Diet monitoring

Diet monitoring using prey hard-parts in seal poo has been undertaken at Seal Rocks since 1998. Scientists go out to the island every few months and collect 20 to 30 samples of poo. They sift through this in a laboratory. Scientists have found that Australian Fur Seals will eat about 100 different sorts of fish and squid. However, they rely on only about eight types of prey.

The prey seals eat changes over time. Change in seal diet looks to be caused by changes between years in the sea temperature in Bass Strait. When Bass Strait is colder, many more red bait are eaten.