Satellite Tag Tracking and Behavioral Monitoring of Male California Sea Lions in the Pacific Northwest to Assess Haul-out Behavior on Puget Sound Navy Facilities and Foraging Behavior in Marine Navy Testing and Training Areas

About

To meet information needs of the US Navy, Pacific Fleet Environmental, the National Marine Fisheries Service, Marine Mammal Laboratory in collaboration with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife conducted a study of adult male California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) with two objectives: 1) to estimate the number of sea lions that use Navy Facilities in Puget Sound, Washington and 2) to describe how adult male sea lions utilize the waters of Washington as marine foraging areas. To accomplish this, weekly counts of sea lions were conducted at four Navy Facilities in Puget Sound, Washington (WA) to estimate abundance and satellite dive recorders were deployed on adult male California sea lions to obtain data on the proportion of time the animals were hauled out and their distribution and diving behavior as they foraged in inland and coastal waters.