Research Document - 2007/084

Pup production of Northwest Atlantic grey seals in the gulf of St. Lawrence and along the Nova Scotia Eastern Shore

By Hammill, M.O., J.W. Lawson, G.B. Stenson and D. Lidgard

Abstract

In the Gulf component of the Northwest Atlantic grey seal population animals are born on the pack ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence as well as on small islands in the Gulf and along the east coast of Nova Scotia. In 2007, visual strip transect surveys were flown over the whelping patches on the ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and counts were completed at islands in the Gulf and along the Nova Scotia Eastern Shore. Aerial searches for grey seal pups were also conducted along the south and southwest coasts of Newfoundland and Anticosti Island. Where possible counts were corrected for the proportion of pupping completed when the survey was completed. Changes in age specific durations resulted in a 17% change in pup production estimates. Total pup production, rounded to the nearest thousand is estimated to be 13,000 (SE=600) animals. The proportion of pups born on the ice has declined from over 95% in the mid-1980s to about 30% in 2007.

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