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Vulnerability of harbour seals, Phoca vitulina, to transient industrial activities in the Strait of Dover

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2005

Laurent J.J. Seuront  and
Perrine Prinzivalli
Laurent J.J. Seuront
Affiliation:
Ecosystem Complexity Research Group, Station Marine de Wimereux, CNRS UMR 8013 ELICO, Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille, 28 avenue Foch, F-62930 Wimereux, France School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide 5001, Australia Coordination Mammologique du Nord de la France, Groupe Mammifères Marins, Maison des Associations, 864 rue Robelin, 62730 Hemmes de Marck, France
Perrine Prinzivalli
Affiliation:
Coordination Mammologique du Nord de la France, Groupe Mammifères Marins, Maison des Associations, 864 rue Robelin, 62730 Hemmes de Marck, France
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Abstract

The abundance of the harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) was recorded on a tidal bar in the Dover Strait off Calais, over a six-year period between 1999 and 2004. Despite clear seasonal and interannual variability in the number of individuals hauled out on the bar, underwater activities devoted to the installation of industrial wastewater pipes conducted during seven weeks 1 km away from the bar led to a dramatic decline in the number of seals hauling out. A full 19 months after the end of the operations the harbour seal population had not recovered their initial abundance. The results of this study have critical consequences on the conservation of P. vitulina in areas impacted by anthropogenic activities.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 85 , Issue 4 , August 2005 , pp. 1015 - 1016
Copyright
2005 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

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