REDUCED BODY SIZE OF FEMALE STELLER SEA LIONS FROM A DECLINING POPULATION IN THE GULF OF ALASKA

Nutritional stress is a leading hypothesis behind the decline in numbers of Steller sea lions in the Gulf of Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, and the Bering Sea. To evaluate this hypothesis we compared body growth of female Steller sea lions 1.0–13.9 yr of age collected in the Gulf of Alaska during two...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine mammal science 1998-04, Vol.14 (2), p.232-244
Main Authors: Calkins, Donald G., Becker, Earl F., Pitcher, Kenneth W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Demecology
Eumetopias jubatus
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
growth
Gulf of Alaska
Mammalia
Marine
Pinnipedia
population decline
Steller sea lion
undernutrition
Vertebrata
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Nutritional stress is a leading hypothesis behind the decline in numbers of Steller sea lions in the Gulf of Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, and the Bering Sea. To evaluate this hypothesis we compared body growth of female Steller sea lions 1.0–13.9 yr of age collected in the Gulf of Alaska during two time periods, 1975–1978 just prior to or early in the decline and 1985–1986 when the decline was well established. We found that growth, as measured by standard length, axillary girth, and mass, was reduced during the 1980s, supporting the undernutrition hypothesis. We also found a suggestion of reduced growth in our 1970s and 1980s samples when compared to a collection of Steller sea lions obtained from the Gulf of Alaska in 1958. However, no direct link has been demonstrated between undernutrition and the actual decline in numbers.
ISSN:0824-0469
1748-7692
DOI:10.1111/j.1748-7692.1998.tb00713.x