Required equipment to set up a long-term capture-mark-recapture dataset of a marine mammal population

尽管北极和北部水域支持着丰富多样的生产性海洋生态系统，但人们对气候变暖对其生物成分的影响知之甚少。海洋顶级捕食者代表了海洋食物网和资源可用性的短期和长期变化的可靠指标，从而提供了对低营养水平生态方面的见解。在接下来的五年里，我和我的学生将致力于预测环境特征（种群密度、栖息地质量、资源可用性）和个体间差异（行为、生理）如何影响海洋哺乳动物种群的生活史特征（生长、生存、繁殖）。这里所要求的设备将极大地有助于实现我的研究计划的目标，因为它代表了对海洋哺乳动物种群进行长期个体捕获-标记-再捕获研究的基本必要材料，这里是圣劳伦斯河口海港海豹。在整个研究期间（5月至9月），一艘充气船对于定期巡逻研究区域和随后观察海豹群落至关重要。它确实将为捕获后的海豹处理（测量、标记、标签附着、生物样本收集）以及个体的照片识别（每只动物的皮毛颜色斑块是特定的）提供理想的平台。数码相机设备是必要的，以便从远处拍摄识别个别海豹（充气船巡逻的殖民地周围），并最终提高人口统计参数的估计。运输车辆将大大降低充气船和现场设备的转移成本，并进一步促进我的研究生开展新的研究项目。所有要求的设备将在每年的五个月里由我的研究团队每天使用。最后，这些设备的使用寿命远远超出了功能性资助，这无疑将有助于加强我长期研究活动的实施。

Although Arctic and Northern waters support a significant diversity of productive marine ecosystems, the impact of climate warming on its biotic components is poorly known. Marine top predators represent reliable indicators of short- and long- term changes in marine food-webs and resource availability, thus providing insights into ecological aspects of lower trophic levels. During the next five years, my students and I will contribute to predict how environmental characteristics (population density, habitat quality, resource availability) and interindividual differences (behaviour, physiology) may affect life history traits (growth, survival, reproduction) in marine mammal populations. The equipment requested here will significantly contribute to fulfill the objectives of my research program, as it represents the basic necessary material to implement a long-term individual capture-mark-recapture study in a marine mammal population, here the St Lawrence estuarine harbour seals. An inflatable boat is absolutely crucial to regularly patrol the study area and subsequently observe the seal colonies throughout the study period (May-September). It will indeed provide the ideal platform for seal handling (measurements, mark, tag attachment, collection of biological samples) upon capture, as well as for photo-identification of individuals (fur color patches are specific for each animal). A digital camera gear is necessary to allow photo-identifying individual seals from a distance (inflatable boat patrolling the surroundings of the colony sites) and ultimately enhancing the estimation of population demographic parameters. A transport vehicle will both significantly decrease the transfer costs of the inflatable boat and field equipment, as well as further facilitate the initiation of new research projects by my graduate students. All the requested equipment will be used on a daily basis by all my research team during five months per year. Finally, the life duration of such equipment goes well beyond a functioning subvention, which will undoubtedly contribute to reinforce the implementation of my long-term research activities.