were apparent (mean = 12%, range = 4 to 25%) when modeled with 8 additional prey not fed, a trend consistent with overlapping prey FA signatures. Blubber FA turnover rates were not strictly linear and in the order of 1.5 to 3 mo in newly weaned seals. Following parameter optimization of the model, QFASA estimates reflected major diet trends in the feeding study, but were sensitive to the CC and FA subsets used as well as to prey species with similar FA signatures. Our results have important implications in the application of QFASA to the study of pinniped diets with more complex feeding histories and wider prey fields.
Marine trophic ecology data are in high demand as natural resource agencies increasingly adopt ecosystem-based management strategies that account for complex species interactions. Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) diet data are of particular interest because the species is an abundant predator in the northeast Pacific Ocean and Salish Sea ecosystem that consumes Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.). A multi-agency effort was therefore undertaken to produce harbour seal diet data on an ecosystem scale using, 1) a standardized set of scat collection and analysis methods, and 2) a newly developed DNA metabarcoding diet analysis technique designed to identify prey species and quantify their relative proportions in seal diets. The DNA-based dataset described herein contains records from 4,625 harbour seal scats representing 52 haulout sites, 7 years, 12 calendar months, and a total of 11,641 prey identifications. Prey morphological hard parts analyses were conducted alongside, resulting in corresponding hard parts data for 92% of the scat DNA samples. A custom-built prey DNA sequence database containing 201 species (192 fishes, 9 cephalopods) is also provided.
The potential for non‐aquatic predators to influence habitat use by harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) in a nearshore marine environment was studied by examining haul‐out site use and through an experimental approach. Distance from shore, distance to possible foraging depths, peripheral water depth, and haul‐out areas were quantified for each haul‐out. There was a positive relationship between the number of seals hauled out and the distance from shore for eight known haul‐out sites. The hypothesis that harbor seals increasingly hauled out farther offshore to reduce predation risk was tested experimentally by measuring their response to a model of a potential terrestrial predator in comparison to a control object, and to disturbance by a human at one of the study sites. Harbor seals abandoned the haul‐out in the presence of the predator model, but showed little response to the controls, suggesting they possess a threat image for terrestrial predators and avoid hauling out when it is perceived. These results support the hypothesis that harbor seals select isolated sites to reduce exposure to terrestrial carnivores.
We tagged 82 lactating northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) with tri-axial accelerometers and magnetometers on two eastern Bering Sea islands (Bogoslof and St. Paul) with contrasting population trajectories. Using depth data, accelerometer data and spectral analysis we classified time spent diving (30%), resting (~7%), shaking and grooming their pelage (9%), swimming in the prone position (~10%) and two types of previously undocumented rolling behavior (29%), with the remaining time (~15%) unspecified. The reason for the extensive rolling behavior is not known. We ground-truthed the accelerometry signals for shaking and grooming and rolling behaviors—and identified the acceleration signal for porpoising—by filming tagged northern fur seals in captivity. Speeds from GPS interpolated data indicated that animals traveled fastest while in the prone position, suggesting that this behavior is indicative of destination-based swimming. Very little difference was found in the percentages of time spent in the categorical behaviors with respect to breeding islands (Bogoslof or St. Paul Island), forager type (cathemeral or nocturnal), and the region where the animals foraged (primarily on-shelf <200m, or off-shelf > 200m). The lack of significant differences between islands, regions and forager type may indicate that behaviors summarized over a trip are somewhat hardwired even though foraging trip length and when and where animals dive are known to vary with island, forager type and region.
BackgroundPinnipeds, including many phocid species of concern, are inaccessible and difficult to monitor for extended periods using conventional, externally attached telemetry devices that are shed during the annual molt. Archival satellite transmitters were implanted intraperitoneally into three stranded Pacific harbor seal pups (Phoca vitulina richardii) that completed rehabilitation, to evaluate the viability of this surgical technique for the deployment of life long telemetry devices in phocids. The life history transmitters record information throughout the life of the host and transmit data to orbiting satellites after extrusion following death.ResultsSurgeries were performed under general anesthesia and a single transmitter was inserted into the ventrocaudal abdominal cavity via a 7–8 cm incision along the ventral midline between the umbilicus and pubic symphysis or preputial opening in each animal. Surgeries lasted from 45 to 51 min, and anesthesic times ranged from 55 to 79 min. All animals recovered well, were released into dry holding pens overnight, and were given access to water the following day. All three animals exhibited an expected inflammatory response, with acute phase responses lasting approximately three to four weeks. All three animals were tracked via externally attached satellite transmitters after release at 58 to 78 days following surgery, and minimum post-release survival was confirmed through continued movement data received over 278 to 289 days.ConclusionThe initial findings of low morbidity and zero mortality encountered during captive observation and post-release tracking periods support the viability of this surgical technique for the implantation of long-term telemetry devices in phocids.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12917-017-1060-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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