Marine Mammal Ecology

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Marine Mammal Ecology

• Ecology An attempt to describe and explain the
  patterns of distribution and abundance of
  organisms. These patterns reflect the history of
  complex interactions with other organisms as well
  as the environment.
• Marine mammal ecology is had to get data on.
• Marine mammals live in the ocean, which makes
  everything harder
• Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits many
  techniques typically used to study animals

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Marine Mammal Ecology

• Distribution Ecology attempts to explain the
  restricted and generally patchy distribution of
  species
• Marine mammals inhabit almost all marine
  environments, including estuarine and even
  freshwater

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Fig. 45-1, p.800
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clumped
nearly uniform
random
Fig. 45-2a, p.802
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Fig. 45-2b, p.802
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Fig. 45-2c, p.802
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Factors affecting the distribution of marine
mammals

• Habitat
• Biology including productivity (food)
• The distribution of predators
• Demography of population
• Size
• Sex ratios
• Age
• Reproduction
• Species Adaptation Morpholigical, Physiological,
  Behavioral
• Human effects Disturbances, Pollution

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Fig. 45-17a, p.815
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Fig. 45-17b, p.815
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Fig. 45-18, p.815
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Methods to study Marine Mammal Distributions

• Surveys Counting who is where when
• Shore based, especially with pinnipeds
• Ship based, more common with cetaceans
• Telemetry Radio tags
• Use VHF radio waves to keep track of the animals
• Also link the tags to satellites, which only
  works when the animal is at the surface
• Seasonal Movements
• Migratory- Many marine mammals move seasonally in
  order to take advantage of seasonally abundant
  food sources
• Non Migratory
• Dispersal movement of an individual from its
  birth place to subsequent breeding ground

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Radio Telemetry
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Pinnipeds

• Must periodically leave the sea in order to
  breed, birth or molt
• Either land on shore or ice
• Changes in the ice pack will definitely alter
  their distribution
• Great variability in seasonal distribution among
  the families.
• It seems that phocids tend to be more migratory