Publications

dorothea dix and her two missions of mercy in nova scotia.	dorothea lynde dix, 19th century defender of the rights of the mentally ill to hospital care, holds a significant place in the history of nova scotia. her two major accomplishments in this province include laying the groundwork for its first psychiatric hospital and the outfitting of treacherous sable island with rescue equipment to aid ships stranded off its shore. the techniques that miss dix employed in these missions parallel those she successfully used in the establishment of psychiatric ho ...	1990	2180553
larval nematodes infecting amphiporeia virginiana (amphipoda: pontoporeioidea) on sable island, nova scotia.	three species of larval nematodes were found infecting the nearshore subtidal amphipod amphiporeia virginiana collected from beaches on sable island, nova scotia. five and 2 sealworms, pseudoterranova decipiens s.l., were found in 2,020 and 2,044 amphipods, respectively, collected in 1991 and 1992, dissected, and examined microscopically. two sealworms, 1 paracuaria adunca and 1 ascarophis sp., were found in 5,157 amphipods collected in 1992 and enzymatically digested. infection with each specie ...	1993	8277392
male mating success in an aquatically mating pinniped, the harbour seal (phoca vitulina), assessed by microsatellite dna markers.	similar to many other pinniped species, harbour seals (phoca vitulina) mate exclusively at sea. here we present the first attempt to measure male mating success in an aquatically mating pinniped. male mating success was estimated by paternity analysis in two cohorts of pups born at sable island, nova scotia, canada, using microsatellite dna markers. the genotypes of 275 pups born in 1994 and 1995 were compared to those of 90 candidate males at six microsatellite loci using a likelihood approach ...	1998	9633104
effects of sonic booms on breeding gray seals and harbor seals on sable island, canada.	the concorde produces audible sonic booms as it passes 15 km north of sable island, nova scotia, where gray and harbor seals occur year round. the purpose of this research was to assess how sonic booms affect these seals. the intensity of the booms was measured and three types of data (beach counts, frequency of behavior, and heart rate) were collected before and after booms during the breeding seasons of the two species. in addition to the data taken during breeding, beach counts were made befo ...	2002	11837965
health status of harp seals (phoca groenlandica) and hooded seals (cystophora cristata) on sable island, nova scotia, canada, concurrent with their expanding range.	beach surveys for harp (phoca groenlaandica) and hooded (cystophora cristata) seals documented a dramatic increase in their numbers on sable island in mid 1990s. in the 1980s, no more than five animals of both species were observed on this island each year, however, during late 1994 to 1998, 1,191 harp and 870 hooded seals, mostly young animals, were recorded. although some of these seals had been killed by sharks, most (roughly 75%) were found alive or as intact carcasses on the beach, and some ...	2003	12685065
the rate of fertilization in male mating tactics of the polygynous grey seal.	studies using molecular markers have shown that some grey seal males may be gaining success through exhibiting alternative mating tactics. we estimated the probability of fertilization success of grey seal males exhibiting the primary tactic of female defence and one alternative tactic of mating with departing females on sable island, nova scotia, canada, during the breeding seasons of 1997-2002. although the fertilization rate of the primary tactic (27-43%) was greater than that of the alternat ...	2004	15488010
characterization and source of oil contamination on the beaches and seabird corpses, sable island, nova scotia, 1996-2005.	during april 1996-may 2005, 2343 oiled seabird corpses were recorded in beach surveys conducted on sable island, nova scotia. one hundred eighty-three samples of oil were collected from the beaches and from the feathers of bird corpses. gas chromatographic (gc/fid) analysis was used to identify generic oil type and likely marine source. during this period, at least 74 marine oil discharge events were probably responsible for beached pelagic tar and contamination of seabird corpses found on sable ...	2006	16403538
genetic diversity in a feral horse population from sable island, canada.	the present-day sable island horse population, inhabiting an island off the eastern coast of canada, is believed to have originated mainly from horses confiscated from the early french settlers in nova scotia in the latter half of the 18th century. in 1960, the sable island horses were given legal protected status and no human interference has since been allowed. the objective of this study was to characterize the current genetic diversity in sable island horses in comparison to 15 other horse b ...	2007	17855732
polybrominated diphenyl ethers (pbdes) in seal populations from eastern and western canada: an assessment of the processes and factors controlling pbde distribution in seals.	polybrominated diphenyl ether (pbde) concentrations were measured in the blubber of five mother-pup pairs of grey seals (halichoerus grypus) from sable island, nova scotia (ns) sampled in 1995 and in 20 harbour seals (phoca vitulina) from british columbia (bc) sampled in 1991-1992. concentrations in maternal grey seals from sable island averaged 112+/-55.2 ng/g lipid (mean+/-s.d.) and were over twice the concentrations measured in their pups; higher brominated pbdes showed a distinct decline in ...	2008	18359511
perfluoroalkyl carboxylates and sulfonates and precursors in relation to dietary source tracers in the eggs of four species of gulls (larids) from breeding sites spanning atlantic to pacific canada.	in the present study, we identified and examined the spatial trends, sources and dietary relationships of bioaccumulative perfluorinated sulfonate (pfsa; c(6), c(8), and c(10) chain lengths) and carboxylate (pfca; c(6) to c(15) chain lengths) contaminants, as well as precursor compounds including several perfluorinated sulfonamides, and fluorotelomer acids and alcohols, in individual eggs (collected in 2008) from four gull species [glaucous-winged (larus glaucescens), california (larus californi ...	2011	21529948
plastic ingestion by fulmars and shearwaters at sable island, nova scotia, canada.	plastic pollution is widespread in the marine environment, and plastic ingestion by seabirds is now widely reported for dozens of species. beached northern fulmars, great shearwaters, sooty shearwaters and cory's shearwaters are found on sable island, nova scotia, canada regularly, and they can be used to assess plastic pollution. all species except cory's shearwaters contained plastic debris in their gastrointestinal tracts. northern fulmars, sooty shearwaters and great shearwaters all showed h ...	2014	25150895
increasing density leads to generalization in both coarse-grained habitat selection and fine-grained resource selection in a large mammal.	density is a fundamental driver of many ecological processes including habitat selection. theory on density-dependent habitat selection predicts that animals should be distributed relative to profitability of habitat, resulting in reduced specialization in selection (i.e. generalization) as density increases and competition intensifies. despite mounting empirical support for density-dependent habitat selection using isodars to describe coarse-grained (interhabitat) animal movements, we know litt ...	2014	23931034
influence of benthic macrofauna as a spatial structuring agent for juvenile haddock (melanogrammus aeglefinus) on the eastern scotian shelf, atlantic canada.	we examined the habitat of juvenile haddock on the eastern scotian shelf (off nova scotia, canada) in relation to grab-sampled benthic macrofaunal invertebrate species assemblages in order to determine whether there were significant differences in benthic macrofauna between areas of historically persistent high and low juvenile haddock abundance. our analyses were conducted over two spatial scales in each of two years: among banks (emerald, western and sable island), approximately 60 km distant ...	2016	27649419
negative covariance between parasite load and body condition in a population of feral horses.	in wild and domestic animals, gastrointestinal parasites can have significant impacts on host development, condition, health, reproduction and longevity. improving our understanding of the causes and consequences of individual-level variation in parasite load is therefore of prime interest. here we investigated the relationship between strongyle fecal egg count (fec) and body condition in a unique, naturalized population of horses that has never been exposed to anthelmintic drugs (sable island, ...	2016	27046508
factors influencing and consequences of breeding dispersal and habitat choice in female grey seals (halichoerus grypus) on sable island, nova scotia.	selection of breeding location can influence reproductive success and fitness. breeding dispersal links habitat use and reproduction. this study investigated factors affecting breeding dispersal and its reproductive consequences in grey seals (halichoerus grypus) on sable island, nova scotia. breeding dispersal distance was determined in 692 individually marked, known-age female grey seals observed from 2004 to 2014. we used generalized linear mixed-effects models to test hypotheses concerning e ...	2017	27864645
a survey of the antimicrobial susceptibility of escherichia coli isolated from sable island horses.	the feral horses of sable island are a geographically isolated population located ∼160 km off the east coast of nova scotia, canada. because these horses have no contact with domestic animals, have minimal contact with people, and have never received antimicrobials, they offer a unique opportunity to study the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance in unmanaged populations. as part of an ongoing multidisciplinary and individual-based monitoring program, we collected feces from 508 geolocalize ...	2017	28177803