. The Canadian field-naturalist. Natural history. 1997 Smith: Status of the Lacs des Loups Marins Harbour Seal 273 73" y /^ 57 R. AUX MT^LfiZES ^ °U ^^. JAMES BAY Figure 2. Known range of Phoca vitulina mellonae in relation to Hydro-Quebec's proposed Grande Baleine hydroelectric project. Gilles Shooner & Associes et al. 1991), like those of Ringed Seals {Phoca hispida) (Smith and Stirling 1975). The only known cause of human-induced mortali- ty is occasional hunting of the seals by aboriginal peoples (Clouston 1820; Low 1898; Flaherty 1918; Doutt 1942; Doutt 1954; Consortium Gilles Sh
. The Canadian field-naturalist. Natural history. 1997 Smith: Status of the Lacs des Loups Marins Harbour Seal 273 73" y /^ 57 R. AUX MT^LfiZES ^ °U ^^. JAMES BAY Figure 2. Known range of Phoca vitulina mellonae in relation to Hydro-Quebec's proposed Grande Baleine hydroelectric project. Gilles Shooner & Associes et al. 1991), like those of Ringed Seals {Phoca hispida) (Smith and Stirling 1975). The only known cause of human-induced mortali- ty is occasional hunting of the seals by aboriginal peoples (Clouston 1820; Low 1898; Flaherty 1918; Doutt 1942; Doutt 1954; Consortium Gilles Shooner & Associes et al. 1991; J. Petagumskum Sr., person- al communication). Seasonal movements of the population are poorly known, though the sporadic observations of Gilles Shooner & Associes et al. (1991) hint at seals spend- ing the winter months in larger bodies of water like Lacs des Loups Marins, Lac Bourdel, and Petit Lac des Loups Marins, with some dispersal into outlying, smaller bodies of water upon the melting of the ice. These investigators report finding many worn trails between bodies of water frequented by the seals, some as long as km, and on inclines as steep as 25°. There is no evidence that animals move between the area of Lacs des Loups Marins and Hudson or Ungava Bays. However, though there are a number of impassable waterfalls on the Riviere Nastapoca, some authors believe that if the seals could move into the more placid rivers that flow north into Ungava Bay, this would be a feasible avenue of exchange between the fresh and saltwater popula- tions (Mansfield 1967; SOGEAM 1985; Smith and Horonowitsch 1987). Preliminary evidence from DNA sequencing of region I of the mitochondrial D-loop indicate that Phoca vitulina mellonae has haplotypes that are unique when compared to Harbour Seals in the eastern Canadian arctic and Northwest Atlantic (Smith 1996). Animals hauled out in the spring months are usu- ally in small groups, whereas at the end
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