The Effects of Storage Time, Temperature, and Anticoagulants on Harp Seal, Phoca groenlandica, Hemograms: A Simulated Field Study

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.

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Validation of Age Estimation in the Harp Seal, Phoca groenlandica, Using Dentinal Annuli

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/f83-165 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 40 (9) ◽

pp. 1430-1441 ◽

Cited By ~ 65

Author(s):

W. D. Bowen ◽

D. E. Sergeant ◽

T. Øritsland

Keyword(s):

Outer Layer ◽

Age Estimation ◽

Transverse Section ◽

Age Determination ◽

Middle Layer ◽

Harp Seal ◽

Growth Layer ◽

Phoca Groenlandica ◽

Incremental Growth ◽

Absolute Age

We investigated the validity and accuracy of age estimation in harp seals, Phoca groenlandica, using a sample of 155 known-age teeth from seals age 3 mo to 10 yr. Under transmitted light, transverse sections of harp seal canine teeth showed distinct incremental growth layers (IGLs) in the dentine. The first growth-layer group (GLG), representing Ist-year growth, consists of two IGLs: an outer layer of opaque dentine, bounded by the neonatal line, and an inner layer of translucent dentine. Subsequent GLGs, each representing 1 yr of growth, generally consist of three IGLs: an outer layer of interglobular dentine deposited during the annual molt in April, a middle layer of opaque dentine formed during the northward spring migration (May–June), and an inner layer of translucent dentine formed from July to March. We show that dentinal GLGs can be used to estimate the absolute age of harp seals. The accuracy of the method decreases with age. Only 72.4% of estimates of 0-group seals were correct using only transverse sections. These errors were virtually eliminated (99.0% correct age determination) when the tooth root was examined. Based on a single examination of a transverse section, the probabilities of correctly estimating age are 0.983, 0.889, 0.817, and 0.553 at ages 1, 2, 3, and 4 + yr, respectively, when clearly inaccurate tag-tooth associations are omitted. The respective probabilities are only slightly higher when age is based on the average of five blind readings, being 1.0, 0.889, 0.833, and 0.625. Beyond age 3 yr, existing data are insufficient to estimate reliably the accuracy of age determined by counting GLGs.

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Harp seal (Phoca groenlandica) invasions in Norwegian coastal waters: age composition and feeding habits

ICES Journal of Marine Science ◽

10.1093/icesjms/48.3.363 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 48 (3) ◽

pp. 363-371 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

T. Haug ◽

A. B. Kroyer ◽

K. T. Nilssen ◽

K. I. Ugland ◽

P. E. Aspholm

Keyword(s):

Coastal Waters ◽

Feeding Habits ◽

Harp Seal ◽

Age Composition ◽

Phoca Groenlandica

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Effect of Sex, Age and Carcass Cut on Composition of Harp Seal (Phoca groenlandica) Meat

Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology Journal ◽

10.1016/s0315-5463(82)72543-x ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

pp. 229-232 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

J.R. Botta ◽

E. Arsenault ◽

H.A. Ryan

Keyword(s):

Harp Seal ◽

Phoca Groenlandica

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Seals of the Pack Ice

Oryx ◽

10.1017/s0030605300038230 ◽

1955 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 75-88

Author(s):

Harry R. Lillie

Keyword(s):

Polar Bear ◽

Barents Sea ◽

Harp Seal ◽

Bearded Seal ◽

Northern European ◽

Phoca Groenlandica ◽

Pack Ice ◽

Arctic Conditions ◽

Northern Atlantic ◽

Northern European Russia

Around the seas of the far northern Atlantic coming under the influence of Arctic conditions lives, frequently on the wander, one of the most delightful of creatures, the harp seal or saddleback, Phoca groenlandica. Large communities migrate in the Newfoundland, Labrador, Baffin Land, Greenland sector; others through the area of Jan Mayen Island towards Spitzbergen. Gregarious for much of the time, they share their world of ice with the occasional bearded seal and ringed seal, walrus, and polar bear. The White Sea in northern European Russia is a great harp seal nursery, for an eastern community in the area of the Barents Sea.

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