Sex-Specific Energetics of Pacific Walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) during the Nursing Interval.

Habitat use and activity patterns of Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) have changed with climate-induced reductions in sea ice. Increases in the time active in water could result in negative energy balance, precluding females from sustaining lactation, which could impact population demographics. Little is known about lactation costs in walruses. We examined the energetics of 0-2-yr-old walrus calves by using Bayesian hierarchical models based on longitudinal husbandry records of growth (n = 6 females and 7 males) and caloric intake (n = 5 females and 6 males) as a proxy for maternal lactation costs. Males and females had similar growth patterns; mean mass increased from 68 kg at birth to 301 kg by 2 yr. Females had a 2,000 kcal kg(-1) higher mass storage (growth) cost than males; females typically synthesize and deposit greater amounts of adipose, which is more energy dense than lean tissue. In contrast, males had higher metabolic (basal and activity) costs, ranging from 600 to 1,800 kcal d(-1) greater than similarly sized females; males are typically leaner, and muscle is more metabolically active than adipose. Yet total daily energy requirements (storage plus metabolic components) were similar across sexes, summing to approximately 190,000 kcal over the first month postpartum. Based on these estimates and assuming that 8,103 kcal is recovered from 1 kg of mass loss in adult female walruses, suckling calves could deplete 23 kg of their mother's body mass over the first month after parturition if none of the lactation costs is met through ingested prey.

Rapid maturation of the muscle biochemistry that supports diving in Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens).

Physiological constraints dictate animals' ability to exploit habitats. For marine mammals, it is important to quantify physiological limits that influence diving and their ability to alter foraging behaviors. We characterized age-specific dive limits of walruses by measuring anaerobic (acid-buffering capacity) and aerobic (myoglobin content) capacities of the muscles that power hind (longissimus dorsi) and fore (supraspinatus) flipper propulsion. Mean buffering capacities were similar across muscles and age classes (a fetus, five neonatal calves, a 3 month old and 20 adults), ranging from 41.31 to 54.14 slykes and 42.00 to 46.93 slykes in the longissimus and supraspinatus, respectively. Mean myoglobin in the fetus and neonatal calves fell within a narrow range (longissimus: 0.92-1.68 g 100 g(-1) wet muscle mass; supraspinatus: 0.88-1.64 g 100 g(-1) wet muscle mass). By 3 months post-partum, myoglobin in the longissimus increased by 79%, but levels in the supraspinatus remained unaltered. From 3 months post-partum to adulthood, myoglobin increased by an additional 26% in the longissimus and increased by 126% in the supraspinatus; myoglobin remained greater in the longissimus compared with the supraspinatus. Walruses are unique among marine mammals because they are born with a mature muscle acid-buffering capacity and attain mature myoglobin content early in life. Despite rapid physiological development, small body size limits the diving capacity of immature walruses and extreme sexual dimorphism reduces the diving capacity of adult females compared with adult males. Thus, free-ranging immature walruses likely exhibit the shortest foraging dives while adult males are capable of the longest foraging dives.

Effect of climatic warming on the Pacific walrus, and potential modification of its helminth fauna.

The decreasing extent of sea-ice in the arctic basin as a consequence of climatic warming is modifying the behavior and diets of pagophilic pinnipeds, including the Pacific walrus, Odobenus rosmarus divergens Illiger, the species emphasized here. Mammals such as the walrus and bearded seal, Erignathus barbatus (Erxleben), cannot remain associated with the sea-ice, and continue to feed on their usual diet of benthic invertebrates inhabiting coastal waters to a depth of approximately 100 m, when the northwestward retreating ice reaches deep waters beyond the margins of the continental shelf. With reduction of their customary substrate (ice), the walrus has become more pelagic and preys more often on ringed seals, Phoca hispida Schreber. Dietary changes, with modifications of helminth faunas, may be induced by various factors. Increased consumption of mammals or their remains by walruses may lead to a higher prevalence of trichinellosis in them and to more frequent occurrence in indigenous peoples inhabiting the arctic coasts. To assess predicted effects on the composition of helminth fauna of the walrus, we recommend systematic surveys of their helminths as part of research on effects of climatic warming.

Growth in pinnipeds.

This review presents summary figures of, and fits growth curves to, data on body lengths (as standard length, SL, whenever possible) of pinnipeds at ages estimated to O.I y. (1) Generalized von Bertalanffy (vB) growth curves are fitted to most data: Lx = L infinity (I - ea(x-x0)b, Lx is length at age x, x0 is the origin of the curve (here chosen a priori as time of initiation of embryonic growth), L infinity is asymptotic length, a (which is negative) determines rate of approach to the asymptote, and b influences the 'shape' of the approach. (2) No single monotonic growth equation suffices for growth in length, which is linear before birth and remains so during early life. The vB equation is only suitable to describe mean lengths of newborns, and animals one or more years old. (3) Also, for males of polygynous species, two functions are needed to account for accelerated growth at puberty. Generally a Gompertz equation is adequate for adult males of these species. (4) The fitted growth equations permit statistical comparisons of sizes and growth rates, as well as of individual variability (as growth-curve residuals), among populations and species. (5) For the following species (including different populations when available), the reliability of data is assessed and parameters of growth curves are presented (with sexes separated where significantly different): walrus, California and Steller sea lions, Antarctic, subantarctic and northern fur seals, Hawaiian monk seal, crabeater, Weddell and Leopard seals, southern and northern elephant seals, bearded, hooded, ringed, Baikal, Caspian, spotted, harbour, harp, ribbon and grey seals. (6) Some novel findings pertain to individual species as follows. Although the Pacific walrus is generally stated to be the larger subspecies, females from Hudson Bay and males from Foxe Basin, in the eastern Canadian Arctic, may be as long as those from the Bering Sea. Although female Weddell seals have been assumed to grow larger than males, there is no significant difference in growth curves fitted to the most complete data. Uniquely among populations examined, the relative variability (absolute growth curve residuals/predicted lengths) of male southern elephant seals is amplified with age. Among ringed seals from Svalbard, the eastern, western and high Canadian Arctic, and the Bering, Chukchi, Okhotsk, Barents and Baltic Seas, asymptotic sizes are larger among those that breed on land-fast ice rather than floes, and size may be more variable in more extreme Arctic environments. The Baikal seal is confirmed as the smallest species of pinniped.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)