Annual Residency Patterns and Diet of Phoca vitulina concolor (Western Atlantic Harbor Seal) in a Southern New Jersey Estuary

Jacalyn Toth; Steven Evert; Elizabeth Zimmermann; Mark Sullivan; Linda Dotts; Kenneth W. Able; Roland Hagan; Carol Slocum

doi:10.1656/045.025.0407

How to translate text using browser tools

1 November 2018 Annual Residency Patterns and Diet of Phoca vitulina concolor (Western Atlantic Harbor Seal) in a Southern New Jersey Estuary

Jacalyn Toth, Steven Evert, Elizabeth Zimmermann, Mark Sullivan, Linda Dotts, Kenneth W. Able, Roland Hagan, Carol Slocum

Author Affiliations +

Northeastern Naturalist, 25(4):611-626 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1656/045.025.0407

Abstract

From 1996 to 2011, researchers observed Phoca vitulina concolor (Western Atlantic Harbor Seal) on regional overwintering grounds in the Great Bay–Mullica River estuary in southern New Jersey. Over this 15-y time series, 299 observations were completed, with maximum local abundance increasing from 100 individuals in 1996 to 160 individuals in 2011. Our study did not document the presence of Atlantic Harbor Seal pups. In addition, we analyzed 142 scat samples, resulting in 1419 sagittal fish otoliths recovered and identified. Dominant recovered otoliths were as follows: 48% Phycidae (Urophycis regia [Spotted Hake]/Urophycis chuss [Red Hake]; 25% Clupeidae (Clupea harengus [Atlantic Herring], Alosa sapidissima [American Shad], Brevoortia tyrannus [Atlantic Menhaden], A. pseudoharengus [Alewife], and A. aestivalis [Blueback Herring]); 13% Ammodytidae (Ammodytes americanus/A. dubius [sandlance]); 6% Pseudopleuronectes americanus (Winter Flounder); and 4% Scophthalmus aquosus (Windowpane Flounder). Average back-calculated prey lengths across all prey groups (min–max = 5–41 cm, average = 19.75 cm) indicated that Western Atlantic Harbor Seals might utilize both estuarine and ocean environments for foraging. This temperate estuary currently represents the southern limit of routine Western Atlantic Harbor Seal occupancy in the Northeast. As such, our results are valuable in monitoring future changes in habitat use potentially resulting from climate change.

Citation Download Citation

Jacalyn Toth, Steven Evert, Elizabeth Zimmermann, Mark Sullivan, Linda Dotts, Kenneth W. Able, Roland Hagan, and Carol Slocum "Annual Residency Patterns and Diet of Phoca vitulina concolor (Western Atlantic Harbor Seal) in a Southern New Jersey Estuary," Northeastern Naturalist 25(4), 611-626, (1 November 2018). https://doi.org/10.1656/045.025.0407

Published: 1 November 2018

KEYWORDS/PHRASES

PUBLICATION TITLE:

COLLECTION:

PUBLICATION YEARS