New observations of wolves searching marine mammals in Alaskas Katmai National Park difficulty existing views on wolf diets, revealing a significant shift from land-based to marine victim. Credit: Kelsey GriffinFirsthand accounts of wolves hunting and successfully recording a harbor seal, and another circumstances of a wolf pack preying on and consuming a sea otter along the coast of Katmai, Alaska, have prompted scientists to reassess presumptions about wolf hunting behavior.Wolves have previously been observed consuming sea otter carcasses, but how they acquire these and the frequency of scavenging versus hunting marine prey is mainly unknown. Credit: Kelsey Griffin, National Park ServiceUnprecedented Observations in Wildlife BehaviorIn the paper, they explain numerous occurrences they observed including wolves and marine mammals in Katmai National Park that they think have not been previously documented: In 2016 the researchers experienced a male wolf hunt and kill a harbor seal. The wolf dragged the seal onto the exposed sandbar and started to tear into the existing wound and take in the tail.On three different days in 2016, 2018, and 2019 the others and scientists observed wolves carrying sea otter carcasses.In 2021, the scientists enjoyed 3 wolves hunt and consume an adult sea otter on an island during a low tide. Wolves on the Katmai coast have never been studied and our research study highlights the unique role wolves play in nearshore ecosystems in Alaska.
New observations of wolves searching marine mammals in Alaskas Katmai National Park obstacle existing views on wolf diet plans, revealing a considerable shift from land-based to marine victim. This cutting-edge research underscores wolves role in coastal environments and leads the way for more ecological research studies. Above is a wolf with a sea otter on Alaskas Katmai coast. Credit: Kelsey GriffinFirsthand accounts of wolves hunting and successfully catching a harbor seal, and another circumstances of a wolf pack victimizing and taking in a sea otter along the coast of Katmai, Alaska, have actually prompted scientists to reconsider presumptions about wolf searching behavior.Wolves have actually formerly been observed consuming sea otter carcasses, however how they acquire these and the frequency of scavenging versus searching marine victim is mainly unidentified. Researchers at Oregon State University, the National Park Service, and Alaska Department of Fish and Game are starting to change that with a paper recently published in the journal Ecology.Wolf hunting a seal in Alaskas Katmai National Park. Credit: Kelsey Griffin, National Park ServiceUnprecedented Observations in Wildlife BehaviorIn the paper, they explain several occurrences they observed involving wolves and marine mammals in Katmai National Park that they believe have not been previously recorded: In 2016 the scientists witnessed a male wolf hunt and kill a harbor seal. The wolf was placed near the mouth of a creek when it charged into the water, grabbing the tail of the harbor seal. The wolf continued to tear into the flesh of the seals tail and after an approximate 30-minute struggle, the seal appeared to tire, straining to raise its head above water. The wolf dragged the seal onto the exposed sandbar and started to tear into the existing wound and consume the tail.On 3 separate days in 2016, 2018, and 2019 the researchers and others observed wolves bring sea otter carcasses.In 2021, the researchers saw three wolves hunt and consume an adult sea otter on an island throughout a low tide. They viewed the wolves travel to the island, then lost sight of them for about one minute, and then saw them come back carrying a limp sea otter. They ate the carcass for about 60 minutes. As soon as the wolves left, the researchers analyzed the kill website and found an area of focused blood where the sea otter was most likely killed. The presence of blood shows the sea otter had actually lived when ambushed by the wolves, instead of being scavenged, the researchers keep in mind. “This is truly exciting paperwork of habits our company believe have never ever been directly observed by researchers,” said Ellen Dymit, a doctoral student at Oregon State. “It kind of forces us to reconsider the assumptions that underlie a great deal of our management choices and modeling around wolf populations and populations of their victim, which frequently assume that wolves depend upon ungulates, like moose and elk.”Implications and Initial DiscoveryThe research study project come from 2016 when Kelsey Griffin, a National Park Service biologist, and a few of her associates picked up lunch on the beach throughout a day of conducting marine debris and bird mortality surveys at Katmai National Park.”Seemingly out of nowhere, we are sitting there, we simply see this white wolf carrying an otter simply trotting by,” Griffin stated. “What? I was simply blown away. I have actually never ever seen anything like that before.”Then I was asking my colleagues: Has anybody seen this before? Do wolves often consume sea otters? I was simply asking a lot of questions about the wolves and it simply appeared like there was not a whole lot of details about them. That was the preliminary observation. I just got fortunate. Wolves on the Katmai coast have actually never ever been studied and our research highlights the special role wolves play in nearshore environments in Alaska.”Wolf hunting a seal on Alaskas Katmai coast. Credit: Kelsey Griffin, National Park Service Griffin gotten in touch with Gretchen Roffler, a biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, who presented Griffin to Taal Levi, a teacher at Oregon State and Dymits advisor.The job develops on work by Roffler, Levi, and others on wolves and sea otters on Pleasant Island, an island landscape adjacent to Glacier Bay about 40 miles west of Juneau and numerous miles east of Katmai throughout the Gulf of Alaska.In a paper published earlier this year, they found wolves on Pleasant Island triggered a deer population to drop and switched to mainly consuming sea otters in simply a couple of years. They think this is the very first case of sea otters ending up being the primary food source for a land-based predator.Future documents will consist of analysis of wolves and sea otters from Lake Clark National Park, Glacier Bay National Park, and Kenai Fjords National Park, in addition to Katmai. The research study group prepares to take a look at how sea otter density impacts the diet plans of wolves and variations of wolf diet plan on a pack level versus a private level.Reference: “Wolves on the Katmai coast hunt sea otters and harbor seals” by Kelsey R. Griffin, Gretchen H. Roffler and Ellen M. Dymit, 03 October 2023, Ecology.DOI: 10.1002/ ecy.4185 Dymit, Griffin and Roffler are all authors of the paper. Dymit and Levi are in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences in Oregon States College of Agricultural Sciences. Griffin is director of the Ocean Alaska Science and Learning Center in Seward, Alaska. Roffler is based in Douglas, Alaska.