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22 items match your filter criteria.

New Study Will Improve Abundance Estimates for Bearded, Ribbon, and Spotted Seals in Alaska

New research on ice seal haul-out behavior helps to more accurately estimate the number of ice seals in the Arctic, and improve our efforts to conserve and monitor their populations.
December 10, 2024 - Feature Story ,
Alaska
A ribbon seal with dark brown hair and a pattern of large white ribbons on the chest raises her head and shoulders above the water line and looks around among ice floes. An adult female ribbon seal looks around among ice floes in the Bering Sea. Animals are much harder to detect during aerial surveys when they are in the water. Credit: NOAA Fisheries / Josh M London / Photo taken under authority of NOAA Fisheries Research Permit #23858.

2024 Research for Pacific Protected Species

Inflation Reduction Act funds helped NOAA Fisheries scientists enhance our 2024 data for ice seals in Alaska, Hawaiian monk seals and sea turtles in the Pacific Islands, and cetaceans off the West Coast.
November 13, 2024 - Feature Story ,
Alaska
Pacific Islands
West Coast
Marylou Staman conducts green sea turtle surveys at Lalo (French Frigate Shoals). Credit: NOAA Fisheries. Marylou Staman conducts green sea turtle surveys at Lalo in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. More than 90 percent of the Hawaiian green sea turtle population nests at Lalo (French Frigate Shoals). Credit: NOAA Fisheries. Taken under U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Permit #TE-72088A-3 and Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument Co-Manager’s Permit.

New Method Provides Reliable Estimates for Bearded Seals

Collaborative research finds more cost-effective way to sample and estimate abundance of bearded seals.
November 12, 2024 - Feature Story ,
Alaska
Bearded seal laying on ice on water Bearded Seal. Credit: John Jansen/NOAA Fisheries

Is It a Seal or a Sea Lion?

Seals and sea lions are both pinnipeds, but they have distinct characteristics that set them apart. Learn how to recognize a seal vs. a sea lion.
August 12, 2024 - Feature Story ,
Alaska
New England/Mid-Atlantic
Pacific Islands
West Coast
National
Infographic showing illustrated seal and sea lion and describing the differences between the two animals, such as ears, body size, flippers, etc. At first glance, seals (true or “earless seals”) and sea lions look fairly similar. Taking a closer look, these are some of the general differences to tell these animals, such as on the harbor seal (left) and California sea lion (right) pictured above.

Seal and Sea Lion Week

Join us for a week-long celebration of seals and other pinnipeds and get the scoop on NOAA's seal conservation efforts.
March 11, 2024 - Feature Story ,
Alaska
New England/Mid-Atlantic
Pacific Islands
Southeast
West Coast
National
An animation showing several species of seals in their native habitats with the words "Seal & Sea Lion Week" across the top. Seal & Sea Lion Week is March 11-15, 2024.

Alaska’s Threatened and Endangered Species

In celebration of the Endangered Species Act’s 50th Anniversary, NOAA is featuring the marine mammal and sea turtle species found in Alaska that are protected under the ESA.
June 16, 2023 - Feature Story ,
Alaska
Eastern North Pacific right whales are the most endangered whale population in the world — only an estimated 30 whales remain. Eastern North Pacific right whales are the most endangered whale population in the world — only an estimated 30 whales remain.

The Endangered Species Act: 50 Years of Conserving Species

Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act by learning more about NOAA's work to conserve endangered species and their habitats.
May 19, 2023 - Feature Story ,
Alaska
New England/Mid-Atlantic
Pacific Islands
Southeast
West Coast
National
50th Anniversary of the Endangered Species Act with smalltooth sawfish, green turtle, Atlantic salmon, staghorn, North Atlantic right whale, and Tubastraea floreana

Recommended 2023 Species Recovery Grants Projects

NOAA Fisheries has recommended $6.3 million in funding for six new projects and 20 ongoing projects.
April 12, 2023 - Feature Story ,
Alaska
New England/Mid-Atlantic
Pacific Islands
Southeast
West Coast
National
Two sturgeon swim above a gravelly bottom Atlantic sturgeon swimming. Credit: NOAA Fisheries

50 Years of Protecting Marine Mammals

A look at the Marine Mammal Protection Act's many advancements and accomplishments in the last 50 years.
February 02, 2023 - Podcast ,
National
Pair of bottlenose dolphins Pair of bottlenose dolphins. Credit: NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center/Lisa Morse.

2019 Report of Marine Mammal Strandings in the United States

These national and regional marine mammal stranding overviews detail marine mammal stranding rates, trends, and activities in the United States in a given year. In 2019, there were 7,719 confirmed marine mammal strandings in the United States.
January 05, 2023 - Feature Story ,
Alaska
New England/Mid-Atlantic
Pacific Islands
Southeast
West Coast
National
Stranding Network members perform an animal autopsy on a stranded gray whale that lies within a sectioned off area of the beach. A team of scientists from The Marine Mammal Center and the California Academy of Sciences perform a necropsy on a stranded gray whale at San Francisco’s Ocean Beach. Photo: Katie D’Innocenzo/The Marine Mammal Center.