ISSN:
1432-136X
Keywords:
Growth
;
Body composition
;
Activity budget
;
Energy consumption
;
Ringed seal (Phoca hispida) pups
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Notes:
Abstract Measurements of growth, activity and energy consumption and estimates of milk intake were made in free-living, nursing ringed seal (Phoca hispida) pups. This was accomplished through the simultaneous use of time-depth recorders and the doubly labelled water technique. The pups spent an average of 52±7% of their time hauled out on the ice, 37±5% of the time in the water at the surface, and 11±5% of the time diving. Average daily mass gain of the pups (n=3) throughout the duration of the study period was 0.35±0.08 kg. The composition of the mass gain was 76% fat, 6% protein and 18% water. The total water flux was measured to be 52±10 ml·kg-1·day-1. Average CO2 production was 0.85±0.16 ml·g-1·h-1, corresponding to a field metabolic rate of 0.55±0.10 MJ·kg-1·day-1, or 3.8±0.6 times the predicted basal metabolic rate based on body size (Kleiber 1975). Average daily milk intake was estimated to be 1379±390 ml. The field metabolic rate for the different components of seal pup activity budgets were calculated to be FMRhaul out=1.34 BMR, FMRsurface=6.44 BMR, and FMRdiving=5.88 BMR.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00346926
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