Pup Mortality in a Rapidly Declining Harbour Seal (Phoca vitulina) Population

摘要: The harbour seal population in Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland, has reduced by 65% between 2001 and 2010. cause(s) this decline are unknown but must affect demographic parameters population. Here, satellite telemetry data were used to test hypothesis that increased pup mortality could be a primary driver Orkney. Pup tag failure estimated from duration operation tags deployed on pups Orkney (n = 24) another west Scotland where abundance was stable. Survival probabilities both populations best represented common gamma distribution not different one another, suggesting is unlikely agent decline. probability surviving 6 months 0.390 (95% CI 0.297 – 0.648) Gaussian distribution, with mean 270 198 288) s.d. 21 1 66) days. These results suggest adult survival most likely proximate cause They also demonstrate novel technique for attaining age-specific rates data.