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5 - Linking predator foraging behaviour and diet with variability in continental shelf ecosystems: grey seals of eastern Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2009

C. J. Camphuysen
By
W. D. Bowen ,
C. A. Beck ,
S. J. Iverson ,
D. Austin  and
J. I. MCMillan
Edited by
I. L. Boyd  and
S. Wanless
C. J. Camphuysen
Affiliation:
Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research
W. D. Bowen
Affiliation:
Marine Fish Division, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada B2Y 1A
C. A. Beck
Affiliation:
Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Wildlife Conservation, Marine Mammals Section, Anchorage, Alaska 99518
S. J. Iverson
Affiliation:
Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4J1
D. Austin
Affiliation:
Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4J1
J. I. MCMillan
Affiliation:
Marine Fish Division, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada B2Y 1A
I. L. Boyd
Affiliation:
University of St Andrews, Scotland
S. Wanless
Affiliation:
NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, UK
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Summary

Upper-trophic-level marine predators are presumed to respond to environmental variability. However, the nature of these responses has been studied in few pinnipeds, particularly during the non-breeding season. Between 1992 and 2003, we measured a suite of behavioural, dietary and life-history variables in grey seals; variables which were expected to vary in response to changes in prey availability. We found significant inter-annual variation in some diving variables indicative of foraging effort and in the species composition of their diets. Postpartum body mass of adult females did not vary inter-annually, but duration of offspring investment (lactation length), total energy investment (offspring weaning mass) and the difference in weaning mass of male and female pups did. There was considerable inter-annual variation in the estimated biomass of grey seal prey species from summer bottom-trawl surveys; however, there was little correlation between grey seal response variables with those estimates. There could be several reasons for this result, but three stand out. First, grey seal numbers on the Scotian Shelf have increased exponentially over the past four decades, implying overall favourable environmental conditions. Grey seals may have adjusted their behaviour and diet to account for variability in prey characteristics other than biomass. Secondly, foraging grey seals and their prey were not sampled at the same time of year. Finally, trends in the biomass of many of the species eaten by grey seals are poorly estimated, thus limiting our understanding of predator responses to ecosystem state.

Type
Chapter
Information
Top Predators in Marine Ecosystems
Their Role in Monitoring and Management
 , pp. 63 - 81
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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