Identifying Factors Affecting Critical Habitat for Northwest Atlantic Hooded Seals (Cystophora cristata)

We are investigating what constitutes critical habitat for hooded seals in the Northwest Atlantic. These animals come to the coast of Newfoundland in March to have their pups, then migrate to the south coast of Greenland in June to moult. Not much is known about their distribution and habitat use in the times in between March and June and between June and March. Using satellite tags data that DFO has deployed on over 25 hooded seals over the past few years, we are developing GIS based models to predict habitat use throughout the Northeast Atlantic.