Science & Data

This report describes field activities of the Aerial Surveys of Arctic Marine Mammals (ASAMM) project conducted during summer and fall (1 July – 29 October) 2014 and data analyses used to summarize field activities. Surveys were based in Barrow, Alaska, and Deadhorse, Alaska, and targeted the northeastern and southcentral Chukchi and western Beaufort seas, between 67°N and 72°N latitude and 140°W and 169°W longitude. Sea ice cover in the study area in 2014 was generally light compared with historical (pre-2007) sea ice cover. Sea ice remained in the northern half of the Chukchi Sea study area in early July. By late July, sea ice in the Chukchi Sea had receded to the northernmost regions of the study area. The majority of the nearshore area in the western Alaskan Beaufort Sea had ~1% sea ice in late July, although ~10-100% sea ice cover remained offshore between Camden Bay, Alaska, and Point Barrow, Alaska. Remnant sea ice persisted in the northeastern Chukchi Sea study area through late August, but the western Beaufort Sea study area was ice-free by late August. By 9 September, the entire study area was completely ice-free and remained ice-free until new ice started forming in mid-October. A total of 90 survey flights were conducted. The Barrow-based aerial survey team conducted surveys from 2 July through 29 October 2014 and the Deadhorse-based aerial survey team conducted surveys from 19 July through 10 October 2014. Total combined flight time was 440 hours, including 207 hours of transect survey effort. Over 110,000 km were flown, with 45,224 km of effort on transect. Surveys were conducted in the western Beaufort Sea in summer (mid-July through August) for the third consecutive year and in block 23 (southcentral Chukchi Sea) for the first time in several decades.

Juvenile Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), ecologically-related species, and associated biophysical data were collected from the marine waters of the northern region of southeastern Alaska (SEAK) in 2015. This annual survey, conducted by the Southeast Coastal Monitoring (SECM) project, marks 19 consecutive years of systematically monitoring how juvenile salmon utilize marine ecosystems during a period of climate change. The survey was implemented to identify the relationships between year-class strength of juvenile salmon and biophysical parameters that influence their habitat use, marine growth, prey fields, predation, and stock interactions. Up to 13 stations were sampled monthly in epipelagic waters from May to August (total of 23 sampling days). Fish, zooplankton, surface water samples, and physical profile data were collected during daylight at each station using a surface rope trawl, bongo nets, a water sampler, and a conductivity-temperature-depth profiler. Surface (3-m) temperatures and salinities ranged from approximately 8 to 15 ºC and 15 to 32 PSU across inshore, strait, and coastal habitats for the four months. A total of 17,228 fish and squid, representing 25 taxa, were captured in 92 rope trawl hauls fished from June to August. Juvenile salmon comprised approximately 89% of the catch. Over all months and habitats, juvenile pink (O. gorbuscha), chum (O. keta), sockeye (O. nerka), and coho (O. kisutch) salmon occurred in 51-92% of the hauls, while juvenile Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) occurred in about 22% of the hauls. Abundance of juvenile salmon was low in 2015; peak CPUE occurred in June strait and coastal habitats. Coded-wire tags were recovered from 51 juvenile coho salmon and 5 juvenile and immature Chinook salmon, that primarily originated from hatchery and wild stocks in SEAK sampled in the strait habitat; an additional 18 adipose-clipped juvenile salmon without tags were present. The only non-Alaskan stocks were recovered off Icy Point, a juvenile Chinook salmon from the Willamette River, OR and a juvenile coho salmon from the Satsop River, Washington. Of the juvenile salmon examined for otolith marks, Alaska enhanced stocks comprised 56% of the juvenile chum (373 of 663) and 38% of the juvenile sockeye salmon (202 of 532). Of the 380 potential predators of juvenile salmon, predation on juvenile salmon was not observed in the six fish species examined. The long term seasonal time series of SECM juvenile salmon stock assessment and biophysical data is used in conjunction with basin-scale ecosystem metrics to annually forecast pink salmon harvest in SEAK. Long term seasonal monitoring of key stocks of juvenile salmon and associated ecologically-related species, including fish predators and prey, permits researchers to understand how growth, abundance, and interactions affect year-class strength of salmon in marine ecosystems during a period of rapid climate change.

This report describes field activities of the Aerial Surveys of Arctic Marine Mammals (ASAMM) project conducted during summer and fall (1 July–31 October) 2015 and data analyses used to summarize field activities. Surveys were based in Barrow, Alaska, and Deadhorse, Alaska, and targeted the northeastern and southcentral Chukchi and western Beaufort seas, between 67°N and 72°N latitude and 140°W and 169°W longitude.

Aerial, ship, and land-based surveys to count Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) adults, juveniles, and pups on terrestrial rookery and haulout sites in Alaska were conducted by the Marine Mammal Laboratory (MML) in June to July 2015.

Aerial surveys of the beluga population in Cook Inlet, Alaska, each June, July, or both from 1993 to 2012, after which biennial surveys began in 2014

Juvenile Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), ecologically-related species, and associated biophysical data were collected from the marine waters of the northern region of southeastern Alaska (SEAK) in 2014. This annual survey, conducted by the Southeast Coastal Monitoring (SECM) project, marks 18 consecutive years of systematically monitoring how juvenile salmon utilize marine ecosystems during a period of climate change. The survey was implemented to identify the relationships between year-class strength of juvenile salmon and biophysical parameters that influence their habitat use, marine growth, prey fields, predation, and stock interactions. Up to 13 stations were sampled monthly in epipelagic waters from May to August (total of 23 sampling days). Fish, zooplankton, surface water samples, and physical profile data were collected during daylight at each station using a surface rope trawl, bongo nets, a water sampler, and a conductivity-temperature-depth profiler. Surface (3-m) temperatures and salinities ranged from approximately 8 to 15 ºC and 18 to 32 PSU across inshore, strait, and coastal habitats for the four months. A total of 79,524 fish and squid, representing 29 taxa, were captured in 97 rope trawl hauls fished from June to August. Juvenile salmon comprised approximately 13% of the total fish. Juvenile pink (O. gorbuscha), chum (O. keta), sockeye (O. nerka), and coho (O. kisutch) salmon occurred in 50-92% of the hauls by month and habitat, while juvenile Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) occurred in about 20% of the hauls. Abundance of juvenile salmon was high in 2014; peak CPUE occurred in July in strait and coastal habitats. Coded-wire tags were recovered from 35 coho salmon and 5 Chinook salmon, that primarily originated from hatchery and wild stocks in SEAK sampled in the strait habitat; an additional 6 adipose-clipped individuals without tags (presumably originating from the Pacific Northwest) were recovered mainly in coastal habitat, where a non-Alaskan juvenile coho and Chinook were recovered (both Oregon origin). Of the juvenile salmon examined for otolith marks, Alaska enhanced stocks comprised 64% of the juvenile chum and 32% of the juvenile sockeye salmon. Of the 147 potential predators of juvenile salmon, predation on juvenile salmon was observed in 2 of 11 fish species examined. The long term seasonal time series of SECM juvenile salmon stock assessment and biophysical data is used in conjunction with basin-scale ecosystem metrics to annually forecast pink salmon harvest in SEAK. Long term seasonal monitoring of key stocks of juvenile salmon and associated ecologically-related species, including fish predators and prey, permits researchers to understand how growth, abundance, and interactions affect year-class strength of salmon during climate change in marine ecosystems.

Juvenile Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), ecologically-related species, and associated biophysical data were collected from the marine waters of the northern region of southeastern Alaska (SEAK) in 2013. This annual survey, conducted by the Southeast Coastal Monitoring (SECM) project, marks 17 consecutive years of systematically monitoring how juvenile salmon utilize marine ecosystems during a period of climate change. The survey was implemented to identify the relationships between year-class strength of juvenile salmon and biophysical parameters that influence their habitat use, marine growth, prey fields, predation, and stock interactions. Thirteen stations were sampled monthly in epipelagic waters from May to August (total of 23 sampling days). Fish, zooplankton, surface water samples, and physical profile data were collected during daylight at each station using a surface rope trawl, Norpac and bongo nets, a water sampler, and a conductivity-temperature-depth profiler. Surface (3-m) temperatures and salinities ranged from approximately 7 to 16 ºC and 16 to 32 PSU across inshore, strait, and coastal habitats for the four months. A total of 25,730 fish and squid, representing 27 taxa, were captured in 98 rope trawl hauls fished from June to August. Juvenile salmon comprised approximately 94% of the total fish catch with the exception of one large haul of capelin (n = 10,452). Juvenile pink (O. gorbuscha), chum (O. keta), sockeye (O. nerka), and coho (O. kisutch) salmon occurred in 57-84% of the hauls by month and habitat, while juvenile Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) occurred in 34% of the hauls. Abundance of juvenile salmon was moderate in 2013; peak CPUE occurred in July in strait and coastal habitats. Coded-wire tags were recovered from 20 coho salmon and 14 Chinook salmon, mainly including hatchery and wild stocks originating in SEAK and captured in strait habitat; an additional 20 adipose-clipped individuals without tags (presumably originating from the Pacific Northwest) were recovered mainly in coastal habitat. Alaska enhanced stocks comprised 59%, 19%, and < 1% of chum, sockeye, and coho salmon, respectively. Predation on juvenile salmon was observed in 3 of 11 fish species examined. The long term seasonal time series of SECM juvenile salmon stock assessment and biophysical data is used in conjunction with basin-scale ecosystem metrics to annually forecast pink salmon harvest in SEAK. Long term seasonal monitoring of key stocks of juvenile salmon and associated ecologically-related species, including fish predators and prey, permits researchers to understand how growth, abundance, and interactions affect year-class strength of salmon during climate change in marine ecosystems.

Acoustic monitoring of Cook Inlet beluga whales and killer whales, which prey on belugas

This report describes field activities and data analyses for the Aerial Surveys of Arctic Marine Mammals (ASAMM) project conducted during summer and fall (1 July – 28 October) 2013. Surveys were based in Barrow and Deadhorse, Alaska, and targeted the northeastern Chukchi and western Beaufort seas, between 68°N and 72N, 140°W and 169°W.

Juvenile Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), ecologically-related species, and associated biophysical data were collected from the marine waters of the northern region of southeastern Alaska (SEAK) in 2012. This annual survey, conducted by the Southeast Coastal Monitoring (SECM) project, marks 16 consecutive years of systematically monitoring how juvenile salmon utilize marine ecosystems during a period of climate change. The survey was implemented to identify the relationships between year-class strength of juvenile salmon and biophysical parameters that influence their habitat use, marine growth, prey fields, predation, and stock interactions. Thirteen stations were sampled monthly in epipelagic waters from May to August (total of 23 sampling days). Fish, zooplankton, surface water samples, and physical profile data were typically collected during daylight at each station using a surface rope trawl, Norpac and bongo nets, a water sampler, and a conductivity-temperature-depth profiler. Surface (3-m) temperatures and salinities ranged from approximately 7 to 14 ºC and 16 to 32 PSU across inshore, strait, and coastal habitats for the four months. A total of 46,144 fish and squid, representing 29 taxa, were captured in 96 rope trawl hauls fished from June to August. Juvenile salmon comprised approximately 96% of the total fish catch. Juvenile pink (O. gorbuscha), chum (O. keta), sockeye (O. nerka), and coho (O. kisutch) salmon occurred in 73-84% of the hauls by month and habitat, while juvenile Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) occurred in 20% of the hauls. Abundance of juvenile salmon was high in 2012; peak CPUE occurred in July in strait habitat and in August in coastal habitat. Coded-wire tags were recovered from 27 coho salmon and 6 Chinook salmon, mainly including hatchery and wild stocks originating in SEAK and captured in strait habitat; an additional 18 adipose-clipped individuals without tags (presumably originating from the Pacific Northwest) were recovered mainly in coastal habitat. Alaska enhanced stocks comprised 71%, 30%, and 9% of chum, sockeye, and coho salmon, respectively. Predation on juvenile salmon was observed in 3 of 9 fish species examined. The longterm seasonal time series of SECM juvenile salmon stock assessment and biophysical data is used in conjunction with basin-scale ecosystem metrics to annually forecast pink salmon harvest in SEAK. Longterm seasonal monitoring of key stocks of juvenile salmon and associated ecologically-related species, including fish predators and prey, permits researchers to understand how growth, abundance, and interactions affect year-class strength of salmon during climate change in marine ecosystems.