Development of an altricial mammal at sea: I. Activity budgets of female sea otters and their pups in Simpson Bay, Alaska

Cortez, Michelle; Wolt, Ryan C.; Gelwick, Frances P.; Osterrieder, Sylvia K.; Davis, Randall W.

doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2015.05.020

Cited by 17 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Similar to other marine mammals, the time calves spent resting decreased as they matured and they became more active, while mothers spent more time foraging (e.g. Kovacs, 1987;Cortez et al, 2016). Of interest is that the extensive time periods spent in resting and nursing states reflect times that the whales are at the surface or just subsurface.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementing conservation measures for the North Atlantic right whale: considering the behavioral ontogeny of mother‐calf pairs

Cusano

Conger

Parijs

et al. 2018

Animal Conservation

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Understanding the behavioral ecology of a species is fundamental to effective conservation and management efforts. This study quantifies the behavioral ontogeny of North Atlantic right whale mother-calf pairs from birth to weaning spanning three critical habitat areas off the eastern coast of the United States and Canada. Data from 55 focal follows of 34 mother-calf pairs were collected from 2011 to 2015. Resting behaviors dominated the activity budgets for both mother and calf during the first 5 months, putting them at increased risk of vessel collisions. There was an increase in the proportion of active behaviors (travel, foraging, social activity) in both mother and calf as the calf matured. Importantly, the type of active behaviors, in particular surface skim feeding and surface active social behavior, meant that the risk of vessel collision to the pair did not decrease as the calf matured. Mother-calf right whale pairs showed very low calling rates on the calving grounds, suggesting that passive acoustic monitoring may not be an effective mitigation tool during the early months. However, calling rates increase once the pair leave the calving areas with both calf age and activity levels increasing, at which point passive acoustic monitoring becomes valuable. Protective measures need to take these rapid developmental changes throughout calf growth into account to improve the efficacy of protection measures for the endangered North Atlantic right whale and other species where behavioral ecology changes rapidly during maturation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementing conservation measures for the North Atlantic right whale: considering the behavioral ontogeny of mother‐calf pairs

Cusano

Conger

Parijs

et al. 2018

Animal Conservation

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“…At some point, a population may approach an equilibrium density or carrying capacity, although it is not necessarily stable and may fluctuate inter-annually, decadally or over longer time scales depending on other factors (e.g., disease, predation). Foraging effort (i.e., number of hours per day spent feeding) appears to be related to the status of the population relative to food availability across nearly all the sea otter's current range (Estes et al, 1986;Bodkin et al, 2007;Monson and Bowen, 2015;Coletti et al, 2016;Cortez et al, 2016). Foraging efforts of more than 10 h day −1 (>40% of daily activity budget) may indicate that a population is approaching an equilibrium density, although it depends on the productivity and prey availability of the habitat.…”

Section: Key Questions and Challenges For Future Research And Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, within most of the sea otter's range, shore counts are not possible due to restricted access. More typical are counts made from skiffs, larger vessels or aircraft in which detection probability is reduced relative to shore-based counts (however, see Cortez et al, 2016). Census methods produce counts that are biased low, to varying degrees, but may be suitably precise for monitoring trends over time assuming detection is relatively constant.…”

Section: Top Down Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sea otter pups are susceptible to predation by bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in areas where they co-occur (Sherrod et al, 1975;Anthony et al, 2008). The risk of eagle predation appears to have had behavioral effects on female sea otters, which tend to forage at night and employ other behaviors indicative of heightened vigilance when accompanied by newborn pups (Gelatt, 1996;Cortez et al, 2016). Other landbased predators that have been documented preying on sea otters include brown bears (Ursus arctos) on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, along the Alaska Peninsula, and on Kodiak Island (Bednykh et al, 1986;Monson and DeGange, 1995).…”

Section: Top Down Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Future Directions in Sea Otter Research and Management

et al. 2019

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The conservation and management of sea otters has benefited from a dedicated research effort over the past 60 years enabling this species to recover from a few thousand in the early 20th century to about 150,000 today. Continued research to allow full, pre-exploitation recovery and restoration of nearshore ecosystems should focus on at least seven key challenges: (1) Defining sea otter populations at smaller spatial scales that reflect this species' life history and dispersal patterns; (2) Understanding factors that regulate sea otter population density with a focus on index sites that are representative of the variety of littoral habitats occupied by sea otters around the North Pacific Rim;(3) Quantifying the effects of sea otters on the littoral community with a focus on how food availability limits population and ecosystem recovery and on predicting the effect of sea otter reoccupation on commercially valuable invertebrates; (4) Making sea otter monitoring programs comparable across geo-political boundaries through international collaboration to optimize survey efforts both spatially and temporally and to determine the cause of changes in sea otter demographics; (5) Evaluating the conservation benefits of sea otter reintroductions into historical habitat; (6) Assessing the socioeconomic costs and benefits of sea otter range expansion to anticipate and mitigate conflicts; (7) Recognizing in conservation and management plans that sea otters can be significantly affected by higher level predators in some circumstances. Many of these challenges will require new tools including the next generation geolocation tag technology that will allow assessments of long-range movements, dispersal and gene flow in various populations.

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“…S1). Notably, neonatal pups have dense natal fur and spend most of their time resting on the mother's abdomen, so there is little heat loss to water until the age of 1 month (24).…”

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confidence: 99%

Skeletal muscle thermogenesis enables aquatic life in the smallest marine mammal

Wright

Davis

Pearson

et al. 2021

Science

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Basal metabolic rate generally scales with body mass in mammals, and variation from predicted levels indicates adaptive metabolic remodeling. As a thermogenic adaptation for living in cool water, sea otters have a basal metabolic rate approximately three times that of the predicted rate; however, the tissue-level source of this hypermetabolism is unknown. Because skeletal muscle is a major determinant of whole-body metabolism, we characterized respiratory capacity and thermogenic leak in sea otter muscle. Compared with that of previously sampled mammals, thermogenic muscle leak capacity was elevated and could account for sea otter hypermetabolism. Muscle respiratory capacity was modestly elevated and reached adult levels in neonates. Premature metabolic development and high leak rate indicate that sea otter muscle metabolism is regulated by thermogenic demand and is the source of basal hypermetabolism.

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Development of an altricial mammal at sea: I. Activity budgets of female sea otters and their pups in Simpson Bay, Alaska

Cited by 17 publications

References 51 publications

Implementing conservation measures for the North Atlantic right whale: considering the behavioral ontogeny of mother‐calf pairs

Implementing conservation measures for the North Atlantic right whale: considering the behavioral ontogeny of mother‐calf pairs

Future Directions in Sea Otter Research and Management

Skeletal muscle thermogenesis enables aquatic life in the smallest marine mammal

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