Research Areas

1. The evolution of social and reproductive systems.Social and reproductive behavior of pinnipeds. Mating success and paternity in male elephant seals. Maternal success and the cost of reproduction in female elephant seals. Maternal traits and reproductive effort in northern elephant seals. Maternal energy investment in young. Sex differences. Life history strategies. Lifetime reproductive success in seals. Competition within the sexes and between the sexes.
2. Behavior and physiology of diving in seals and adaptations for aquatic life. Visual pigment sensitivity in deep diving marine mammals. Foraging ecology of northern elephant seals. Cost-efficient diving by marine mammals. Instrumented animals as oceanographic data collectors. Effects of buoyancy on diving behavior. The development of diving behavior.
3. The impact of a population bottleneck on genetic diversity in the northern elephant seal.
4. Impacts of El Ni–o, multidecal regimes and ocean temperatures on the survival, foraging success and condition of seals and sea lions.
5. The effect of a loud, low frequency sounds on marine mammals.
6. The status of pinnipeds and gray whales in California and Mexico.
7. The origin and function of sleep apnea and aperiodic breathing in diving mammals.
8. Adoption, pup abduction and infanticide in seals.
9. Hunting and migratory movements of white sharks in the eastern North Pacific.
10. Organochlorine pesticide and polychlorinated biphenyl levels in California sea lions.