Ocean climate and seal condition |
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| Authors: | Burney J Le Boeuf and Daniel E Crocker |
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| Affiliation: | (1) Institute of Marine Sciences and Department of Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA;(2) Department of Biology, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, California, 94982, USA |
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| Abstract: | Background The condition of many marine mammals varies with fluctuations in productivity and food supply in the ocean basin where they forage. Prey is impacted by physical environmental variables such as cyclic warming trends. The weaning weight of northern elephant seal pups, Mirounga angustirostris, being closely linked to maternal condition, indirectly reflects prey availability and foraging success of pregnant females in deep waters of the northeastern Pacific. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of ocean climate on foraging success in this deep-diving marine mammal over the course of three decades, using cohort weaning weight as the principal metric of successful resource accrual. |
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