University of New Brunswick: Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) abundance, distribution, and behaviour in the Saint John Harbour as observed between April-August in 1999 and 2000

Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) abundance, distribution, and behaviours were examined in the Saint John harbour, Saint John, New Brunswick as part of a UNB Department of Biology honours project (Browne, 2001). The study was conducted from May-August in 1999 and April-August in 2000. Seal counts in the water were made with respect to tide, time of day and season, human activities and disturbances. Seal counts were compared to peaks in fish runs of gaspereau (Alosa pseudoharengus) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Fishers of the Saint John harbour were interviewed to document interactions between seals and fisheries. Seal observations recorded as part of this thesis project (Browne, 2001) were rescued and reformatted as part of an Atlantic Ecosystem Initiative activity. This version of the resource contains observations of the harbour seals - associated information on behaviour and occurrence of grey seals and gaspereau is not included in this version.