Report From Lead Project Scientist Dr. Jay Rotella:
Parker Levinson wrote and shared photos very recently of an older Weddell seal mom and her new daughter. Several of this mother’s features highlight some interesting aspects of the project.
The mom, who is wearing tags 8281A, is 31 years old and with her 19th pup. She was born in 1990. She was not seen in the study area when she was 1, 2, or 4 years old (which is very typical). She has been seen in the study area in every other year of her life including this year when she produced a daughter. This highlights one of the reasons we are able to learn so much from these animals. They are highly faithful to the site of their birth, and the work that our teams put in each season allows us to know when they produce pups or not.
This mom ties the current record for the oldest animal we’ve documented to date. We have only observed one other female that has lived to be 31 years of age and she too produced a pup at that age.
First Rare Old Mom Described In 2014.
This year’s 31-year-old is one of the most productive females in the project’s history: she has produced 6 daughters and 13 sons (the record is 22 pups by the 1st older mom). The current older mom had her 1st pup at age 8-years-old, which is very typical, and has only skipped pupping 5 times: in 2004 when she was 14, the mega-icebergs were in place, and pup production dropped to an all-time low (but she was present); in 2010 (20 yrs old); 2013 (23 yrs old); 2018 (28 yrs old); and 2019 (29 yrs old). This highlights just how many years it takes to learn about lifetime outcomes for these animals.
When thinking about our current project and its goals of learning about how maternal features might influence pup survival and recruitment prospects, it’s easy to see just how long things take. For example, it will be several years before we know if her daughter from 2021 survives or not; if she does survive, she likely would start producing her own pups in 2028 or 2029. If she survives as long as her mother has, she might still be in the study area in 2050 or beyond.
Another feature that stands out is the fact that 59 different people have entered records on this female between when she was born and today. This emphasizes how many people have been involved in the project over the decades, gained experience and training, and helped out in so many critical ways. The list includes nearly every MSU grad student that’s worked on the project: Gillian Hadley, Darren Ireland, Kelly Proffitt, Jen Mannas, Glenn Stauffer, Thierry Chambert, Terrill Paterson, Kaitlin Macdonald, Shane Petch, and now Parker Levinson and Victor Villalobos. Mike Cameron who was Don Siniff’s last Ph.D. student on the project and did so much to organize and digitize the database and implement the use of handheld field computers, also is one of the people who entered data on this female. In addition many field technicians and each of the Principal and co-Principal Investigators from 1990 to present (Don Siniff, Ward Testa, Bob Garrott, and myself).
We're looking forward to following the progress of this new older Weddell mom.
Comments