About This Project

Studies on marine mammal personalities are scarce, despite research showing that personality can relate to foraging behavior and fitness. This study will adapt a method for evaluating personality type in grey seals for use on northern elephant seals. Relating personality types to satellite tracks and reproductive success will help us understand how these animals respond to changes in their environment, which is particularly important given rapidly changing climatic conditions.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

The Costa Lab has been studying northern elephant seals at Año Nuevo for decades. In addition to tracking demographic information - which individuals return to the colony each year, how many have pups, whose pups survive, etc. - we have and extensive satellite tracking data set. Since 2004, we have used satellite tags to track over 400 individual elephant seals, including repeated tracks from dozens of adult females. The data we have already collected can tell us about an individual's reproductive history and how consistent their behavior is while they are at sea. We are currently lacking information about personality traits, which provide insight into an individual's tendency for risky behavior and their flexibility in the face of environmental disturbance.

What is the significance of this project?

With a rapidly changing climate, the ability of individuals to adapt to new environmental conditions has significant implications for the survival of a population. Species that cannot compensate either behaviorally or physiologically to environmental changes are going to struggle in the upcoming decades. Studying personality will address behavioral flexibility in the northern elephant seal. Collecting this data in conjunction with other ongoing studies will allow us to examine the costs and benefits associated with flexible behavior in terms of reproductive and foraging success.

What are the goals of the project?

The goals of this project are: 1) to establish a protocol for personality testing in northern elephant seals; 2) to relate personality type to foraging behavior at sea; and 3) to relate personality type to reproductive success. The project will begin this winter and extend through spring 2017. Adult female elephant seals who have been satellite tracked multiple times will be priority study subjects. Each individual will be tested twice, at approximately five and twenty days after giving birth and at minimum two weeks apart. The testing vehicle will emit a novel sound and record each seal's response to that sound. This type of test quantifies the proactivity or reactivity of a individual - in other words, how flexible their behavior is in response to a change.