Establishing a reference interval for acute phase proteins, cytokines, antioxidants and commonly measured biochemical and hematologic parameters in the northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus).

Over the past several decades there has been a precipitous decline of northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus; NFS) at their breeding grounds on the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea. The cause of this decline is likely multifactorial and could include changes in environmental parameters, prey abundance and distribution as well as exposure to pathogens and pollutants. Evaluation of inflammatory markers and antioxidant levels of the current population of fur seals in addition to hematologic and biochemical profiles could provide important information regarding health and subclinical or clinical disease in this population.

Whiskers as a novel tissue for tracking reproductive and stress-related hormones in North Pacific otariid pinnipeds.

Keratinized tissues, including whiskers, are ideal for acquiring a record of physiological parameters. Most tissues provide a snapshot of physiological status; however, whiskers may support longitudinal sampling for reproductive and stress-related hormones, if hormones are incorporated as whiskers grow and concentrations change with physiological state. Whiskers from female Steller sea lions () and northern fur seals () were serially sectioned and pulverized and steroid hormones were extracted.

Migratory strategies of juvenile northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus): bridging the gap between pups and adults.

In species exhibiting differential migration by sex and age, understanding what differences exist, and the adaptive reasons for these differences is critical for determining how demographic groups will respond to environmental variability and anthropogenic perturbations. We used satellite-telemetered movement and diving data to investigate differential migration and its ontogeny in a highly migratory North Pacific Ocean predator, the northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus; NFS), with a focus on understudied juvenile (1- to 2-year-old) animals. We instrumented 71 juvenile NFS in two years (2006-07 and 2007-08) at three major North American breeding sites and compared their migratory strategies with pups and adults.