Off-Island Northern Fur Seal Research Program

Consortium Researchers and the Vancouver Aquarium have worked together since 1993 to understand the population decline of Steller sea lions. This partnership and research program has created a world center of excellence for laboratory-based studies of marine mammals.

The success of the sea lion research program has led to the creation of the Off-Island Northern Fur Seal Research Program that seeks to determine why fur seals are declining in the North Pacific on the Pribilof Islands. Most of the world’s population of northern fur seals breeds in Alaska in summer and migrates and feeds along the west coast of North America in the spring. The Pribilof population declined by over 75% since the mid 1950s and have been declining at a rate of approximately 6% per year since 1998. They are listed as a depleted species under the US Marine Mammal Protection Act, and as a threatened species by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada — but the reason for their decline is unknown.

Six female fur seal pups have joined the Steller sea lions at the Vancouver Aquarium for this important research program. Researchers transferred the animals on a flight by PenAir from the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea to Vancouver, British Columbia. The pups will participate in long-term physiological studies critical to understanding their decline in the wild.

“We know their numbers are getting smaller and smaller each year, but we don’t have the data to determine why. Is their decline related to nutrition or is it associated with changes in the north Pacific as the oceans have become warmer?” asks Dr. Andrew Trites, Consortium Research Director. “We believe the six fur seal pups that have joined our Steller sea lions hold the key to unlocking this ecological mystery. The pups are vital to the conservation of fur seals and will participate in studies that can only be accomplished with trained animals in a controlled setting.”

The six female pups are now at the Vancouver Aquarium where they receive the highest-standards of veterinary care, husbandry and support. “All six pups have acclimated very well to their new surroundings”, notes Dr. Trites.  “They are active, grooming and interacting well with our researchers and marine mammal husbandry staff.  Everyone is very excited to have this unique opportunity to work so closely with such a rare and beautiful species.”

December 11, 2008