Understanding the colonization or recolonization of breeding sites used by colonially breeding animals is fundamental to metapopulation theory and has practical applications in conservation biology. Historically, pinniped species (seals and sea lions) were heavily exploited worldwide, resulting in some breeding colonies becoming extirpated. As populations recover, some abandoned sites may be recolonized or new sites can be colonized.
The northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus) is a pelagic-feeding, polygynously breeding otariid (an eared seal with hind limbs that can be pulled under the body and used as legs on land like a sea lion), with an expansive range across the North Pacific Ocean