Recovery Of Seal Population Research Articles

Conflict and consensus in stakeholder views of seal management on Nantucket Island, MA, USA

With recovery of seal populations after their near extirpation from the coastal waters of Massachusetts, USA, controversy has emerged over seal-fishery interactions. To assess stakeholder attitudes toward management of seal-fishery conflicts and marine mammal protection, questionnaires were administered to the general public, on-site anglers, and tourists on Nantucket Island. All three groups agreed that the interests of the ecosystem should be the top management consideration and supported marine mammal protection. Opposition to lethal management was found among all groups, with tourists most opposed, followed by the public and on-site anglers. While non-lethal management received more support than lethal management, some support for leaving seals alone was found, particularly among tourists. No differences were found among stakeholder groups for non-lethal methods of seal management, with the exception of the scenario of using non-lethal methods to reduce population levels. These findings suggest that management of seal-fishery conflicts must respect ethical and ecological concerns to promote co-existence.

Ecosystem evolution of seal colony and the influencing factors in the 20th century on Fildes Peninsula, West Antarctica

As the topmost predator in Antarctica, the seal is a unique indicator of Antarctic environment and climate changes. In this study, we collected a sediment core from the Fildes Peninsula of West Antarctica, and used cholesterol, cholestanol, epicoprostanol, coprostanol, and seal hair numbers as the proxy indicators of seal population size and phytol as of general vegetation, and we reconstructed the 20th century history of variation of the seal population and vegetation abundance on this island. The sealing industry in the early 20th century caused the dramatic decline of seal population, and the ban of seal hunting since the 1960s led to its recovery of seal population. The seal population during the past century was primarily controlled by human activities and krill density. The reconstructed relation between seal population and vegetation abundance may oifer new insights into Antarctic environment and ecology.

Environmental change and human impacts on terrestrial ecosystems of the sub-Antarctic islands between their discovery and the mid-twentieth century

Sub-Antarctic islands share many similarities in their history of human interaction and impacts before the mid-twentieth century. Large impacts on land were associated with marine exploitation industries of sealing and whaling. Their onshore activities involved considerable construction and pollution in many accessible landing bays, inevitably destroying large areas of coastal terrestrial habitat. Considerable transfer of nutrients to terrestrial environments will have been associated with scavengers utilising large carrion supplies. Attempted establishment of agricultural industries, particularly the introduction of grazing mammals, took place on several islands and, although rarely proving economically viable, often resulted in the long-term creation of feral populations. These were accompanied by introductions of other alien vertebrates, plants and invertebrates to most sub-Antarctic islands, although precise records of introduction events, or subsequent biological studies in this period, largely do not exist. Thus, exploitation industries in this region inevitably led to considerable alterations and impacts to terrestrial ecosystems almost from the outset of human contact with the islands. In the absence of baseline ecological and biodiversity studies, the true magnitude of many of these impacts is difficult to assess, although their legacy continues to the present day. Indeed, the almost complete removal of fur seals may have allowed coastal vegetation to become more extensive and lush than hitherto, paradoxically now regarded as typical and threatened by recovery of seal populations.