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This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0023_01D09887.AD8CB0F0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Ken McKenna Box 218 Stellarton NS B0K 1S0 902 752-7644 On May 7, 2015, I was surveying the beach at Big Island in Pictou County = for Piping Plovers. I had just seen a single bird on the beach when I = saw a raven leaving the beach a few hundred meters to the east. I did = not want predators in the area so went to look to see what was = attracting the bird. It was a young seal carcass with what looked like a = bullet hole. It was reasonably freshly dead or maybe had been trapped in = ice and recently free and I decided to pull it out into the water to see = if it would be carried out with the tide. I flipped the seal over doing = this and noted it was branded with this info: 9R2.=20 After contacting several people, I finally got the name Dr Mike Hammill = a pinniped research scientist from DFO at the Maurice Lamontagne = Institute in Mont-Joli QC. He indicated the Gray Seal was branded on = nearby Pictou Island in February, 2015. He noted the branding program = was designed to follow the animals through their lives. He indicated not = much would be seen of them for the first 4 years but when they start = reproducing they show up on a regular basis on breeding colonies. When = this occurs, they are able to estimate survival rate between birth and = first breeding as well as survival rates after that as part of the = population monitoring program. He said only 40-50% of pups born survive = to age 5. Ten years ago 60-670 % survived to that age.He felt that most = of the mortality would occur in the first year but the difference now is = that the population has increased so much that juvenile mortality has = probably gone up as a density-dependent response due to increased = completion for food- the young ones have a harder time- or like this one = met a different fate ( my comment)=20 Just thought I would pass it on in case someone has an interest.=20 By the way, the seal seemed to disappear and I did not see it in = subsequent visits. ------=_NextPart_000_0023_01D09887.AD8CB0F0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" = http-equiv=3DContent-Type> <META name=3DGENERATOR content=3D"MSHTML 8.00.6001.23588"> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>Ken McKenna<BR>Box 218 Stellarton = NS<BR>B0K=20 1S0<BR>902 752-7644<BR></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>On May 7, 2015, I was surveying the = beach at Big=20 Island in Pictou County for Piping Plovers. I had just seen a single = bird on the=20 beach when I saw a raven leaving the beach a few hundred meters to = the=20 east. I did not want predators in the area so went to look to see what = was=20 attracting the bird. It was a young seal carcass with what looked = like a=20 bullet hole. It was reasonably freshly dead or maybe had been trapped in = ice and=20 recently free and I decided to pull it out into the water to see if = it=20 would be carried out with the tide. I flipped the seal over doing = this and=20 noted it was branded with this info: 9R2. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>After contacting several people, I = finally got the=20 name Dr Mike Hammill a pinniped research scientist from DFO at the = Maurice=20 Lamontagne Institute in Mont-Joli QC. He indicated the Gray Seal was = branded on=20 nearby Pictou Island in February, 2015. He noted the branding program = was=20 designed to follow the animals through their lives. He indicated not = much would=20 be seen of them for the first 4 years but when they start reproducing = they show=20 up on a regular basis on breeding colonies. When this occurs, they are = able to=20 estimate survival rate between birth and first breeding as well as = survival=20 rates after that as part of the population monitoring program. He said = only=20 40-50% of pups born survive to age 5. Ten years ago 60-670 % survived to = that=20 age.He felt that most of the mortality would occur in the first year but = the=20 difference now is that the population has increased so much that = juvenile=20 mortality has probably gone up as a density-dependent response due to = increased=20 completion for food- the young ones have a harder time- or like this one = met=20 a different fate ( my comment) </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>Just thought I would pass it on in case = someone has=20 an interest. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>By the way, the seal seemed to = disappear and I did=20 not see it in subsequent visits. </DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML> ------=_NextPart_000_0023_01D09887.AD8CB0F0--
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