Trace element levels in harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) and hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) from the Greenland Sea. A multivariate approach

2000 ◽  
Vol 250 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 123-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Julshamn ◽  
O. Grahl-Nielsen
Keyword(s):  
Trace Element ◽  
Harp Seal ◽  
Multivariate Approach ◽  
Greenland Sea ◽  
Hooded Seal ◽  
Cystophora Cristata ◽  
Pagophilus Groenlandicus ◽  
Trace Element Levels

scholarly journals First independent feeding of harp seal (Phoca groenlandica) and hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) pups in the Greenland Sea

2000 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tore Haug ◽  
Kjell T Nilssen ◽  
Lotta Lindblom
Keyword(s):  
Interspecific Competition ◽  
Niche Overlap ◽  
Harp Seal ◽  
Minor Importance ◽  
Greenland Sea ◽  
The West ◽  
Hooded Seal ◽  
Cystophora Cristata ◽  
Phoca Groenlandica

Data were collected from harp seal (Phoca groenlandica) and hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) pups belonging to the Greenland Sea (or "West Ice") stocks in 1995-1997. Pups of both species were observed to feed independently shortly after weaning, and their first food was almost exclusively crustaceans. Parathemisto sp., particularly P. libellula, dominated the diet of both the harp and the hooded seal pups, but the diet also contained sympagic amphipods of the genus Gammarus. Krill (Thysanoessa sp.) was of minor importance as food for seal pups in 1995, but occurred more frequentlyin the diet of both species in 1996 and 1997. Considerable niche overlap may suggest some interspecific competition between harp and hooded seal pups in the West Ice.

Baculum and testes of the hooded seal (Cystophora cristata): growth and size-scaling and their relationships to sexual selection

1999 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 470-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward H Miller ◽  
Ian L Jones ◽  
Garry B Stenson
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Body Length ◽  
Harp Seal ◽  
Sexual Competition ◽  
Hooded Seal ◽  
Size Scaling ◽  
Cystophora Cristata ◽  
Pagophilus Groenlandicus ◽  
Testicular Size ◽  
Older Males

Growth and size-scaling of the baculum and testes in the moderately polygynous hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) were studied using 107 specimens of known age (1 month to 28 years) from the northwestern Atlantic. Bacular growth was rapid between 2 and 5 years of age: length increased 150% and "density" (i.e., mass/length) increased 8-fold and mass 20-fold. Growth continued throughout life. In large, old (>14 years) males, the baculum averaged 20.7 cm in length, 2.1 g/cm in density, and 44.4 g in mass. Bacular length increased relative to body length until seals were about 5 years of age, after which it averaged 8.2%. Testicular growth continued until the seals were about 12 years of age. Testes from breeding males >12 years old averaged 11.2 cm in length, 4.6 cm in width, and 138 g in mass; length averaged 4.9% of body length. In males 2-5 years of age, bacular and testicular sizes were positively allometric relative to body length; in older males, bacular mass and density were positively allometric, and bacular length and testicular size isometric, relative to body length. Bacular size was mostly positively allometric relative to testicular size (bacular length exhibited some isometry). Compared with that of the related and ecologically similar harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus), which is presumed to have a promiscuous mating system, the baculum of the hooded seal was structurally simpler and grew more quickly but reached a relatively smaller size in adults (8.2 vs. 9.9% of body length). Relative testicular length was also smaller (4.9 vs. 5.7% of body length) and bacular density lower (2.1 vs. 2.8 g/cm) than in the harp seal. These observations suggest that intra- or inter-sexual competition via copulation is weaker in the hooded seal.

scholarly journals Estimation of harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) pup production in the North Atlantic completed: results from surveys in the Greenland Sea in 2002

2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tore Haug ◽  
Garry B. Stenson ◽  
Peter J. Corkeron ◽  
Kjell T. Nilssen
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Harp Seal ◽  
Greenland Sea ◽  
The North ◽  
Pagophilus Groenlandicus ◽  
Pack Ice ◽  
Photographic Survey ◽  
Strip Transect

Abstract From 14 March to 6 April 2002 aerial surveys were carried out in the Greenland Sea pack ice (referred to as the “West Ice”), to assess the pup production of the Greenland Sea population of harp seals, Pagophilus groenlandicus. One fixed-wing twin-engined aircraft was used for reconnaissance flights and photographic strip transect surveys of the whelping patches once they had been located and identified. A helicopter assisted in the reconnaissance flights, and was used subsequently to fly visual strip transect surveys over the whelping patches. The helicopter was also used to collect data for estimating the distribution of births over time. Three harp seal breeding patches (A, B, and C) were located and surveyed either visually or photographically. Results from the staging flights suggest that the majority of harp seal females in the Greenland Sea whelped between 16 and 21 March. The calculated temporal distribution of births were used to correct the estimates obtained for Patch B. No correction was considered necessary for Patch A. No staging was performed in Patch C; the estimate obtained for this patch may, therefore, be slightly negatively biased. The total estimate of pup production, including the visual survey of Patch A, both visual and photographic surveys of Patch B, and photographic survey of Patch C, was 98 500 (s.e. = 16 800), giving a coefficient of variation of 17.9% for the survey. Adding the obtained Greenland Sea pup production estimate to recent estimates obtained using similar methods in the Northwest Atlantic (in 1999) and in the Barents Sea/White Sea (in 2002), it appears that the entire North Atlantic harp seal pup production, as determined at the turn of the century, is at least 1.4 million animals per year.

Nutritional composition of blubber and meat of hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) and harp seal (Phagophilus groenlandicus) from Greenland

2006 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 524-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linn Anne Brunborg ◽  
Kåre Julshamn ◽  
Ragnar Nortvedt ◽  
Livar Frøyland
Keyword(s):  
Nutritional Composition ◽  
Harp Seal ◽  
Hooded Seal ◽  
Cystophora Cristata

scholarly journals The gastric properties of free-ranging harp (Pagophilus groenlandicus (Erxleben, 1777)) and hooded (Cystophora cristata (Erxleben, 1777)) seals

2004 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jørgen S. Christiansen ◽  
Asbjørn Gildberg ◽  
Kjell T. Nilssen ◽  
Charlotta Lindblom ◽  
Tore Haug
Keyword(s):  
Trophic Relationships ◽  
Feeding Mode ◽  
Hooded Seal ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Cystophora Cristata ◽  
Pagophilus Groenlandicus ◽  
Individual Variations ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Stomach Weight ◽  
Free Ranging

Abstract The study of trophic relationships in seals is based primarily on prey remains recovered from the digestive tract or scats. Basic data on the gastric properties of seals are scarce and are considered to be important to interpret data from dietary studies of these animals. Hence, we examined the key properties of the gastric chyme post mortem (i.e. temperature, acidity, and the concentration of the proteolytic enzyme pepsin) in free-ranging harp (Pagophilus groenlandicus, n=40) and hooded (Cystophora cristata, n=41) seals. Seals displayed huge inter-individual variations in their gastric properties with ranges in temperature: 23.9–37.9°C, acidity: pH 1.16–7.34, and pepsin concentration: 11–1059 μg ml−1 chyme. The stomach weight and the mean values of gastric parameters revealed, however, significant species-specific differences. The stomach weight relative to body weight of hooded seal exceeded that of harp seal (t=13.77, d.f.=75, p<0.001). Furthermore, the gastric temperature and pepsin concentration were lower for harp (32.8°C and 75 μg ml−1) compared to that for hooded (35.3°C and 344 μg ml−1) seal. The reason for this disparity may be linked to the feeding mode and diet composition displayed by these seal species.

Estimation of hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) pup production in the Greenland Sea pack ice during the 2005 whelping season

Polar Biology ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. 867-878 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnt-Børre Salberg ◽  
Tore Haug ◽  
Kjell Tormod Nilssen
Keyword(s):  
Greenland Sea ◽  
Hooded Seal ◽  
Cystophora Cristata ◽  
Pack Ice

scholarly journals Feeding habits of harp (Phoca groenlandica) and hooded seals (Cystophora cristata) during late winter, spring and early summer in the Greenland Sea

2000 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Potelev ◽  
Kjell Tormod Nilssen ◽  
Vladislav Svetochev ◽  
Tore Haug
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Polar Cod ◽  
Greenland Sea ◽  
Hooded Seal ◽  
Cystophora Cristata ◽  
Phoca Groenlandica ◽  
Polar Cod Boreogadus Saida ◽  
Seal Diet

Diet data were collected in the Greenland Sea pack ice (the West Ice) from March to June from harp seals (Phoca groenlandica) in 1987, 1990-1992 and 1997, and from hooded seals (Cystophora cristata) in 1992 and 1994, during Soviet Russian commercial sealing and on Norwegian scientific expeditions. The majority of both harp and hooded seal stomachs were empty but intestinal contents were found in most of the seals. The harp seal diet was totally dominated by the amphipods Parathemisto sp. and Gammarus sp., but krlll (Thysanoessa sp.) and polar cod (Boreogadus saida) were also eaten quite frequently. Hooded seals had been feeding mainly on the squid Gonatus fabricii, which was found most frequently in the intestines, but which also dominated in the few stomachs with contents. Polar cod also occurred quite frequently in the hooded seal diet, while crustaceans, such as amphipods and krill, occurred only sporadically.

scholarly journals Vitamin E and vitamin A contents, fatty acid profiles, and gross composition of harp and hooded seal milk through lactation

1999 ◽  
Vol 77 (6) ◽  
pp. 952-958 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Debier ◽  
K M Kovacs ◽  
C Lydersen ◽  
E Mignolet ◽  
Y Larondelle
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acid ◽  
Vitamin E ◽  
Vitamin A ◽  
Harp Seal ◽  
Milk Lipid ◽  
Lactation Period ◽  
Fatty Acid Profiles ◽  
Milk Fatty Acids ◽  
Hooded Seal ◽  
Cystophora Cristata

This study reports fatty acid profiles and vitamin A and vitamin E contents of the milk of the harp seal (Phoca groenlandica) and hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) throughout the lactation period, as well as standard compositional analyses. The milk for this study was collected from harp and hooded seals breeding on the pack ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Mother-pup pairs were serially captured, or point-sampled, in order to obtain milk samples during different lactation stages. Milk lipids showed the respective species' typical patterns during lactation, with a significant increase for harp seal milk and a relatively constant value for hooded seal milk. The profiles of most of the milk fatty acids remained relatively stable over the course of lactation in both species. Vitamin A content was also quite stable through lactation. By contrast, vitamin E content underwent a dramatic drop between the day of birth and early lactation for harp seals and from birth to midlactation for hooded seals. It then continued to decrease at a slower rate until the end of lactation in both species. The highest vitamin E content of colostrum reached 125 mg/kg of milk for harp seals and 200 mg/kg of milk for hooded seals. These concentrations subsequently dropped to 20-50 mg/kg of milk by early or mid lactation. These changes in this lipophilic, antioxidizing vitamin were not correlated with milk lipid content or its polyunsaturated fatty acid profiles.

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