Meeting Abstract
The tracking of marine mammals with electronic devices enables researchers to gain a better understanding of their movements and at-sea behavior, thereby facilitating conservation efforts. In pinnipeds (seals and sea lions), electronic instruments are typically glued to the animal’s fur, either directly to the pelage or on a neoprene patch. When instruments are recovered for data collection, they are retrieved either by cutting the fur or by cutting through the neoprene patch and leaving the bottom layer of neoprene attached to the animal. It is thought that the cut fur will be restored or the neoprene patch shed during the molt, but this has never been explicitly investigated. This study examined the effects of instrument attachment and retrieval on thermoregulation in northern fur seals. Northern fur seals rely primarily on their fur for insulation in water, and are thus ideal for determining the long term impacts of instrumentation on pelage function and recovery. To assess the thermoregulatory consequences of instrumentation, we measured the thermal conductivity of northern fur seal pelts in water for (a) instruments glued directly to the fur (N=30) and (b) instruments glued to the fur with a neoprene base (N=30). For each attachment method, we measured the thermal conductivity of the pelt (a) unmodified, (b) with instrument attached, and (c) with instrument removed. Using a hyperbaric chamber, we also measured the extent to which water is able to penetrate the air layer during diving, for both unmodified and modified pelts. This is the first study to measure the thermoregulatory consequences of instrumentation in fur seals and will help determine which method of instrument attachment best minimizes those consequences.
