Status Biology And Ecology Of Fur Seals

14 species summaries, 12 contributed papers and 5 rapporteurs' reports on fur seals throughout the world including the Pribilof Islands and Antarctica.

Covering the behavior and ecology of the northern fur seal, this book is a model long-term study of marine mammals, one that tests theory through both observation of undisturbed behavior and manipulative experiments on individuals. Here Roger Gentry draws on nearly two decades of research on three different islands to show how behavior among these seals changes with population size, sex ratio, and environment, to explain the behavior of the population beginning with individuals, and to generalize the results to other members of the eared seal family. In so doing, he offers one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind on any marine mammal species to date. Gentry shows that the species is driven by very different behavioral traits than have been assumed for it in the past. His book analyzes behavior on scales of hours to lifetimes, investigates the mating system, considers processes that underlie the mating system (site fidelity, behavioral estrus, and the development of territoriality), and addresses specific aspects of maternal strategy (female attendance behavior, pup growth, seasonal influences, and the effects of continental shelf width). Gentry contributes to knowledge about marine mammals by providing a very specific basis for interspecies comparisons, and he suggests a link between population trend and environmental regime shifts. He also guides the debate over seal mating systems from an interpretive to an empirical or experimental basis. Originally published in 1997. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

14 species summaries, 12 contributed papers and 5 rapporteurs' reports on fur seals throughout the world including the Pribilof Islands and Antarctica.

Fur seals and sea lions are charismatic, large carnivores that engage us with both their skill and playful antics. Although all species in Australian waters were harvested to near extinction 200 years ago, fur seals are recovering and are now common in near-shore waters across southern Australia. Sea lions, however, are endangered. Their populations appear not to have recovered like fur seals and are declining at some locations. Fur seals and sea lions are important top level predators and play an important role in Australia’s temperate marine ecosystems. Key threats they currently face relate to human activities, particularly interactions with fisheries. This book outlines the comparative evolutionary ecology, biology, life-history, behaviour, conservation status, threats, history of human interactions and latest research on the three species of otariids that live in the waters of southern Australia: the Australian fur seal, New Zealand fur seal and Australian sea lion. It also includes brief descriptions of Antarctic and Subantarctic seals that occupy the Antarctic pack-ice and remote Australian territories of Macquarie Island and Heard Island.

The largest of all seals, elephant seals rank among the most impressive of marine mammals. They are renowned for their spectacular recovery from near-extinction at the end of the nineteenth century when seal hunters nearly eliminated the entire northern species. No other vertebrate has come so close to extinction and made such a complete recovery. The physiological extremes that elephant seals can tolerate are also remarkable: females fast for a month while lactating, and the largest breeding males fast for over one hundred days during the breeding seasons, at which times both sexes lose forty percent of their body weight. Elephant seals dive constantly during their long foraging migrations, spending more time under water than most whales and diving deeper and longer than any other marine mammal. This first book-length discussion of elephant seals brings together worldwide expertise from scientists who describe and debate recent research, including the history and status of various populations, their life-history tactics, and other findings obtained with the help of modern microcomputer diving instruments attached to free-ranging seals. Essential for all marine mammalogists for its information and its methodological innovations, Elephant Seals will also illuminate current debates about species extinctions and possible means of preventing them. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1994.

We teach our students of behavioural science that one first defines a research problem, and then the most appropriate animal is selected to investigate hypotheses. The reverse order of events is improper: a particular class of animals should not be studied for its own sake. In the case of the Pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, fur seals and walruses) the organism and the problem are essentially the same. The research questions presented in this volume in one way or another relate to survival in two worlds, the ocean for foraging, and the terrain at its edge or frozen above it for breeding. The evolution of Pinniped behaviour and the mechanisms which underlie it are a consequence of having to cope with two seemingly incompatible sets of environmental constraints. The physiological adaptations for concomitant functioning in two media with very different physical characteristics have produced correlated behav ioural modifications. The energetic demands of reproduction and foraging are idiosyncratic because each activity occurs on opposite sides of the air/water interface. As a result, the mating system must reconcile aquatic design for such functions as locomotion and thermoregulation, with the terrestrial requirements for successful pupping. Similarly, the ecology of this dual habitat prescribes the rules governing the behaviour of the neonate and its interactions with its mother.

Pinnipeds are marine mammals that include eared seals, true seals, and walruses. This book presents detailed reviews on the ecology and conservation of 10 pinniped species along the coasts and islands in Latin America, from Mexico to Chile and Argentina. Topics covered include their population dynamics, trophic ecology, reproduction, and behavior. In addition, the book addresses major conservation issues regarding climate change, interaction with fisheries, ecotourism, and other human activities.