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Harbor Seal Pup

The Polar Ecosystems Program conducts research and monitoring on pinnipeds in the Arctic, sub-Arctic, and Antarctic marine ecosystems. The research projects focus primarily on abundance, trends, distribution, and foraging behavior of harbor, bearded, ringed, spotted, and ribbon seals in Alaska. The primary objectives of the program are to support management and assessment of population status under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and to gain a better understanding of the factors responsible for the dynamics of populations and their roles in the ecosystem. 

Program Leader: Peter Boveng
Keep track of current Ice Seal cruises from the Polar Program

Recent Reports, Publications, and Posters

Quarterly Reports Publications
  • Ver HOEF, J. M., and J. K. JANSEN. 2007. Space-time zero-inflated count models of harbor seals. Environmetrics 18:697-712. 
     
  • Ver HOEF, J. M., and P. L. BOVENG. 2007. Quasi-Poisson vs. negative binomial regression: How should we model overdispersed count data? Ecology 88:2766-2772. 
     
  • ICHII, T., J. L. BENGTSON, P. L. BOVENG, Y. TAKAO, J. K. JANSEN, L. M. HIRUKI-RARING, M. F. CAMERON, H. OKAMURA, T. HAYASHI, and M. NAGANOBU. 2007. Provisioning strategies of Antarctic fur seals and chinstrap penguins produce different responses to distribution of common prey and habitat. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 344: 277-297. (.pdf, 1.64MB).  Online.
     
  • BENGTSON, J. L., A. V. PHILLIPS, E. A. MATHEWS, and M. A. SIMPKINS. 2007. Comparison of survey methods for estimating abundance of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) in glacial fjords. Fish. Bull., U.S. 105:348-355.  Online.
     
  • CAMERON, M. F., D. B. SINIFF, K. M. PROFFIT, and R. A. GARROTT. 2007. Site fidelity of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii): the effects of sex and age. Antarctic Sci. 19:149-155. 
     
  • MONTGOMERY, R. A., J. M. Ver HOEF, and P. L. BOVENG. 2007. Spatial modeling of haul-out site use by harbor seals in Cook Inlet, Alaska. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 341:257-264. 
     
  • HOLLOWED, A. B., R. P. ANGLISS, M. F. SIGLER, B. A. MEGREY, and D. H. ITO. 2007. Implementation plan for Loss of Sea Ice (LOSI) program. AFSC Processed Rep. 2007-05, 48 p. Alaska Fish. Sci. Cent., NOAA, Natl. Mar, Fish. Serv., 7600 SandPoint Way NE, Seattle WA 98115. (.pdf, 1.91 MB).  Online.
     
  • HARCOURT, R. G., J. J. KINGSTON, M. F. CAMERON, J. R. WAAS, and M. A. HINDELL. 2007. Paternity analysis shows experience, not age, enhances mating success in an aquatically mating pinniped, the Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii). Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 61:643-652. 
     
  • Additional recent Polar Ecosystems Program publications


Posters
  • Spring Diet of Ribbon and Spotted Seals in the Bering Sea
    By:  HEATHER L. ZIEL, MICHAEL F. CAMERON, PETER L. BOVENG
    Conference:  Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2008
    (2008 poster, .pdf, 1.8MB)   Online.
     
  • Densities of Seals in the Pack Ice of the Bering Sea
    By:  ERIN E. MORELAND, MICHAEL F. CAMERON, PETER L. BOVENG
    Conference:  Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2008
    (2008 poster, .pdf, 309KB)   Online.
     
  • Multi-Year Aerial Surveys Using Photogrammetry to Estimate the Abundance of Harbor Seals in Glacial Ice Habitats
    By:  LUCIANA O. SANTOS, MICHAEL F. CAMERON, JOHN L. BENGTSON, PETER L. BOVENG
    Conference:  Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2008
    (2008 poster, .pdf, 1.84MB)   Online.
     
  • One Dot at a Time: Counting Alaska’s Harbor Seals
    By:  KYMBERLY M. YANO, JOSH M. LONDON, RAY B. OUTLAW
    Conference:  Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2008
    (2008 poster, .pdf, 3.66MB)   Online.
     
  • Morphometry of Three Ice-associated Seal Species in the Bering and Chukchi Seas
    By:  SHAWN P. DAHLE, MICHAEL F. CAMERON, PETER L. BOVENG
    Conference:  Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2008
    (2008 poster, .pdf, 3.31M)   Online.
     
  • Spatial Segregation of Nursing Harbor Seals Hauled Out on Glacial Ice
    By:  GAVIN M. BRADY, JOHN K. JANSEN, SHAWN P. DAHLE
    Conference:  Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2008
    (2008 poster, .pdf, 2.89MB)   Online.
     
  • Seasonal Movements of Harbor Seals Related to Sex and Age Class
    By:  JOSH M. LONDON, PETER L. BOVENG, DEVIN S. JOHNSON, JAY M. Ver HOEF
    Conference:  Biology of Marine Mammals 17th Biennial Conf., Society for Marine Mammalogy, Cape Town, South Africa, Nov/Dec 2007
    (2007 poster, .pdf, 3.73MB)   Online.
     
  • Strong Seasonal Dynamics of Harbor Seals in Cook Inlet, Alaska
    By:  PETER BOVENG, JOSH LONDON, JAY Ver HOEF, ROBERT MONTGOMERY
    Conference:  Biology of Marine Mammals 17th Biennial Conf., Society for Marine Mammalogy, Cape Town, South Africa, Nov/Dec 2007
    (2007 poster, .pdf, 4.59MB)   Online.
     
  • Additional recent Polar Ecosystems Program poster presentations
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