Site use and connectivity of female grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) around Wales

Izzy Langley; Tobias Vasco Rosas Da Costa Oliver; Lex Hiby; Thomas  Stringell; Ceri Morris; Oliver O'Cahdla; Lisa Morgan; Kate Lock; Sarah  Perry; Stephen  Westcott; Dave Boyle; Birgitta Beuche; Edward Stubbings; Rebecca Boys; Holly Self; Charles Lindenbaum; Powell Strong; Mick Baines; Patrick Pomeroy

doi:10.1007/s00227-020-03697-8

Site use and connectivity of female grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) around Wales

Izzy Langley, Tobias Vasco Rosas Da Costa Oliver, Lex Hiby, Thomas Stringell, Ceri Morris, Oliver O'Cahdla, Lisa Morgan, Kate Lock, Sarah Perry, Stephen Westcott, Dave Boyle, Birgitta Beuche, Edward Stubbings, Rebecca Boys, Holly Self, Charles Lindenbaum, Powell Strong, Mick Baines, Patrick Pomeroy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) are a qualifying feature of three special areas of conservation (SACs) in Wales, yet relatively little is known of their site use along this coastline. Since 1992, many individuals and organisations have contributed to a grey seal photographic identification database held by Natural Resources Wales, which is one of the largest and oldest of its kind, providing key information from grey seal haul-out sites around the Celtic and Irish Seas. Here, we investigated spatial connectivity of haul-out sites and fidelity of adult females to breeding sites. The minimum number of adult female grey seals using the area between 1992 and 2016 was 2688. Individual capture histories and relative spatial transition probabilities (P_ij) between pairs of location groups were calculated. Adjacent locations were highly connected (e.g. Lleyn Peninsula and Bardsey, P_ij = 0.7) but connections spanned the entire region, up to 230 km apart (e.g. Skomer and Dee Estuary, P_ij = 0.004). Resights were recorded within SACs (e.g. Lleyn Peninsula and Bardsey [Lleyn Peninsula and the Sarnau SAC], P_ij = 0.7), between SACs (e.g. Bardsey and Skomer [Pembrokeshire Marine], P_ij = 0.03), between SACs and non-designated areas (e.g. Skerries and Bardsey, P_ij = 0.09) and between sites outside any protected area (e.g. Dee Estuary and Anglesey, P_ij = 0.5). While inter-annual fidelity to breeding sites was high (P_ij = 0.82–1), individual female grey seals moved throughout the region. This evidence of extensive site use beyond protected areas is important for the management and conservation of grey seals around Wales.

Original language	English
Article number	86
Number of pages	15
Journal	Marine Biology
Volume	167
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-020-03697-8
Publication status	Published - 30 May 2020

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Copyright © The Author(s) 2020. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Final published version, 1.6 MBLicence: CC BY

Seal Photo ID Studies: Realizing the potential of population information from seal photo ID studies
Pomeroy, P. (PI)
NERC
1/04/09 → 30/11/12
Project: Standard

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Langley, I., Rosas Da Costa Oliver, T. V., Hiby, L., Stringell, T., Morris, C., O'Cahdla, O., Morgan, L., Lock, K., Perry, S., Westcott, S., Boyle, D., Beuche, B., Stubbings, E., Boys, R., Self, H., Lindenbaum, C., Strong, P., Baines, M., & Pomeroy, P. (2020). Site use and connectivity of female grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) around Wales. Marine Biology, 167, Article 86. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-020-03697-8

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title = "Site use and connectivity of female grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) around Wales",

abstract = "Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) are a qualifying feature of three special areas of conservation (SACs) in Wales, yet relatively little is known of their site use along this coastline. Since 1992, many individuals and organisations have contributed to a grey seal photographic identification database held by Natural Resources Wales, which is one of the largest and oldest of its kind, providing key information from grey seal haul-out sites around the Celtic and Irish Seas. Here, we investigated spatial connectivity of haul-out sites and fidelity of adult females to breeding sites. The minimum number of adult female grey seals using the area between 1992 and 2016 was 2688. Individual capture histories and relative spatial transition probabilities (Pij) between pairs of location groups were calculated. Adjacent locations were highly connected (e.g. Lleyn Peninsula and Bardsey, Pij = 0.7) but connections spanned the entire region, up to 230 km apart (e.g. Skomer and Dee Estuary, Pij = 0.004). Resights were recorded within SACs (e.g. Lleyn Peninsula and Bardsey [Lleyn Peninsula and the Sarnau SAC], Pij = 0.7), between SACs (e.g. Bardsey and Skomer [Pembrokeshire Marine], Pij = 0.03), between SACs and non-designated areas (e.g. Skerries and Bardsey, Pij = 0.09) and between sites outside any protected area (e.g. Dee Estuary and Anglesey, Pij = 0.5). While inter-annual fidelity to breeding sites was high (Pij = 0.82–1), individual female grey seals moved throughout the region. This evidence of extensive site use beyond protected areas is important for the management and conservation of grey seals around Wales.",

author = "Izzy Langley and {Rosas Da Costa Oliver}, {Tobias Vasco} and Lex Hiby and Thomas Stringell and Ceri Morris and Oliver O'Cahdla and Lisa Morgan and Kate Lock and Sarah Perry and Stephen Westcott and Dave Boyle and Birgitta Beuche and Edward Stubbings and Rebecca Boys and Holly Self and Charles Lindenbaum and Powell Strong and Mick Baines and Patrick Pomeroy",

note = "The UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) provided core funding to the Sea Mammal Research Unit during this work and NERC Grant No. NE/G008930/1 to PP and LH to develop photo-ID use for grey seals. The Esm{\'e}e Fairbairn Foundation provided additional funding to PP and LH for photo-ID work with grey seals. NRW funded survey work by MB, LM, SW and PS; contracted LH for survey design, software development and data management; IL and PP for work related to the production of this manuscript.",

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doi = "10.1007/s00227-020-03697-8",

language = "English",

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journal = "Marine Biology",

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Langley, I, Rosas Da Costa Oliver, TV, Hiby, L, Stringell, T, Morris, C, O'Cahdla, O, Morgan, L, Lock, K, Perry, S, Westcott, S, Boyle, D, Beuche, B, Stubbings, E, Boys, R, Self, H, Lindenbaum, C, Strong, P, Baines, M & Pomeroy, P 2020, 'Site use and connectivity of female grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) around Wales', Marine Biology, vol. 167, 86. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-020-03697-8

TY - JOUR

T1 - Site use and connectivity of female grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) around Wales

AU - Langley, Izzy

AU - Rosas Da Costa Oliver, Tobias Vasco

AU - Hiby, Lex

AU - Stringell, Thomas

AU - Morris, Ceri

AU - O'Cahdla, Oliver

AU - Morgan, Lisa

AU - Lock, Kate

AU - Perry, Sarah

AU - Westcott, Stephen

AU - Boyle, Dave

AU - Beuche, Birgitta

AU - Stubbings, Edward

AU - Boys, Rebecca

AU - Self, Holly

AU - Lindenbaum, Charles

AU - Strong, Powell

AU - Baines, Mick

AU - Pomeroy, Patrick

N1 - The UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) provided core funding to the Sea Mammal Research Unit during this work and NERC Grant No. NE/G008930/1 to PP and LH to develop photo-ID use for grey seals. The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation provided additional funding to PP and LH for photo-ID work with grey seals. NRW funded survey work by MB, LM, SW and PS; contracted LH for survey design, software development and data management; IL and PP for work related to the production of this manuscript.

PY - 2020/5/30

Y1 - 2020/5/30

N2 - Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) are a qualifying feature of three special areas of conservation (SACs) in Wales, yet relatively little is known of their site use along this coastline. Since 1992, many individuals and organisations have contributed to a grey seal photographic identification database held by Natural Resources Wales, which is one of the largest and oldest of its kind, providing key information from grey seal haul-out sites around the Celtic and Irish Seas. Here, we investigated spatial connectivity of haul-out sites and fidelity of adult females to breeding sites. The minimum number of adult female grey seals using the area between 1992 and 2016 was 2688. Individual capture histories and relative spatial transition probabilities (Pij) between pairs of location groups were calculated. Adjacent locations were highly connected (e.g. Lleyn Peninsula and Bardsey, Pij = 0.7) but connections spanned the entire region, up to 230 km apart (e.g. Skomer and Dee Estuary, Pij = 0.004). Resights were recorded within SACs (e.g. Lleyn Peninsula and Bardsey [Lleyn Peninsula and the Sarnau SAC], Pij = 0.7), between SACs (e.g. Bardsey and Skomer [Pembrokeshire Marine], Pij = 0.03), between SACs and non-designated areas (e.g. Skerries and Bardsey, Pij = 0.09) and between sites outside any protected area (e.g. Dee Estuary and Anglesey, Pij = 0.5). While inter-annual fidelity to breeding sites was high (Pij = 0.82–1), individual female grey seals moved throughout the region. This evidence of extensive site use beyond protected areas is important for the management and conservation of grey seals around Wales.

AB - Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) are a qualifying feature of three special areas of conservation (SACs) in Wales, yet relatively little is known of their site use along this coastline. Since 1992, many individuals and organisations have contributed to a grey seal photographic identification database held by Natural Resources Wales, which is one of the largest and oldest of its kind, providing key information from grey seal haul-out sites around the Celtic and Irish Seas. Here, we investigated spatial connectivity of haul-out sites and fidelity of adult females to breeding sites. The minimum number of adult female grey seals using the area between 1992 and 2016 was 2688. Individual capture histories and relative spatial transition probabilities (Pij) between pairs of location groups were calculated. Adjacent locations were highly connected (e.g. Lleyn Peninsula and Bardsey, Pij = 0.7) but connections spanned the entire region, up to 230 km apart (e.g. Skomer and Dee Estuary, Pij = 0.004). Resights were recorded within SACs (e.g. Lleyn Peninsula and Bardsey [Lleyn Peninsula and the Sarnau SAC], Pij = 0.7), between SACs (e.g. Bardsey and Skomer [Pembrokeshire Marine], Pij = 0.03), between SACs and non-designated areas (e.g. Skerries and Bardsey, Pij = 0.09) and between sites outside any protected area (e.g. Dee Estuary and Anglesey, Pij = 0.5). While inter-annual fidelity to breeding sites was high (Pij = 0.82–1), individual female grey seals moved throughout the region. This evidence of extensive site use beyond protected areas is important for the management and conservation of grey seals around Wales.

U2 - 10.1007/s00227-020-03697-8

DO - 10.1007/s00227-020-03697-8

M3 - Article

SN - 0025-3162

VL - 167

JO - Marine Biology

JF - Marine Biology

M1 - 86

ER -

Site use and connectivity of female grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) around Wales

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Seal Photo ID Studies: Realizing the potential of population information from seal photo ID studies

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