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2015 Autumn | Natural Science & Restoration

The Effects of Storms on Stellar Sea Lion Pup Abundance in the Aleutian Islands

Student(s):

Haley Boyd

Program or Department(s):

  • Program on the Environment
  • University of Washington

Site supervisor(s):

Kathryn Sweeney

Partner(s):

  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

  • NOAA

Faculty advisor(s):

Laura Prugh, School of Environment and Forest Sciences. University of Washington

The Western Population of the Steller sea lions in the Aleutian Islands is struggling to remain at a stable level for the species to survive. Historically, this population has suffered in comparison with their neighbor population to the East and there is no solid evidence creating a clear picture as to why this is. One concern is that climate change due to human activities is changing the environment in which these Steller’s live. My project researched how the increase in storm presence and severity impacted the pup abundance on rookeries during the breeding period. It was found that during times of high storm activity, the numbers of pups decreases significantly and at times struggles to recover.