Every winter, about 500,000 gray seals collect on a distant sandbar referred to as Sable Island. Located 200 miles off the coast of Nova Scotia, the seals collect right here to relaxation, molt, give delivery to their pups, and breed. While they don’t face many predators on the island, they do mingle with some wild horses which have roamed free on the island for years.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) marine biologist Michelle Shero and colleagues are at present spending a number of weeks learning these pinnipeds. They are learning how a lot iron the mom seals get of their diets and how that impacts the pup’s diving capability and survival charges. The inhabitants of gray seals on Sable Island has exploded in current a long time, however roughly 90 p.c of pups die throughout their first yr. The workforce believes that it’s due to an elevated competitors for meals.
Check out some photos of the work beneath:
Shero is working with the Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and her analysis is funded by the National Science Foundation in partnership with Texas Tech University and the University of Alaska.