Amy Bishop

Not “Just a Seal”: Diversity, Risks, and Rewards of Being Individual

About the Speaker

Amy Bishop is an Assistant Professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage. She first came to Alaska in 2009 as an intern at the Alaska SeaLife Center, after receiving her BSc in Zoology from Northern Michigan University. She went on to receive her Masters in Coastal Environmental Management from Duke University and her Ph.D. in Behavioral Ecology from Durham University, England. Amy is ecstatic to be a part of the marine science community that encourages a culture of creativity and curiosity.

Not “Just a Seal”: Diversity, Risks, and Rewards of Being Individual

In wildlife biology, often the status quo is to consider the quality, health, and reproductive success of a population by averaging away the diversity across individuals. However, it is now widely recognized that from anemones to zebras, wild animal populations are comprised of individuals with consistent behavioral differences (sometimes referred to as personalities, or behavioral types). Just as an individual can be assigned an age-class, life-history stage, or sex, they also can be categorized along a spectrum of boldness, exploration, sociability, plasticity, or stress-coping styles. These interconnected traits and their underlying physiological mechanisms often define how individuals interact with their physical, biological, and social environment; therefore, fine-scale individual differences within a species is increasingly recognized as critical in determining individual, species, and ecosystem resilience to environmental changes. Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) breed and raise pups on a wide range of habitats for a short period in the fall-winter, providing an ideal wild system for exploring the ecological role and fitness consequences of being individual during this critical life-history period. From remote-controlled cars, to Fitbits for seals, to good-old fashioned ‘sitting in a wooden box’, our research group has spent over a decade using interdisciplinary and innovative approaches to advance our understanding of behavioral types and individual responses to stressors in pinnipeds. Here we will explore this pioneering research, what we have learned so far, and what new questions are on the horizon.