Do Rogue Seals Really exist?

I ntroduction
The history of rogue seals is the conflict between people and large carnivores. The
problem is often focused on selective removal of the seals. There has been debate dating back
from as early as 1995 regarding the problem of rogue seals. The most recent of studies
regarding the removal date to 2008 Mackey et al.; Thompson & Wheeler. Goodrich & Buskirk
argued, proposing the selective removal of the of rogue individuals. In 1999 a scientist of the
name Linnell thought that seals in rivers may be considered type one individuals. The
researchers chose this subject because the management of predator prey systems is complex
when the species involved mainly the seals are economically or socially valuable and/or are
protected under the law. The debate is over the impact of predation by the seals and sea lions on
the population of fisheries for both the Atlantic and Pacific, many of which are endangered. The
problem of individual management is relevant to science and its aquatic systems. If efforts are
focused on controlling seals in rivers it may provide the best protection for salmon conservation,
which is vital to both predator and prey in the area and concern regarding conservation. The
information they are trying to gather is the average number of seals sighted most frequently
closest to the river mouth where it crosses. The researchers are trying to determine if rogue seals
exist, and if so whether they are a threat to conservation efforts. This topic is of value because
seals are endangered and if they are killed to preserve the salmon population, seals will cease to
exist. It is important to the world because humans should do all we can to protect endangered
species like seals. Society benefits from this information knowing that rogue seals may exist and
if they do could affect conservation effort for seals. The occurrence of salmon and trout DNA in
seal diet samples collected in rivers and estuaries to test the assumption that seals present in
rivers eat more salmon than those present in estuaries was the scientists goal.
Materials and Methods
They did river surveys, photo identification, collection of digestive tract samples and DNA
analysis, and data analysis. They measured the amount of DNA of the salmon and trout. The
presents of DNA in salmon and trout were determined using the qPCR techniques described in
Matejusova et al.(2008). . Dating back to March 2005 to Feb 2008 data was collected in three
rivers showing that a small percent of the population which comprised of individual seals that
specialize in suing rivers. The average number of seals was gathered over 4 surveys on 3 rivers
each month for ten months. They then calculated a three month rolling average of the number of
seals sighted for each survey. They also tried to photo ID seals observed in the rivers during the
surveys. They did this using a cannon EOS 20D digital camera. They counted only one
photograph of each individual each day. They then collected digestive tract samples from
harbour and gray seals and analyzed the DNA to determine if the seals were consuming salmon,
and if so how much. Researchers then tried to analyze the data collected.
Results
In the rivers, the Grey seals abundance differs intra-annually in all three rivers tested.
The Grey seals were most abundant between November and February. During winter Grey seals
were more frequent than harbour seals. The harbour seal abundance differs to a lesser extent.
Photo identification showed that grey seals were re-sighted for both left and right side images
more often than harbour seals. The DNA analysis showed that a higher percentage of samples
collected from rivers had both salmon and trout DNA than the samples on the coasts. In August
200, a Cystophora crista was observed in the Conon River. In December 2005, a one ringed
seal was sighted in the Kyle Of Sutherland. In the river surveys, the Conon and Kyle of
Sutherland showed an increase in harbour seal abundance during the summer. The DNA
analysis provided that there was no difference between prey species in the probability of a
positive test.
Discussion
The information supported that the occurrence of salmon are more popular in the diet of
seals in rivers than those in coastal sites. The information gathered shows evidence the best way
to protect salmon conservation is to focus on controlling seals in rivers. A majority of Grey
Seals and Harbour Seals were seen in at least two years of the study. This supports the idea that
grey and harbour seals specialize in using rivers. In order to define, identify, and control
problem individuals better, it would involve the extent of their river use. The definition of a type
one problem individual concurs with Linnel. (Linnel, et al.s, 1999) They should have
considered that the number of captures might be low which would make it difficult to calculate
the amount of each species using rivers. The whole population was big enough to collect enough
data for the experiment. It might have helped if they tested more breeds of seals rather than two
(harbour and grey).


Bibliography
http://biology1615.weebly.com/uploads/5/5/4/8/5548644/rogue_seals.pdf