Tropical Pinnipeds: Bio-Ecology, Threats and Conservation

Summary

Pinnipeds are a fascinating group of marine mammals that play a crucial role as apex predators and sentinels of the functioning and health of marine ecosystems. They are found in the most extreme environments from the Polar regions to the tropics. Pinnipeds are comprised of about 34 species, and of those at least 25% live permanently in tropical zones. This book reviews and updates current research on the biology, marine ecology, bio-monitoring, and conservation of tropical pinniped populations, including their behavior, anthropogenic stressors, and health. It also looks at challenges to be faced for the conservation of tropical pinnipeds, many of which are threatened species.

Table of Contents

Introduction to Tropical and Subtropical Pinnipeds
Juan José Alava and David Aurioles-Gamboa

An Overview on the Evolutionary History of Tropical Pinnipeds
Carlos A. Vildoso Morales

Variability in the Skull Morphology of Adult Male California Sea Lions and Galapagos Sea Lions
Jimena Bohórquez-Herrera, David Aurioles-Gamboa, Claudia Hernández-Camacho and Dean C. Adams

Hawaiian Monk Seals: The Biology and Ecology of the World’s only Tropical Phocid
Charles Littnan,Michelle Barbieri, Jessica Lopez Bohlander, Tenaya Norris and Stacie Robinson

Hawaiian Monk Seal Conservation: Past, Present and Future
Charles Littnan, Michelle Barbieri, Jessica Lopez Bohlander, Tenaya Norris and Stacie Robinson

Guadalupe Fur Seal Population Expansion and its Post-Breeding Male Migration to the Gulf of Ulloa, México.
David Aurioles-Gamboa, Nereyda Pablo-Rodríguez, M. Patricia Rosas-Hernández, and Claudia J. Hernández-Camacho

Population Status, Anthropogenic Stressors and Conservation of the Galapagos Fur Seal (Arctocephalusgalapagoensis): An Overview
Juan José Alava, Judith Denkinger, Pedro J. Jiménez and Raúl Carvajal

Diving Physiology, Foraging and Reproductive Behavior of the Galapagos Sea Lion (Zalophus wollebaeki)
Stella Villegas-Amtmann and Daniel P. Costa

Management Strategies and Conservation Status of Galapagos Sea Lion Populations at San Cristobal Island, Galapagos, Ecuador
Diego Páez-Rosas and Nataly Guevara

Population Ecology, Trends and Distribution of the Juan Fernandez Fur Seal, Arctocephalus philippii (Peters 1866) in Chile
Layla P. Osman and Carlos A. Moreno

Population Ecology and Conservation Status of the South American Sea Lion in Uruguay
Valentina Franco-Trecu, Massimiliano Drago, Diana Szteren and Federico G. Riet-Sapriza

Ecology and Conservation Status of the South American Fur Seal in Uruguay
Valentina Franco-Trecu

The Uncertain Fate of the Endangered Mediterranean Monk Seal Monachus monachus in the 21^st Century: Population, Ecology and Conservation Threats
Panagiotis Dendrinos and Alexandros A. Karamanlidis

Bioecology and Conservation Threats of the Cape Fur Seal Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus
G. J. Greg Hofmeyr

Emerging Pathogens and Health Issues in the 21st Century: A Challenge for Tropical and Subtropical Pinnipeds
Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse and Luis A. Soto-García

Pathologies of Pinnipeds in Brazil
Paula Baldassin, Derek Blaese de Amorim, Max R. Werneck and Daniela Bueno Mariani