Space use by marine mammals in Svalbard and potential dietary changes due to climate change.

Investigating behaviour of high trophic predators is a fundemental part to understand the ecosystem as they function as a key component through top-down effect. Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina), one of a high trophic predators in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard is experiencing dramatic environmental changes including changes in potential prey distribution and increase in spatial overlap with other Arctic seal species (e.g. ringed seals). This project aims to understand the foraging behaviour of the habour seals in relation to the recent environmental changes by fine-scale analysis using animal-mounted video camera and accelerometer.