|
Over the past three decades, the Steller sea lion has suffered a mysterious population crash throughout its range in the
Gulf of Alaska
and
Bering Sea
. The causes of the population crash are suspected to involve a dwindling prey base, but remain elusive due to the difficulty of obtaining basic biological information. We are using a combination of diet and stress hormone analyses of feces to determine the season that poses the greatest risk to sea lions, as well as why some populations are declining while others remain stable.
Validation studies demonstrated that physiological stress is accurately reflected by glucocorticoid hormones in sea lion feces. (Hunt, K.E., A.W. Trites and S.K. Wasser. 2004. Validation of a fecal glucocorticoid assay for Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus). Physiology and Behavior 80:595-601.) We then found that stress hormones were significantly lower in winter versus summer scats from sea lion haul-outs in over a dozen locations in
SE Alaska
and the
Aleutian Islands
. The association of these results to dietary changes indicated from those same samples is still under investigation.
We have also added thyroid hormone measures to the above analyses, recently validated by our Center for Steller sea lions. The combined T3 and glucocorticoid hormone measures provide a reliable signal of nutritional stress. Animals reduce thyroid hormone under nutritional stress to reduce metabolism, making their body more efficient at storing energy. Low thyroid hormone levels thus reflect nutritional stress, implying reduced food availability. (Glucocorticoid hormones also tend to be elevated under these circumstances, as the animal tries to increase low levels of circulating glucose associated nutritional stress.)
We are continuing to collect sea lion fecal samples from haul-outs across the Steller's range, from
Alaska
to
Siberia
. Fecal T3 and glucocorticoid hormone data from these samples are being used to assess how food quality and other environmental factors are linked to increased physiologic stress, decreased reproduction and population stabilization. Hopefully, these data will improve our understanding of how best to mitigate causes of the Steller sea lion’s continued decline. This research is being conducted in collaboration with Dr. Andrew Trites of the
University
of
British Columbia
, with support from the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Funding was provided by NOAA to the North Pacific Universities Marine Mammal Research Consortium through the North Pacific Marine Science Foundation
|
