Interannual changes in pack ice properties in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and their effect on harp seal pup mortality

No abstracts are to be cited without prior reference to the author.

Sea ice is an important component of the harp seal habitat. A stable ice platform is required for whelping and nursing, and for the young seals before they enter the water and feed independently. The survival of the pack ice for the required period after seal birth (at least 4 weeks (DFO, 2007)) depends on weather conditions that alter between years and may permanently alter due to global warming. Little is known about the vulnerability, sensitivity or adaptive capacity of ice-breeding seals to perturbations of their habitat. Changes in the pack ice evolution and the timing or geographic distributions of seals, perhaps induced by climate change, could strongly influence their natural mortality.