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Habitat use by harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) in a seasonally ice-covered region, the western Hudson Bay

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Abstract

Over the last few decades, the period of ice cover in Hudson Bay has decreased, owing to climate warming, with breakup occurring approximately 3 weeks earlier than it did 30 years ago. The trend towards lengthening of the open water season has led to speculation that ringed seal numbers would decline, but then harbour seals might become numerous enough to replace ringed seals in the diet of polar bears. The movement patterns of 18 harbour seals equipped with satellite-linked transmitters in the Churchill River estuary (western Hudson Bay) were examined, as well as the dive behaviour of 11 of these seals. During the ice-free period, seals followed a general central place-foraging strategy, making repeated trips between their haul-out site in the Churchill River estuary and nearshore areas (<20 km) near the river mouth and estuary. Seal behaviour changed significantly as ice started to form along the coast of western Hudson Bay: animals remained significantly farther from the Churchill River haul-out site and from the coast and performed longer and deeper dives. However, throughout the entire tracking period, whether ice was present or not, all animals restricted their movements to a narrow band of shallow coastal waters (<50 m depth) along a 600-km stretch of the western Hudson Bay coastline, centred on the Churchill River estuary haul-out site. This natural self-limitation to nearshore shallow waters could restrict the potential for the population to increase in size and replace ringed seals as a primary energy resource for polar bears.

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Acknowledgments

We are particularly grateful to Manitoba Hydro which provided the major funding for this research project. Additional support was received from the Canadian Wildlife Service, Churchill Northern Studies Centre, Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Polar Continental Shelf Project and World Wildlife Fund (Canada).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Maurice Lamontagne Institute, Mont Joli, QC, G5H 3Z4, Canada

    C. E. Bajzak, A. Mosnier & M. O. Hammill

  2. North/South Consultants Inc., Winnipeg, MB, R3Y 1G4, Canada

    W. Bernhardt

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6H 3S5, Canada

    I. Stirling

  4. Wildlife Research Division, Environment Canada, Edmonton, AB, T6G 3S5, Canada

    I. Stirling

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  1. C. E. Bajzak
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  2. W. Bernhardt
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  3. A. Mosnier
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  4. M. O. Hammill
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  5. I. Stirling
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Correspondence to C. E. Bajzak.

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Bajzak, C.E., Bernhardt, W., Mosnier, A. et al. Habitat use by harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) in a seasonally ice-covered region, the western Hudson Bay. Polar Biol 36, 477–491 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-012-1274-4

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