Biography

I have proposed answering the following questions: 1) What are the biological features of South American fur seals that allow them to recover in Peru? 2) What are the environmental factors that support the recovery of South American fur seals in Peru?

To answer these questions,  I am evaluating changes in South American fur seal population in Peru at two different spatial and temporal scales, each as a separate thesis chapter.

For chapter one, I am working with more than 25 years of detailed information from an important fur seal breeding site in southern Peru called Punta San Juan. For this chapter I will be evaluating important life history parameters that can contribute to fast recovery after catastrophic events, such as changes in fur seal abundance and pup production.  Finally, these results will be correlated with sea surface temperature and a anchovy biomass (90% of this species diet) for more than 25 years.

For my second chapter, I am reconstructing the population of South American fur seals in Peru from 1925 until 2010. Population trajectories are built by  a population growth model and  stochastic stock reconstruction analysis (SSRA) which uses fur seal catch numbers as the main driver for the model.

Findings from these two scales will help reveal what factors most affect South American fur seal population numbers in Peru.

Please see Susana's Marine Mammal Research Unit profile for more information.