Sources of variation in diets of harp and hooded seals estimated from quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA)

Inter-specific competition for prey is thought to influence the structure of ecological communities and species niche breadth. Harp seals Pagophilus groenlandicus and hooded seals Cystophora cristata are geographically overlapping and highly migratory predators in the North Atlantic ocean. Hooded seals are known to dive deeper and longer than harp seals and are more closely associated with the continental shelf edge and deep ocean. Quantitative fatty acid (FA) signature analysis (QFASA) was recently developed to estimate the species composition of diets by statistically comparing FA signatures of predator adipose tissue with that of potential prey. Using QFASA, we estimated diets for harp (adults, n = 294; juveniles, n = 232) and hooded (adults, n = 115; juveniles, n = 38) seals from the pre- and post-breeding periods between 1994 and 2004. We found evidence of inter- and intra-specific variation in diets, diet quality and breadth, reflecting different foraging tactics. Harp seal diets were comprised predominantly of amphipods, Arctic cod, capelin, herring, sand lance and redfish. Hooded seal diets were composed primarily of amphipods, Atlantic argentine, capelin, euphausiids and redfish. Relative to the other species, harp seals consumed twice the proportion of amphipods, while hooded seals consumed 3 times the proportion of redfish; percentages of capelin were similar. QFASA provided new evidence of the importance of amphipods in the diets of both species and of the pronounced differences in the proportions of pelagic forage fish between demographic groups.