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1. Workflow for Understanding the Phenotypic Characteristics of Seals by Epigenetic Analysis

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3569951.3597584  

   Ghaffari, N ; Venkatesh, S ; Nazara, R ; Oladejo, O ; Venugopal, R P ; Gaughran, S J. ; Vonholdt, B M. ( July 2023 , ACM)
2. Projected shifts in the foraging habitat of crabeater seals along the Antarctic Peninsula

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0745-9  

   Hückstädt, Luis A. ; Piñones, Andrea ; Palacios, Daniel M. ; McDonald, Birgitte I. ; Dinniman, Michael S. ; Hofmann, Eileen E. ; Burns, Jennifer M. ; Crocker, Daniel E. ; Costa, Daniel P. ( May 2020 , Nature Climate Change)
3. Further evidence that Antarctic toothfish are important to Weddell seals

   https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102020000437  

   Ainley, David G. ; Cziko, Paul A. ; Nur, Nadav ; Rotella, Jay J. ; Eastman, Joseph T. ; Larue, Michelle ; Stirling, Ian ; Abrams, Peter A. ( September 2020 , Antarctic Science)

   null (Ed.)

   Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni) and Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) are important mesopredators in the waters of the Antarctic continental shelf. They compete with each other for prey, yet the seals also prey upon toothfish. Such intraguild predation means that prevalence and respective demographic rates may be negatively correlated, but quantification is lacking. Following a review of their natural histories, we initiate an approach to address this deficiency by analysing scientific fishing catch per unit effort (CPUE; 1975–2011 plus sporadic effort to 2018) in conjunction with an annual index of seal abundance in McMurdo Sound, Ross Sea. We correlated annual variation in scientific CPUE to seal numbers over a 43 year period (1975–2018), complementing an earlier study in the same locality showing CPUE to be negatively correlated with spatial proximity to abundant seals. The observed relationship (more seals with lower CPUE, while controlling for annual trends in each) indicates the importance of toothfish as a dietary item to Weddell seals and highlights the probable importance of intra- and inter-specific competition as well as intraguild predation in seal-toothfish dynamics. Ultimately, it may be necessary to supplement fishery management with targeted ecosystem monitoring to prevent the fishery from having adverse effects on dependent species. 

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4. The relationship between sea ice concentration and the spatio-temporal distribution of vocalizing bearded seals ( Erignathus barbatus ) in the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas from 2008 to 2011

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2015.05.008  

   MacIntyre, Kalyn Q. ; Stafford, Kathleen M. ; Conn, Paul B. ; Laidre, Kristin L ; Boveng, Peter L. ( August 2015 , Progress in Oceanography)
5. From sea ice to seals: a moored marine ecosystem observatory in the Arctic

   https://doi.org/10.5194/os-14-1423-2018  

   Hauri, Claudine ; Danielson, Seth ; McDonnell, Andrew M. ; Hopcroft, Russell R. ; Winsor, Peter ; Shipton, Peter ; Lalande, Catherine ; Stafford, Kathleen M. ; Horne, John K. ; Cooper, Lee W. ; et al ( January 2018 , Ocean Science)

   Abstract. Although Arctic marine ecosystems are changing rapidly,year-round monitoring is currently very limited and presents multiplechallenges unique to this region. The Chukchi Ecosystem Observatory (CEO)described here uses new sensor technologies to meet needs for continuous,high-resolution, and year-round observations across all levels of theecosystem in the biologically productive and seasonally ice-covered ChukchiSea off the northwest coast of Alaska. This mooring array records a broadsuite of variables that facilitate observations, yielding betterunderstanding of physical, chemical, and biological couplings, phenologies,and the overall state of this Arctic shelf marine ecosystem. While coldtemperatures and 8 months of sea ice cover present challenging conditions forthe operation of the CEO, this extreme environment also serves as a rigoroustest bed for innovative ecosystem monitoring strategies. Here, we presentdata from the 2015–2016 CEO deployments that provide new perspectives on theseasonal evolution of sea ice, water column structure, and physicalproperties, annual cycles in nitrate, dissolved oxygen, phytoplankton blooms,and export, zooplankton abundance and vertical migration, the occurrence ofArctic cod, and vocalizations of marine mammals such as bearded seals. Theseintegrated ecosystem observations are being combined with ship-basedobservations and modeling to produce a time series that documents biologicalcommunity responses to changing seasonal sea ice and water temperatures whileestablishing a scientific basis for ecosystem management.

    

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