Elevated Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) concentrations have been detected in high trophic level wildlife and have been associated with endocrine disruption and other adverse health effects. Recent evidence indicates that harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) inhabiting Puget Sound, WA are approximately seven times more contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) than those inhabiting the ...

It is not known precisely how marine mammals are able to maintain muscle function during active swimming in breath-hold dives, when ventilation stops and heart rate falls. Examination of muscle biochemistry and histochemistry can provide information on the relative importance of different metabolic pathways, the contractile potential of the muscle fibres, the oxygen storage capacity of the musc...

Harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) are frequently infected with the lungworms Otostrongylus circumlitus and Parafilaroides gymnurus. The infection is often accompanied by secondary bacterial infections and can cause severe bronchopneumonia and even death in affected animals. Hitherto, the detection of lungworm infections was based on post mortem investigations from animals collected within strandin...

Roman seals associated with collyria (Latin expression for eye drops/washes and lotions for eye maintenance) provide valuable information about eye care in the antiquity. These small, usually stone-made pieces bore engravings with the names of eye doctors and also the collyria used to treat an eye disease. The collyria seals have been found all over the Roman empire and Celtic territories in pa...

Heartbeat and respiration of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina), Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) and Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) were monitored simultaneously using a visual and non-intrusive method, at King George Island, South Shetland Islands. All three species demonstrated sleep apnoea with reduced heart rate. In adult elephant seals, heartbeat fell 18% in ap...

—During spring, harbor seals Phoca vitulina feed at night under two bridges spanning the Puntledge River in Courtenay, British Columbia, Canada. Positioned parallel to one another, ventral side up, the seals form a feeding line across the river to intercept thousands of out-migrating salmonid smolts. During a 4week observation period in the spring of 1996, we attempted to disrupt the seals’ fee...

As in the case of brick and mortar firms, the Federal Trade Commission encourages online companies to post privacy notices and to honor promises in them. This study examines how seals of approval are used by corporations that conduct business online. Specifically, this study found that firms are using TRUSTe, BBBOnline, WebTrust, and HIPAA seals to demonstrate their compliances with online priv...

Grey seals on the West Hoyle Bank feed on a variety of fish and have a high incideince of dermal lesions, often associated with emaciation and nematode parasite infection. Corynebacterium phocae has been isolated from an active lesion. The significance of' large numbers of seals in the Dee Estuary bearing lesions is discussed and the occurrence of seals with lesions elsewhere in British waters ...

Harbor seals experience motion due to self-motion and to movement in the external world. However, motion vision has not been studied yet in marine mammals moving in the underwater world. To open up this research, optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) as a basic motion sensing and retinal image stabilizing reflex was studied in four harbor seals during stimulation with moving black-and-white stripe patter...

This document describes the Sequential Alternating Least Squares (SeALS) tool developed in MATLAB. Five examples are included – scalar unstable system, smooth two dimensional system, an inverted pendulum on a moving cart, a VTOL aircraft, and a quadcopter – to illustrate the use of SeALS. The theoretical background of this tool is given by [1]. The tool is available at [2]. The rest of this doc...