Maïka Martin

Undergraduate Student (Université de Sherbrooke)

Project description:

Flexibility in foetus implantation date as a mechanism for birth phenology adjustment in grey seals (Halichoerus grypus)

Flexibility in the timing of implantation or variability in fetal growth appear to be mechanisms that may play a role in regulating the reproductive phenology of pinnipeds. Given the observed advance in the average birth date among Northwest Atlantic gray seals, the objective of my project is to examine the mechanisms and determinants of this species’ reproductive phenology. My project is based on fetal weight data from samples collected in the Gulf of St. Lawrence during the hunting season from 1994 to 2023.