The research will be based off of the charter vessel Alaskan Song. The overall research objectives are to conduct visual and acoustic surveys for marine mammals, primarily cetaceans, to estimate density and abundance in this area.
From January to March in 2015–2019, the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, in partnership with the Navy, conducted small-boat surveys off Saipan to look for humpback whales.
Marine mammal entanglement, or bycatch, is a global problem that results in the death of hundred of thousands of whales, dolphins, porpoises and seals world-wide every year.
