Further observations on the food of seals

Rae, B. B.

doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1973.tb04558.x

Cited by 45 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…The studies suggest that harbour seals are opportunistic feeders as a wide variety of prey species were found in the diet of seals on both the west and southwest coasts, including 16 teleost species and two species of cephalopod, and there was seasonal and geographical variation in the diet evident. These findings concur with studies on the diet of harbour seals in other parts of their range [33,34,35]. Overall the most common species of prey consumed by harbour seals in Ireland were Trisopterus sp., dragonet, sandeels and sole.…”

Section: Dietsupporting

confidence: 90%

The conservation of seals in Irish waters: How research informs policy

Cronin

2011

Marine Policy

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Section: Dietsupporting

confidence: 90%

The conservation of seals in Irish waters: How research informs policy

Cronin

2011

Marine Policy

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“…The studies suggest that harbour seals are opportunistic feeders as a wide variety of prey species was found in the diet of seals on both the west and southwest coasts, including 16 teleost species and two species of cephalopods, and there was evidence of seasonal and geographical variation in the diet. These findings concur with studies on the diet of harbour seals in other parts of their range (Rae 1973, Pierce et al 1991, Brown and Pierce 1998. Overall the most common species of prey consumed by harbour seals in Ireland were whiting (Trisopterus sp.…”

Section: Nammco Scientific Publications Volumesupporting

confidence: 87%

The status of the harbour seal (<i>Phoca vitulina</i>) in Ireland

Cronin

2010

NAMMCOSP

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The status of Ireland's harbour seal population and its relationship with that of Britain and Western Europe are poorly understood. Prior to 2003, limited research efforts and poor co-ordination of survey methods fell short at providing an accurate assessment of overall distribution and population size on a regional or national scale. However, in August 2003, the Republic of Ireland's harbour seal population was assessed by means of a geographically extensive survey conducted during the annual moult, providing an up-to-date minimum population estimate and a reliable baseline for future surveys. Trends on a national scale could not be assessed due to absence of a reliable historic population estimate; however there is some evidence of local decreases and increases in harbour seal numbers in Northern Ireland and southwest Ireland respectively. Research effort to date on aspects of the ecology of the harbour seal in the Republic of Ireland is reviewed and current research and management priorities highlighted. HARBOUR SEAL ABUNDANCE AND DISTRIBUTION Minimum estimate of the Irish harbour seal populationThe population of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina vitulina) in Ireland was first enumerated by Lockley (1966) who based his minimum estimate of 1,000 on data collected incidentally, during surveys of grey seals (Halichoerus grypus), in the autumns of 1964-65. Further harbour seal specific surveys were carried out in northern Ireland by Venables and Venables (1960), Nairn (1979) and, more recently, by Wilson and Corpe (1996). The first harbour seal census of the island of Ireland was undertaken in July 1978 (Summers et al. 1980). Based on a combination of boat and aerial surveys, this gave a minimum estimate of 1,248 but absolute abundance was considered to be 1,500 to 2,000 individuals. Additional information in the Republic of Ireland was collected by Warner (1983Warner ( , 1984 and haulout counts were conducted by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government at some well-known sites in the intervening years (Table 1). However, these counts have varied in location, consistency, timing and methodology and could not provide complete national or island-wide perspectives on population size and distribution. , 1997, Huber 1995, Jeffries et al. 2003, Adkinson et al. 2003, Hayward et al. 2005. While breeding season counts provide reliable estimates of abundance as well as valuable pup production data, Härkönen et al. (1999) concluded that in nonstable age-structured populations the influence of the differential haulout behaviour on estimating abundance is likely to be greater during the breeding period than during the moult period. Reijnders et al. (2003) recommended future use of moult count data to obtain a reliable and consistent index of population abundance of harbour seals in the Wadden Sea, while Thompson et al. (1997) suggest that counts made during the August moult provided more reliable population estimates for harbour seals hauling out on...

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“…The diet composition information for seals in the northwest Atlantic covers the time period from 1950 (Fisher and Mackenzie, 1955) to 2010 Bowen and Harrison, 2007;Bowen et al, 2011;Stenson et al, 2010). For the northeast Atlantic, there are published observations from 1967 (Rae, 1968(Rae, , 1973 to 2002 (Hammond and Harris, 2006;Hammond and Grellier, 2006). During these several decades, the relative abundance of the diverse grey seal and Atlantic cod populations has varied considerably.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 92%