TY - JOUR AU - Born, E W AU - Teilmann, J AU - Riget, F PY - 1998/06/06 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Abundance of ringed seals (Phoca hispida) in the Kong Oscars Fjord, Scoresby Sund and adjacent areas in eastern Greenland JF - NAMMCO Scientific Publications JA - NAMMCOSP VL - 1 IS - 0 SE - Articles DO - 10.7557/3.2985 UR - https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/2985 SP - 152-166 AB - <p>With the purpose of determining the distribution and abundance of ringed seals (<em>Phoca hispida</em>) hauling out on the ice, systematic strip census aerial surveys were flown in the Kong Oscars Fjord, Scoresby Sund and adjacent areas (between approximately 70°N and 72°30'N in eastern Greenland) from 7 to 13 June 1984. The study area comprised approximately 18,500 km2 mainly covered with smooth one-year-old shore-fast ice. The survey effort was concentrated in the afternoon during the presumed peak haul-out period. Main emphasis was given to surveying the Kong Oscars Fjord/Davy Sund and the Scoresby Sund/Hurry Fjord areas which were surveyed twice. Average densities in various sub-areas varied between 0.3 and 2.9 seals/km2 and were similar to<br />those reported from other Arctic areas. No significant differences in densities were found between sets of surveys of the same sub-areas. The mean density (2.00 seals/km2, SD=0.22) in the Scoresby Sund area was significantly higher than that found in Kong Oscars Fjord (1.04 seals/km\ SD=0.15) probably reflecting a higher overall marine productivity in Scoresby Sund. The sum of the point estimates of the visible part of the population in the different sub-areas was 28,882 seals.</p> ER -