Pinnipeds are a fascinating group of marine mammals that play a crucial role as apex predators and sentinels of the functioning and health of marine ecosystems. They are found in the most extreme environments from the Polar regions to the tropics. Pinnipeds are comprised of about 34 species, and of those at least 25% live permanently in tropical zones. This book reviews and updates current research on the biology, marine ecology, bio-monitoring, and conservation of tropical pinniped populations, including their behavior, anthropogenic stressors, and health. It also looks at challenges to be faced for the conservation of tropical pinnipeds, many of which are threatened species.

Content: 1. Introduction to tropical and subtropical pinnipeds / Juan José Alava and David Aurioles-Gamboa --
2. An overview on the evolutionary history of tropical pinnipeds / Carlos A. Vildoso Morales --
3. Variability in the skull morphology of adult male California sea lions and Galapagos sea lions / Jimena Bohórquez-Herrera, David Aurioles-Gamboa, Claudia Hernández-Camacho and Dean C. Adams --
4. Hawaiian monk seals : the biology and ecology of the world's only tropical phocid / Charles Littnan, Michelle Barbieri, Jessica Lopez Bohlander, Tenaya Norris, Stacie Robinson and Kenady Wilson --
5. Hawaiian monk seal conservation : past, present and future / Charles Littnan, Michelle Barbieri, Jessica Lopez Bohlander, Tenaya Norris and Stacie Robinson --
6. Guadalupe fur seal population expansion and its post-breeding male migration to the Gulf of Ulloa, México / David Aurioles-Gamboa, Nereyda Pablo-Rodríguez, M. Patricia Rosas-Hernández, and Claudia J. Hernández-Camacho --
7. Population status, anthropogenic stressors and conservation of the Galapagos fur seal (Arctocephalus galapagoensis): an overview / Juan José Alava, Judith Denkinger, Pedro J. Jiménez, Raúl Carvajal and Sandie Salazar --
8. Diving physiology, foraging and reproductive behavior of the Galapagos sea lion (Zalophus wollebaeki) / Stella Villegas-Amtmann and Daniel P. Costa --
9. Management strategies and conservation status of Galapagos sea lion populations at San Cristobal Island, Galapagos, Ecuador / Diego Páez-Rosas and Nataly Guevara --
10. Population ecology, trends and distribution of the Juan Fernandez fur seal, Arctocephalus philippii (Peters 1866) in Chile / Layla P. Osman and Carlos A. Moreno --
11. Population ecology and conservation status of the South American sea lion in Uruguay / Valentina Franco-Trecu, Massimiliano Drago, Diana Szteren and Federico G. Riet-Sapriza --
12. Ecology and conservation status of the South American fur seal in Uruguay / Valentina Franco-Trecu --
13. The uncertain fate of the endangered Mediterranean monk seal Monachus monachus in the 21st century : population, ecology and conservation threats / Panagiotis Dendrinos, Styliani Adamantopoulou, Eleni Tounta and Alexandros A. Karamanlidis --
14. Bioecology and conservation threats of the Cape fur seal Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus / G.J. Greg Hofmeyr --
15. Emerging pathogens and health issues in the 21st century : a challenge for tropical and subtropical pinnipeds / Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse and Luis A. Soto-García --
16. Pathologies of pinnipeds in Brazil / Paula Baldassin, Derek Blaese de Amorim, Max R. Werneck and Daniela Bueno Mariani.