Seals Risk Death For a Varied Meal
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What makes Arctic seals risk their lives for a varied meal?
We're here because your heightened awareness deserves heightened entertainment. The Last Show with David Cooper Would you make the ultimate yuppie sacrifice? Would you risk your very life for a meal at an exclusive restaurant for a delicious and new seafood experience? Well, it turns out Arctic seals do exactly that. Well, not exactly that, but it's very close. They trade safety from polar bears for a better, more diverse dinner menu. I'm here with Arctic scientist at the University of British Columbia, Katie Florco, who has researched just this. Katie, welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me.
Why do Arctic scientists choose to study seals?
I got to ask before we start, why seals? Why choose to research seals? What is it that you love about seals?
What's not to love? Seals are such a cool animal. They're mesopredators. That's what we call middle predators. So that means that they are predators. You know, they eat fish and invertebrates. And so they're the source of fear for many animals.
How do seals balance being both predators and prey?
But they are also prey themselves. to polar bears primarily. And so they're balancing both of these sides of the equation. They're balancing finding food and avoiding becoming food. So they're a really cool animal.
And they're kind of like the cats of the ocean, and that's in fact what's true about house cats. They're both predators and prey, and that's what makes them so lovable. I'm picturing a polar bear and a seal, and I'm imagining kind of a pretty straightforward relationship. One is lunch, the other is prey. Is that the case, or is it a little more complicated than that?
It definitely is more complicated. There's nuances to these relationships, of course. But relatively, it's a pretty simple system compared to other systems. So seals are the main prey. These ring seals are the main prey of polar bears. And polar bears are the main predator of the ring seal. So it is a really tight relationship between those two. So it's a really good study system to answer these ecological questions.
So let's get to the basic ecological question. A seal is willing to risk its life, risk an encounter with a polar bear just for a more tasty treat.
What ecological factors influence seals' feeding behavior?
What makes them do that?
So, yeah. So I think that it's, you know, if a meal is really good... No, it is a little bit more complicated than that. So we find that seals are looking for these areas where there's both a lot of prey and really diverse species assemblages of prey. So there's a bunch of archicod, there's capelin, there's sand lance, there's all of these different species. So, you know, it makes sense that we're seeing that they're going into these areas and at the same time, they're also avoiding the high risk areas. However, it's this trade-off that we found that was really interesting. where they would enter these high-risk areas if the prey was really diverse.
Got it. So, side note, I'm getting hungry for seafood tonight. And what does it say about the animal that they're willing to endure that kind of fear? Like, what does it say psychologically about seals? Are they fearless, or do they know what they're doing? They just want that varied prey.
Yeah, yeah. I mean, we haven't looked into the psychology of the seals per se.
They're not great subjects. They don't answer your questions.
Exactly.
Not yet, anyway. I think it is a sentiment of their flexibility. That, you know, there are certain conditions and contexts when they would enter those high prey areas. And this is the thing that has been seen in other species where, you know, maybe if a seal or if an animal is in poor body condition, they're more willing to do riskier things.
Your study mentioned something called the portfolio effect, which to me sounds like something that should be on a finance radio program. But here we are talking about marine ecology. What is the portfolio effect? Why do these seals want to diversify their food portfolio?
Yeah, it's totally a similar concept. And I think that the ecological term portfolio effect is taken from finance. And so the idea is that a varied meal would provide more of a buffer. You know, instead of just relying on an area where maybe one species is and that should be a good area to go.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What makes Arctic seals risk their lives for a varied meal?
0:03–0:40
2
Why do Arctic scientists choose to study seals?
0:40–1:02
3
How do seals balance being both predators and prey?
1:02–2:09
4
What ecological factors influence seals' feeding behavior?
2:09–4:52
5
What is the portfolio effect in seal feeding habits?
4:52–8:17
6
How do researchers collect data on seals and polar bears?
8:17–9:38
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from The Last Show with David Cooper
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