Name: δ13C and δ15N stable isotope compositions of the whisker of 8 harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) and 10 grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) captured in the baie de Somme, France, in 2008 and 2012, for telemetry tracking
Published: 2020-10-30
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Keywords: Stable isotopes, Trophic markers, Foraging ecology, Whiskers, Vibrissae, Marine mammals, Pinnipeds, Harbour seals, Grey Seals, Eastern English Channel, baie de Somme

δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N stable isotopes values were measured along the whiskers of eight harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) and ten grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) captured in the baie de Somme, France, in 2008 and 2012, respectively, to be fitted with Fastloc^TM GPS/GSM tags (cf GPS data available on http://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/2030 for harbour seals and on http://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/2026 for grey seals seals). The foraging areas posterior to seal captures are available for all harbour seals and seven on ten grey seals (Planque et al. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-019-3636-8). Seal whiskers provided a temporal integration of isotope compositions during the period of whisker growth, i.e. during months prior to sampling. All whisker segments were analysed with an elemental analyser (Flash 2000, Thermo Scientific, Milan, Italy) coupled to an isotope-ratio mass spectrometer (Delta V Plus with a Conflo IV interface, Thermo Scientific, Bremen, Germany). Isotope compositions are expressed with the usual δ notation in parts per thousands (‰) relative to Vienna PeeDee Belemnite Standard for δ13C and atmospheric N2 for δ15N. Based on replicate measurements of internal laboratory standards, analytical precision is < 0.15 ‰ for both δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N.

Disciplines

Biological oceanography

Keywords

Stable isotopes, Trophic markers, Foraging ecology, Whiskers, Vibrissae, Marine mammals, Pinnipeds, Harbour seals, Grey Seals, Eastern English Channel, baie de Somme

Location

51.3985N, 49.2189S, 2.5272E, -1.7112W

Licence

Acknowledgements

We thank participants who took part in the fieldwork and who are from La Rochelle Université (LIENSs, Observatoire PELAGIS, CEBC), the Sea Mammal Research Unit, Picardie Nature, the Office Français de la Biodiversité (OFB), Zoo de la Flèche and Université de Liège (Belgium). We also thank interns at the CEBC, Magali Dumont, Marine Beaudet, Morgane Dubois and Marta Tykarska, who took part in laboratory analyses. We finally thank Gaël Guillou who performed the isotopic analyses at the Littoral, Environment and Societies (LIENSs) Joint Research Unit stable isotope facility at La Rochelle Université, France. Whisker sampling was performed during fieldwork sessions aiming at capturing seals for telemetry surveys that were funded by La Compagnie du Vent in 2008 and by the Région Poitou-Charente and the Contrat de Plan Etat-Région (Poitou-Charentes) in 2012. All procedures performed in studies involving harbour and grey seals were in accordance with the ethical standards of the French Ministry of the Environment as seals were caught and instrumented under license numbers 08/346/DEROG and 11/874/DEROG, delivered by this Ministry. Data are archived here as part of Yann Planque’s PhD project funded by La Rochelle Université and by the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation.

Note

The dataset consists of a table summarising the δ13C and δ15N isotope compositions (in ‰) measured along the whisker of individual harbour and grey seals. Measurements were performed on segments, each 10 mm of each whisker. The dataset also includes various information on seal individuals sampled such as their sex, body mass, total length, and girth, as being captured to be fitted with telemetry tags (cf information in Metadata file).

Devices

Sample_origin = Origin of sampling (here during capture of seals for telemetry tracking)

Species = Species of seal captured. Pv = Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina); Hg = Grey seal (Halichoerus grypus).

Capture_site = Capture site (here baie de Somme, France)

Date_capture = Date the animal was captured

Seal_ID = ID of individual seal captured

Sex = Sex

Body_mass = Body mass (kg)

Total_length = Total length (cm)

Girth = Girth (cm)

Type_tag = Tag type

Tag_number = Tag number

Sample_type = Type of animal sample on which stable isotopes analyses were performed

Segment_ID = ID of whisker segment analysed

Segment_mm = Distance of segment from whisker base, i.e. proximal distance (in mm)

d13C = Carbon isotope composition (‰)

d15N = Nitrogen isotope composition (‰)

Data

File	Size	Format	Processing	Access
Data	20 Ko	CSV	Quality controlled data		Download
Metadata	750 octets	CSV	Quality controlled data		Download

Sea scientific
open data
publication

δ13C and δ15N stable isotope compositions of the whisker of 8 harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) and 10 grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) captured in the baie de Somme, France, in 2008 and 2012, for telemetry tracking

Disciplines

Keywords

Location

Devices

Data

Sea scientific
open data
publication

δ13C and δ15N stable isotope compositions of the whisker of 8 harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) and 10 grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) captured in the baie de Somme, France, in 2008 and 2012, for telemetry tracking

Disciplines

Keywords

Location

Devices

Data

Sea scientificopen datapublication

Sea scientific
open data
publication