Pollock and the decline of Steller sea lions: testing the junk-food hypothesis

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (7) ◽  
pp. 1243-1250 ◽  
Author(s):  
David AS Rosen ◽  
Andrew W Trites
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass ◽  
Energy Content ◽  
Gulf Of Alaska ◽  
Aleutian Islands ◽  
Net Energy ◽  
Junk Food ◽  
Eumetopias Jubatus ◽  
Steller Sea Lions ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Gross Energy

The decline of Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) in the Gulf of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands may be the result of them eating too much pollock (a gadid fish) instead of a more balanced and diverse diet containing fattier fishes, such as herring or sandlance. We sought to test this junk-food hypothesis by feeding six captive Steller sea lions (ages 0.9-4.5 years) only pollock or herring. All sea lions gained mass while eating herring. However, eating only pollock for short periods (11-23 d) caused the study animals to lose an average of 6.5% of their initial body mass (0.6 kg/d) over an average feeding trial of 16 d (initial mass averaged 125 kg). The animals were allowed to eat as much pollock as they wanted but did not increase their food intake to compensate for the low energy they were receiving. The sea lions showed progressive metabolic depression while losing body mass on a pollock-only diet. The loss of body mass while eating pollock was due to the lower gross energy content of pollock versus herring, the higher cost of digesting pollock, and the increased energy loss from digesting the larger quantity of fish needed to compensate for the lower energy content of pollock. Thus, our sea lions would have had to eat 35-80% more pollock than herring to maintain similar net energy intakes. Results from our captive-feeding studies are consistent with the junk-food hypothesis and have serious implications for Steller sea lions that have been eating primarily pollock in the Gulf of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands.

Satiation and compensation for short-term changes in food quality and availability in young Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus)

2004 ◽  
Vol 82 (7) ◽  
pp. 1061-1069 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A.S Rosen ◽  
Andrew W Trites
Keyword(s):  
Food Intake ◽  
Prey Availability ◽  
Energy Content ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Eumetopias Jubatus ◽  
Steller Sea Lions ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Gross Energy

Foraging theory predicts that animals should proportionately increase their food intake to compensate for reduced food energy content and (or) prey availability. However, the theoretical intake levels will, at some point, exceed the digestive capacity of the predator. We tested the ability of Steller sea lions, Eumetopias jubatus (Schreber, 1776), to compensate for short-term changes in prey energy density and availability, and quantified the maximum amount of food a young sea lion could consume. Five 1–2-year-old captive Steller sea lions were offered either herring (high energy) or capelin (low energy) each day or every second day. When prey were available on a daily basis, the sea lions compensated for differences in the energy content of herring and capelin by consuming sufficient quantities of each (8.3 vs. 14.0 kg·d–1, respectively) to maintain equivalent gross energy intakes. When herring was available only on alternate days, the sea lions increased their consumption by 52% to 11.5 kg·d–1, which was not sufficient to maintain an average gross intake equal to that maintained when herring was available every day. When capelin was available only on alternate days, some animals increased their intake for a few days, but average intake (15.2 kg·d–1) was far below levels observed during daily feeding. Generally, the sea lions appeared to reach their digestive limit at a level equivalent to 14%–16% of their body mass. Our findings suggest that Steller sea lions can alter their food intake in response to short-term changes in prey quality or availability, but that these variables can quickly combine to necessitate food intake levels that exceed the physiological digestive capacities of young animals.

scholarly journals Possible effects of pollock and herring on the growth and reproductive success of Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus): insights from feeding experiments using an alternative animal model, Rattus norvegicus

2003 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn P. Donnelly ◽  
A. W. Trites ◽  
D. D. Kitts
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Performance ◽  
Rattus Norvegicus ◽  
Energy Content ◽  
Gulf Of Alaska ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Eumetopias Jubatus ◽  
Steller Sea Lions ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Pollock Oil

The decline of Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) in the Gulf of Alaska appears to have been associated with a switch of diet from one dominated by fatty forage fishes (such as herring; Clupea pallasi) to one dominated by low-fat fish (such as pollock; Theragra chalcogramma). Observations made during the decline include reduced body size of sea lions, low pregnancy rates, and high mortality. We used the general mammalian model, the laboratory rat (Rattus norvegicus), to test whether changing the quality of prey consumed could cause changes in size and reproductive performance. Five groups of twelve female, weanling rats were fed diets composed of herring (H), pollock (P), pollock supplemented with herring oil (PH), pollock supplemented with pollock oil (PP), or a semi-purified diet (ICN). Mean body weights were greatest for H, followed by PH, P, PP and finally ICN, although ICN was the only group significantly different from the others (P<0·05). Food intakes before mating were 10 % higher for groups on the lower-fat diets (P and ICN), resulting in similar energy intakes in all groups. The protein efficiency ratio was highest for the H diet, slightly lower for all pollock diets, and significantly lower for ICN (P<0·05). The fetal weights for mothers fed P were significantly reduced (P<0·05). The present study shows that the energy content was a major limiting factor in the nutritional quality of pollock. When food intake was adjusted to meet energetic requirements, there were no detrimental consequences from eating pollock. However, supplementation of pollock meal with additional pollock oil may reduce growth and reproductive performance, although the reasons for this were not apparent.

Diet diversity of Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) and their population decline in Alaska: a potential relationship

1997 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 1342-1348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard L Merrick ◽  
M Kathryn Chumbley ◽  
G Vernon Byrd
Keyword(s):  
Population Decline ◽  
Gulf Of Alaska ◽  
Walleye Pollock ◽  
Aleutian Islands ◽  
Strong Positive Correlation ◽  
Eumetopias Jubatus ◽  
Steller Sea Lions ◽  
Diet Diversity ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Atka Mackerel

We examined the diet of Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) during June-August 1990-1993 from six areas in the Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska and related these diets to sea lion population changes that occurred during the period. Seven general prey categories were identified, but either walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) or Atka mackerel (Pleurogrammus monopterygius) dominated in every area. The diversity of prey consumed varied among sites. Only the eastern Aleutian Islands area had all seven categories in the diet, and there, walleye pollock and Atka mackerel each made up around 30% of the diet. The remainder was composed mostly of small schooling fish (e.g., Pacific herring (Clupea pallasi) and salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.)). The diet in the Gulf of Alaska included mostly walleye pollock whereas the central and western Aleutian diet was composed mostly of Atka mackerel. Populations in the six areas decreased up to 49% during 1990-1994. A strong positive correlation (r = 0.949, P = 0.004) was found between diet diversity and the amount of decline in an area: as diet diversity decreased, populations decreased. This suggests that sea lions need a variety of prey available, perhaps to buffer significant changes in abundance of any single prey.

Pupping-site fidelity among individual Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) at Chiswell Island, Alaska

2008 ◽  
Vol 86 (8) ◽  
pp. 826-833 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Parker ◽  
J. T. Harvey ◽  
J. M. Maniscalco ◽  
S. Atkinson
Keyword(s):  
Site Fidelity ◽  
Surf Zone ◽  
Gulf Of Alaska ◽  
Eumetopias Jubatus ◽  
Steller Sea Lions ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Photo Identification ◽  
Pup Survival ◽  
Breeding Seasons

Pupping-site fidelity (defined as pupping within 5.8 m of a previous location in ≥2 years) in Steller sea lions ( Eumetopias jubatus (Schreber, 1776)) was investigated during the breeding seasons from 2001 to 2005 at Chiswell Island, a small rookery in the Gulf of Alaska. Density of females was minimal with 54–80 pups born. Photo-identification of individuals and GPS points, including elevation of the rookery, were used to determine locations of 297 births. Sixty-four percentage (35/55) of the females exhibited pupping-site fidelity, and mean frequency of site fidelity was greater for females that gave birth >3 times. Fifty percentage of the births occurred at 22% of the locations for all years, indicating that multiple births occurred at some locations throughout the breeding season. Competition or aggression among females for specific pupping locations before birth was not observed, and there was no temporal order of pupping locations used, indicating that the rookery was not overcrowded and that many suitable pupping locations existed. Multiparous females gave birth at significantly greater distances from the surf zone than primiparous females. Long-term monitoring of pupping-site fidelity in combination with other measures of maternal care will ultimately determine which factors have the greatest effect on pup survival.

A re-examination of the relationship between Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) diet and population trend using data from the Aleutian Islands

2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (12) ◽  
pp. 1137-1155 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Fritz ◽  
B. Brost ◽  
E. Laman ◽  
K. Luxa ◽  
K. Sweeney ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Density ◽  
Population Trend ◽  
Population Trends ◽  
Aleutian Islands ◽  
Eumetopias Jubatus ◽  
Steller Sea Lions ◽  
Sea Lion ◽  
Diet Diversity ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Using Data

Prey diversity and energy density have been linked to each other and to population trends in many studies of bird and mammal diets. We re-examined these relationships in Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus (Schreber, 1776)) using data collected from the Aleutian Islands, where there has been a strong longitudinal gradient in population trend. Diet diversity and energy density metrics were similar in the western Aleutians, where sea lion counts declined consistently, and in the easternmost Aleutian area, where population trends improved significantly. We compared traditional deterministic diet diversity metrics with diversity scores based on an occupancy model that accounts for differences in sample size and uncertainty in prey group detection. This analysis indicated that there was no significant change in diet diversity over the 23-year study period or any significant differences across the Aleutian Islands. These results are consistent with prey abundance data from nine groundfish bottom trawl surveys conducted over the same period. While diet studies detail what Steller sea lions eat and provide an estimate of their energy intake, they provide only limited information on the energy expended to obtain their food or the consequences of their diet and foraging ecology on individual or population fitness.

A long-term study reveals multiple reproductive behavior strategies among territorial adult male Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus)

2014 ◽  
Vol 92 (5) ◽  
pp. 405-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela Parker ◽  
John M. Maniscalco
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Gulf Of Alaska ◽  
Lifetime Reproductive Success ◽  
First Year ◽  
Eumetopias Jubatus ◽  
Steller Sea Lions ◽  
Term Study ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Long Term Study

We conducted a long-term study to assess how tenure and territorial behaviors influence reproductive success among male Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus (Schreber, 1776)). Copulations by males (n = 44) that maintained territories on a rookery in the Gulf of Alaska from 2001 to 2009 were observed using a remote video system. Approximately half of postpartum females copulated with a male in a different territory from where they gave birth. Nearly two-thirds of territorial males with known tenure were unsuccessful in copulating during their first year. Number of copulations for territorial males increased from acquisition year to year 2 with no change in subsequent years. Cluster analysis of tenure and territorial tactic variables for 15 males with observed lifetime reproductive success was used to describe multiple reproductive strategies. Characteristics of the two most successful strategies were the following: (i) males typically copulated in their first year, retained the same territories for 3–5 years, and occupied centrally located coastal territories where the highest percentage of females gave birth and (ii) males did not copulate until at least their third year and occupied peripheral territories with fewer births for a longer tenure of 7–8 years. Results indicated that lifetime reproductive success was not achieved solely by time on the breeding area; rather, it was achieved from a combination of tenure and territorial tactics.

Three-dimensional photogrammetry as a tool for estimating morphometrics and body mass of Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus)

2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 296-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason N Waite ◽  
Wendy J Schrader ◽  
Jo-Ann E Mellish ◽  
Markus Horning
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass ◽  
Standard Length ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Body Volume ◽  
Multiple Time ◽  
Eumetopias Jubatus ◽  
Steller Sea Lions ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
3D Photogrammetry ◽  
Measured Mass

A technique was developed to estimate morphometrics and body mass of Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) using three-dimensional (3D) photogrammetry. 3D photogrammetry reduces many of the problems associated with camera and body position encountered with two-dimensional photogrammetric techniques, allowing body mass estimation of free-ranging, active sea lions, without sedation, heavy weighing equipment, and disturbance. 3D computer wireframes of 53 Steller sea lions of various age classes were generated from multiple time-synchronous digital photos and used to estimate length, girth, and volume. Average estimates of standard length and axillary girth were within ±2.5% and ±4.0% of physically measured dimensions, respectively. Average estimates of standard length and axillary girth using only wireframes based on ideal body postures were within ±1.7% and ±3.1% of physically measured dimensions, respectively. Regressions of physically measured mass on photogrammetrically estimated body volume yielded a predictive model. Body mass estimates using this model were on average within 9.0% (95% confidence interval = ±1.7%) of the physically measured mass. This technique was also successfully applied to reptiles and fish.

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