Freshwater Harbor Seals of Lake Iliamna Alaska: Updated Counts and Research Coordination for 2010
January 01, 2010
2010 Alaska Marine Science Symposium poster about Lake Iliamna, home to a small colony of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina).
Lake Iliamna is home to a small colony of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina). These seals are known to live in the lake year round and although the lake is connected to Bristol Bay via the Kvichak River (120 km in length), there are no known accounts of immigration or emigration. Concerns over the conservation status of these seals, their atypical freshwater habitat, and their continued availability for a small Alaska Native subsistence harvest remain high, because of potential impacts from development of the Pebble gold and copper mines 24 km from the lake.
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David E. Withrow and Kymberly M. Yano.