studies. A key limitation is that studies operate under the hypothesis that the presence of a device does not cause departure from normal or; negative effects are not important. Yet a range of tags and bio-logging devices have been shown to affect tagged individuals. This, along with a lack of clearly defined quantitative measures to examine an effect has left the topic of tagging impacts complicated and poorly defined. To assess impacts of capture and tag attachments in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) and grey seals (Halichoerus grypus), effects will be separated into two categories: short- and long-term. Short-term effects will be treated as those that exist as a result of capture, sedation and effects from carrying a device that decay within a short period following attachment. A framework to quantify the duration and magnitude of short-term effects will be developed to assess telemetry time series data for the existence of short-term effects. Subsequently, the framework will be used to compare animal responses to capture and handling in different animal handling protocols. Long-term effects are those that exist, or their mechanisms of causation exist, for the duration that a tag is attached to an animal. Changes in drag and the energetics effects induced by the attachment of a device to the external surface of a seal will be quantified. The behavioural adaptations animals employ to overcome increased drag will also be assessed. Understanding the responses to animals captured and tagged will aid data interpretation and with ethical assessment of animal welfare during capture and tagging. Protosociality in colonially breeding Toby da Costa Oliver 1, Paddy Pomeroy1 (1) Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK Corresponding author: tvrdco@st-andrews.ac.uk Many animals, at some point in their life-history, live in groups attributable to the many benefits they experience such as enhanced foraging, dilution of predation, and finding a mate, amongst others. Coloniality is a form of group-living that has no other resource than breeding.
studies. A key limitation is that studies operate under the hypothesis that the presence of a device does not cause departure from normal or; negative effects are not important. Yet a range of tags and bio-logging devices have been shown to affect tagged individuals. This, along with a lack of clearly defined quantitative measures to examine an effect has left the topic of tagging impacts complicated and poorly defined. To assess impacts of capture and tag attachments in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) and grey seals (Halichoerus grypus), effects will be separated into two categories: short- and long-term. Short-term effects will be treated as those that exist as a result of capture, sedation and effects from carrying a device that decay within a short period following attachment. A framework to quantify the duration and magnitude of short-term effects will be developed to assess telemetry time series data for the existence of short-term effects. Subsequently, the framework will be used to compare animal responses to capture and handling in different animal handling protocols. Long-term effects are those that exist, or their mechanisms of causation exist, for the duration that a tag is attached to an animal. Changes in drag and the energetics effects induced by the attachment of a device to the external surface of a seal will be quantified. The behavioural adaptations animals employ to overcome increased drag will also be assessed. Understanding the responses to animals captured and tagged will aid data interpretation and with ethical assessment of animal welfare during capture and tagging. Protosociality in colonially breeding Toby da Costa Oliver 1, Paddy Pomeroy1 (1) Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK Corresponding author: tvrdco@st-andrews.ac.uk Many animals, at some point in their life-history, live in groups attributable to the many benefits they experience such as enhanced foraging, dilution of predation, and finding a mate, amongst others. Coloniality is a form of group-living that has no other resource than breeding.
UKRSC-Abstract-book-2014.docx