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A requisite for reliable food web models and ecosystem-based management in regions such as the California Current is the availability of diet information on key predators. In upwelling ecosystems, much of the lower trophic level energy may be transferred through a relatively small set of very abundant pelagic forage fish taxa, such as anchovies, sardines, smelts, and herring. In addition the pe...

Foraging ecology of marine mammals is often poorly understood because of the inherent difficulties in studying them in their natural environment. Increasingly, fatty acid signature analysis of blubber is being used to evaluate dietary preferences; therefore it is important to fully understand the biochemical composition of this tissue. The purpose of the present study was to describe the charac...

Water chemistry is thought to be the primary factor influencing fish otolith chemistry. Experimental results with freshwater and diadromous fish have been consistent with this paradigm, but with marine fish, they have often been ambiguous or contradictory. A review of water chemistry data indicated that Sr:Ca (mmol:mol) levels were higher in marine water than in most freshwater systems and that...