Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T02:02:13.515Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sea otter female and pup activity budgets, Prince William Sound, Alaska

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 October 2010

Sylvia K. Osterrieder  and
Randall W. Davis
Sylvia K. Osterrieder*
Affiliation:
University of Rostock, Institute of Bioscience, Rostock, Germany
Randall W. Davis
Affiliation:
Texas A&M University, Department of Marine Biology, 5007 Avenue U, Galveston TX 77551, USA
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: S.K. Osterrieder, University of Rostock, Institute of Bioscience, Rostock, Germany email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In altricial mammals, mothers' care and attendance are essential for young to acquire survival skills. Despite the crucial importance of this early period for pup survival, not much is known about mother–pup behaviour and time allocation in the wild. To improve our understanding of the critical period of the sea otter development, a total of 240 30-minute focal follows of females with pups of different ages were conducted in four 6-hour-periods (dawn, day, dusk and night) from 4 June to 12 August 2008. Generalized linear models were used to investigate the impact of age, weather, tide and time of day on otters' behaviour. Pups significantly decreased resting behaviour and increased feeding, travelling, interacting and grooming behaviour with increasing age. Females with large pups fed and interacted significantly more, and travelled and groomed the pup less than females with small pups. Foggy conditions were associated with less resting on the water and increased travelling by pups. Tide did not appear to have an effect on sea otter behaviour. Grooming by pups occurred mainly during dawn in medium sized pups whereas large pups groomed themselves mostly during the day and night. Variations due to times of day tended to be apparent only in larger, i.e. older pups. Females and large pups were more active during the day. Mothers of smaller pups spent most of their active time travelling whereas females with large pups were mostly feeding. This study showed how sea otter females with pups adapted their behaviours as their pups grew and matured during the first months of life.

Keywords

activity time budgetAlaskaEnhydra lutrisfemale and pup behavioursea otter
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 91 , Issue 4 , June 2011 , pp. 883 - 892
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Adams, D.C. and Anthony, C.D. (1996) Using randomisation techniques to analyse behavioural data. Animal Behavior 51, 733–738.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Altmann, J. (1974) Observational study of behavior: sampling methods. Behavior 69, 227–263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anthony, R.B., Estes, J.A., Ricca, M.A., Miles, A.K. and Forsman, E.D. (2008) Bald eagles and sea otters in the Aleutian Archipelago: indirect effects of trophic cascades. Ecology 89, 2725–2735.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baayen, R.H. (2008) Analyzing linguistic data. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chalmers, N.R. (1987) Developmental pathways in behaviour. Animal Behavior 35, 659–674.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costa, D.P. (1982) Energy, nitrogen, and electrolyte flux and sea water drinking in the sea otter Enhydra lutris. Physiological Zoology 55, 35–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costa, D.P. and Kooyman, G.L. (1982) Oxygen consumption, thermoregulation, and the effect of fur oiling and washing on the sea otter, Enhydra lutris. Canadian Journal of Zoology 60, 2761–2767.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Estes, J.A. (1980) Enhydra lutris. Mammalian Species 133, 1–8.Google Scholar
Estes, J.A., Jameson, R.J. and Rhode, E.B. (1982) Activity and prey election in the sea otter: influence of population status on community structure. American Naturalist 120, 242–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Estes, J.A., Underwood, K.E. and Karmann, M.J. (1986) Activity-time budgets of sea otters in California. Journal of Wildlife Management 50, 626–636.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Estes, J.A., Bodkin, J.L. and Ben-David, M. (2009) Otters, marine. In Perrin, W.F., Würsig, B. and Thewissen, J.G.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of marine mammals. 2nd edition. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, pp. 807–816.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faurot-Daniels, E.R. (1991) Development of motor skills in the California sea otter pup (Enhydra lutris). MS thesis. San Jose State University, USA.Google Scholar
Garshelis, D.L. (1983) Ecology of sea otters in Prince William Sound, Alaska. PhD thesis. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.Google Scholar
Garshelis, D.L. and Garshelis, J.A. (1984) Movements and management of sea otters in Alaska. Journal of Wildlife Management 48, 665–678.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garshelis, D.L., Garshelis, J.A. and Kimker, A.T. (1986) Sea otter time budgets and prey relationships in Alaska. Journal of Wildlife Management 50, 637–647.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garshelis, D.L. and Garshelis, J.A. (1987) Atypical pup rearing strategies by sea otters. Marine Mammal Science 3, 263–270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gelatt, T.S., Siniff, D.B. and Estes, J.A. (2002) Activity patterns and time budgets of the declining sea otter population at Amchitka Island, Alaska. Journal of Wildlife Management 66, 29–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilkinson, A.K. (2004) Habitat associations and photo-identification of sea otters in Simpson Bay, Prince William Sound, Alaska. MS thesis. College Station, Texas A&M University, USA.Google Scholar
Haccou, P. and Meelis, E. (1994) Statistical analyses of behavioural data. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hanson, M.B., Bledsoe, L.J., Kirkevold, B.C., Casson, C.J. and Nightingale, J.W. (1993) Behavioral budgets of captive sea otter mother-pup pairs during pup development. Zoo Biology 12, 459–477.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heraghty, J.L., Hilliard, T.N., Henderson, A.J. and Fleming, P.J. (2008) The physiology of sleep in infants. Archives of Disease in Childhood 93, 982–985.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kenyon, K.W. (1969) The sea otter in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krebs, J.R. (1978) Optimal foraging: decision rules for predators. In Krebs, R. and Davis, N.B. (eds) Behavioral ecology: an evolutionary approach. London: Blackwell Scientific Publications, pp. 23–63.Google Scholar
Krog, J. (1953) Notes on the birds of Amchitka Island, Alaska. Condor 55, 299–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manly, B.F.J. (1997) Randomization, bootstrap and Monte Carlo methods in biology. New York: Chapman & Hall.Google Scholar
Monnett, C. and Rotterman, L.M. (2000) Survival rates of sea otter pups in Alaska and California. Marine Mammal Science 16, 794–810.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noll, C.J. (2005) A high resolution geophysical investigation of spatial and temporal sedimentary processes in a paraglacial turbid outwash fjord: Simpson Bay, Prince William Sound, Alaska. MS thesis. Texas A&M University, USA.Google Scholar
Noll, C.J., Dellapenna, T.M., Gilkinson, A. and Davis, R.W. (2009) A high-resolution geophysical investigation of sediment distribution controlled by catchment size and tides in a multi-basin turbid outwash fjord: Simpson Bay, Prince William Sound, Alaska. Geo-Marine Letters 29, 1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Osterrieder, S.K. and Davis, R.W. (2009) Summer foraging behaviour of female sea otters (Enhydra lutris) with pups in a soft sediment habitat in Alaska. Aquatic Mammals 35, 481–489.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Payne, S.F. and Jameson, R.J. (1984) Early behavioural development of the sea otter Enhydra lutris. Journal of Mammalogy 65, 527–531.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
R Development Core Team (2009) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing.Google Scholar
Riedman, M.L. and Estes, J.A. (1990) The sea otter (Enhydra lutris): behaviour, ecology, and natural history. US Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC, Biological Report No. 90, 126 pp.Google Scholar
Riedman, M.L., Estes, J.A., Staedler, M.M., Giles, A.A. and Carlson, D.R. (1994) Breeding patterns and reproductive success of California sea otters. Journal of Wildlife Management 58, 391–399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rotterman, L.M. and Simon-Jackson, T. (1988) Sea otter. In Lentfer, J.W. (ed.) Selected marine mammals of Alaska: species accounts with research and management recommendations. Washington, DC: US Marine Mammal Commission, pp. 237–275.Google Scholar
Sandegren, F.E., Chu, E.W. and Vandevere, J.E. (1973) Maternal behaviour in the California sea otter. Journal of Mammalogy 54, 668–679.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sherrod, S.K., Estes, J.A. and White, C.M. (1975) Depredation of sea otter pups by bald eagles at Amchitka Island, Alaska. Journal of Mammalogy 56, 701–703.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shimek, S.J. and Monk, A. (1977) Daily activity of sea otter off the Monterey Peninsula, California. Journal of Wildlife Management 41, 277–283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siegel, J.M. (2005) Clues to the functions of mammalian sleep. Nature 437, 1264–1271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Starck, J.M. and Ricklefs, R.E. (1998) Patterns of development: the altricial precocial spectrum. In Starck, J.M. and Ricklefs, R.E. (eds) Avian growth and development. Evolution within the altricial–precocial spectrum. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 3–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stubbe, M. and Krapp, F. (eds) (1993a) Chapters on: Familie Mustelidae Swainson, 1835—Marder. In Niethammer, J. and Krapp, F. (eds) Handbuch der Säugetiere Europas. Wiesbaden: Bd.5/1, Raubsäuger Aula-Verlag, pp. 365–502.Google Scholar
Stubbe, M. and Krapp, F. (eds) (1993b) Chapters on: Familie Mustelidae Swainson, 1835—Marder. In Niethammer, J. and Krapp, F. (eds) Handbuch der Säugetiere Europas. Wiesbaden: Bd.5/2, Raubsäuger Aula-Verlag, pp. 529–961.Google Scholar
VanBlaricom, G.R. (1988) Effects of foraging sea otters on mussel-dominated intertidal communities. In VanBlaricom, G.R. and Estes, J.A. (eds) The community ecology of sea otters. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, pp. 48–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vandevere, J.E. (1972) Behavior of Southern sea otter pups. In Proceedings of the ninth annual conference on biological sonar and diving mammals. Stanford, Melo Park, CA: Stanford Research Institute, pp. 21–35.Google Scholar
Walker, K.A., Davis, J.W. and Duffield, D.A. (2008) Activity budgets and prey consumption of sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) in Washington. Aquatic Mammals 34, 393–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilkin, S.M. (2003) Nocturnal foraging ecology and activity budget of the sea otter (Enhydra lutris) in Elkhorn Slough, California. MS thesis. San Francisco State University, USA.Google Scholar
Williams, T.D., Mattison, J.A., and Ames, J.A. (1980) Twinning in a California Sea Otter. Journal of Mammalogy 61, 575–576.CrossRefGoogle Scholar