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Brief Description:
Female northern elephant seals undertake a long foraging migration in the North Pacific each year, building a reserve for subsequent months spent fasting on land while giving birth, nourishing a pup, and breeding. Using data from the Tagging of Pacific Predators project (www.topp.org), we identify an area of high female northern elephant seal density during their annual 6-8 month foraging migration, indicating it is an area of special importance for life history stages of this species.
North Pacific
Yes
Not specified
EBSA Criteria
Low
High
High
Low
High
High
Low
Information relevant to other international criteria
Don't know
Detailed Description
Many wide ranging marine animals have an amphibious life history. For example, sea turtles, seabirds, sea lions, and seals spend part of their lives feeding at sea, and part of their lives on land, breeding, caring for young, or molting. In the North Pacific, the northern elephant seal is a wide-ranging top predator with such a life history. Female northern elephant seals haul out on the beaches of the North American west coast twice yearly: once to give birth, nourish young, and breed, and once to molt (Stewart and DeLong 1996). They fast completely during this time. Following each terrestrial visit, northern elephant seals return to sea to feed. They thus undertake a double foraging migration each year - a “short migration” following breeding and a 6-8 month “long migration” following molt. Until recently, it was thought that northern elephant seals were restricted to coastal waters during their migrations; range-maps indicated that elephant seals venture no farther than the continental shelf (Riedman 1990). From the mid-1980s, an advance in tracking technology for obtaining fine-scale data on animal movements allowed for an amazing discovery. During the long migration, female northern elephant seals travel half way across the Pacific, feeding almost entirely in habitats beyond nation
During the long migration, female northern elephant seals travel half way across the Pacific, feeding almost entirely in habitats beyond national jurisdiction. They spend more time in some places than others. A robust tracking dataset from 2004-2007 allowed for the identification of multi-individual high use areas and an analysis of their persistence from year to year. The ecological significance of these areas to northern elephant seal life history is reflected in the energy required to sustain their time on land and ensure pup survival; 48% of their body energy is lost during lactation, and “body reserves obtained during biannual foraging migrations are the most important determinants of reproductive effort in female elephant seals” (Crocker et al. 2001).
catData: link||Tagging of Pacific Predators project homepage||Data was collected by the Tagging of Pacific Predators project (www.TOPP.org) and provided courtesy of Dr. Daniel P. Costa, University of California, Santa Cruz. TOPP began in 2000 as one of 17 projects of the Census of Marine Life, a 10-year, 80-nation endeavor to assess and explain the diversity and abundance of life in the oceans. TOPP researchers from eight countries began venturing into offshore waters, remote islands, and along rugged coastlines to attach satellite tags to 22 different species of top predators that roam the Pacific Ocean. As of 2007, they have tagged more than 2,000 animals, including elephant seals, white sharks, leatherback turtles, squid, albatross and sooty shearwaters.||http://www.topp.org|| <a style="display: none;" class="file-test-link" href="" title="Click to download"><span class="filename"></span></a> <span class="file-details"></span>
Data was collected by the Tagging of Pacific Predators project (www.TOPP.org) and provided courtesy of Dr. Daniel P. Costa, University of California, Santa Cruz. TOPP began in 2000 as one of 17 projects of the Census of Marine Life, a 10-year, 80-nation endeavor to assess and explain the diversity and abundance of life in the oceans. TOPP researchers from eight countries began venturing into offshore waters, remote islands, and along rugged coastlines to attach satellite tags to 22 different species of top predators that roam the Pacific Ocean. As of 2007, they have tagged more than 2,000 animals, including elephant seals, white sharks, leatherback turtles, squid, albatross and sooty shearwaters.
