Dear all,
On behalf of my co-authors, I am pleased to announce the recent
publication of our article in the ICES Journal of Marine Science:
*Wide dispersal of recently weaned grey seal pups in the **Southern
North Sea*
Verena Peschko, Sabine Müller, Philipp Schwemmer, Moritz Mercker, Peter
Lienau, Tanja Rosenberger, Janne Sundermeyer, and Stefan Garthe**
**
Abstract
Grey seals have become an important part of the ecosystem in the
southern North Sea over the last 50 years. However, little is known
about their spatial utilization of the German North Sea, especially in
relation to the dispersal and behaviour of grey seal pups after weaning.
We investigated these little-known aspects by recording the movements of
11 grey seal pups born at the largest German colony for 1–
9 months after leaving the colony between 2015 and 2017. The individuals
moved widely throughout the southern North Sea, including some
individuals that moved far along the Danish coast or to Dutch and UK
waters. A point process modelling approach revealed that pups increased
their distance to Helgoland during the first 70 d at sea. The frequency
of inferred foraging behaviour increased until week 7 and decreased
afterwards, whereas fast travelling behaviour increased throughout the
whole study period. These findings reflect the transition from
naive to more experienced pups, with gradual increases in foraging
effort, range and efficiency to account for their increasing energy demands
for survival and growth. This study provides the first characterization
of the dispersal, behaviour, and spatial utilization of recently weaned
grey seal pups in the southern North Sea, which profoundly extents our
knowledge of an increasingly important top predator in that area.
Available at : https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsaa045
Please, do not hesitate to contact me ([email protected]) if
you have any queries regarding to this article or to request a PDF copy.
Best regards,
Verena Peschko
--
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Verena Peschko
Research and Technology Centre (FTZ)
University of Kiel
Hafentörn 1
25761 Büsum
Germany
Tel: +49 4834 604 250
Fax: +49 4834 604 299
e-mail: [email protected]
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