Tango and Sasha, Permit # 20648. Credit: Suzie Teerlink/NOAA Fisheries
Alaska Marine Mammal Field Work
NOAA Fisheries Alaska Fisheries Science Center and National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration conduct research on marine mammals off the coasts of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California.
Research projects focus on ecology and behavior, population dynamics, life history, and status and trends. Research results assist NOAA and other agencies in making science-informed decisions for sound management of marine resources.
Annual Field Research Flyer (all projects)
Field Season Research Briefs (Individual Projects)
Cetacean Research
Marine Mammal Passive Acoustic Recorders
Location
Bering, Beaufort, and Chukchi Seas, and Gulf of Alaska
Timing
April, May, August – October
Funding
NOAA and Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS); past funding for this project from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), U.S. Navy, North Pacific Research Board (NPRB), and the Marine Mammal Commission
Project
This project continues 15 years of passive acoustic monitoring in the Alaskan Arctic. Noise levels from anthropogenic sources are also monitored. Most moorings are co-located with long-term oceanographic moorings. Collaborators include NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Lab, NOAA Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering, Cornell University, and Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Contact
Catherine Berchok - catherine.berchok@noaa.gov
Cook Inlet Beluga Acoustic Monitoring
Image
Location
Cook Inlet
Timing
May – June, September – October
Funding
NOAA, BOEM, ADF&G
Project
Passive acoustic recorders will be used in Cook Inlet to identify feeding grounds for the endangered beluga whale population and to characterize potential noise-related disturbance. Recordings will also identify year-round spatial habitat use by other cetaceans such as harbor and Dall's porpoises, and killer whales. This project will maintain thirteen acoustic mooring packages serviced twice per year for its 15th year.
Contact
Paul Wade - paul.wade@noaa.gov
Cook Inlet Beluga Biopsy Study
Location
Cook Inlet
Timing
August – September
Funding
NOAA
Project
A boat-based biopsy survey will be conducted to provide information on the sex, genetics, diet, and hormonal status of individual beluga whales. In collaboration with Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals (GREMM) scientists, blubber samples will be collected using a darting gun. Photographs of each biopsied whale, and associated whales, will be taken and analyzed to identify individuals, which will be matched to the existing photo-ID catalog.
Contact
Paul Wade - paul.wade@noaa.gov
Cook Inlet Beluga Aerial Photogrammetry Study
Image
Location
Cook Inlet
Timing
August – September
Funding
NOAA
Project
Photogrammetry surveys will be conducted to estimate age classes and an index of beluga calf production in late August/early September. A hexacopter uncrewed aircraft system equipped with a high-resolution camera will be used to photograph beluga groups. Individuals will be measured to provide blowhole to dorsal ridge lengths, and whales will be assigned to calf, juvenile, and adult age classes based on relative lengths.
Contact
Paul Wade - paul.wade@noaa.gov
Investigating the Cook Inlet Beluga Behavioral Response to Acoustic Disturbance in Feeding Grounds
Location
Upper Cook Inlet
Timing
July – August
Funding
NOAA, ADF&G
Project
Suction cup tags will be deployed on free ranging beluga whales in their main summer feeding ground to characterize their foraging behavior and any responses to exposures of vessel noise. The project aims to better understand feeding habitat preferences, prey selection, and the potential for reduction of foraging opportunities when human disturbance occurs in their feeding grounds.
Contact
Manuel Castellote - manuel.castellote@noaa.gov
Harbor Porpoise Monitoring
Image
Location
Auke Bay, Southeast Alaska
Timing
May – August
Funding
NOAA
Project
Visual and passive acoustic monitoring will occur in Auke Bay and a nearby control site to evaluate the behavioral response of harbor porpoise to acoustic deterrent devices (pingers) as a potential tool to mitigate bycatch in fisheries in Southeast Alaska.
Contact
Kim Goetz - kim.goetz@noaa.gov
Cetacean Assessment in Behm Canal and Southern Clarence Strait
Image
Location
Southeast Alaska
Timing
January – October
Funding
NOAA, U.S. Navy
Project
Cetacean occurrence, density, and distribution will be assessed using a vessel survey and passive acoustics.
Contact
Robyn Angliss - robyn.angliss@noaa.gov
Pinniped Research
Coastal Aerial Surveys for Harbor Seals
Location
Coastal regions of Alaska including Southeast Alaska, Prince William Sound, Central and Western Gulf of Alaska, Aleutian Islands, and Bristol Bay
Timing
June (SE Alaska only); August and September
Funding
NOAA
Project
Aerial photographic surveys will be conducted using fixed-wing aircraft to estimate the distribution and abundance of harbor seals in Alaska. The survey effort will spread across coastal regions of Alaska and focus on harbor seal populations that have not been thoroughly surveyed in the last 3-5 years.
Contact
Michael Cameron - michael.cameron@noaa.gov
Steller Sea Lion Aerial Surveys
Location
Gulf of Alaska and Aleutian Islands
Timing
June – July
Funding
NOAA
Project
High-resolution aerial photographic surveys of Steller sea lions will be conducted, using crewed and uncrewed aircraft. Sea lion pups, juveniles, and adults hauled out on terrestrial sites in the Gulf of Alaska using crewed aircraft, while uncrewed aircraft associated with a research vessel will be used in the western and central Aleutian Islands. Time series of counts dating from the mid-1970s are used to track overall and regional trends in population abundance to monitor the recovery of the endangered western population.
Contact
Tom Gelatt - tom.gelatt@noaa.gov
Northern Fur Seal Vital Rates Studies
Location
Pribilof Islands
Timing
August – November
Funding
NOAA
Project
University of Washington employees temporarily hired under the Cooperative Agreement will be working with MML staff and volunteers to spend up to 10 weeks on St. Paul and St. George Islands to collect observations of previously marked northern fur seals. This data will be used for studies of northern fur seal demography and vital rates.
Contact
Tom Gelatt - tom.gelatt@noaa.gov
Northern Fur Seal Population Assessment
Image
Location
Bogoslof Island
Timing
August
Funding
NOAA
Project
A crew of scientists will use the USFWS vessel Tiglax to access Bogoslof Island for the purpose of using drones to collect aerial imagery of all of the northern fur seal rookeries on the island. The images will be used for a total count of seals on the island.
Contact
Tom Gelatt - tom.gelatt@noaa.gov
Steller Sea Lion Field Camp-based Studies
Location
Ugamak Island
Timing
July
Funding
NOAA
Project
A chartered helicopter will be used to ferry two researchers to an existing field camp on Ugamak Island. The researchers will spend 4-5 days surveying and observing marked sea lions for vital rates studies.
Contact
Tom Gelatt - tom.gelatt@noaa.gov
Uncrewed Surveys of Pinnipeds in the Aleutian Islands
Location
Western Aleutian Islands (Attu, Agattu, Alaid, Nizki, and Shemya Islands)
Timing
September
Funding
NOAA
Project
A medium-range, fixed-wing uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) based at Eareckson Air Station, Shemya Island, will be used to survey Steller sea lion and harbor seal sites in the western Aleutian Islands. Our goals are to evaluate the feasibility of transitioning from crewed to uncrewed aerial surveys of pinnipeds in remote parts of Alaska to reduce risks to NOAA personnel and aircraft, and to advance the application of beyond visual line-of-sight UAS operations in the United States.
Contact
Michael Cameron - michael.cameron@noaa.gov
Additional Resources
Tango and Sasha, Permit # 20648. Credit: Suzie Teerlink/NOAA Fisheries
