"Aerial Surveys of Arctic Marine Mammals"

Evidence for the earliest “Krill Trap” on record in the Western Beaufort Sea.

This Arctic survey of marine mammals in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, off the northern and western coasts of Alaska, has been conducted every year since 1979. A long-term dataset like this is both unusual and important. Exact dates and specific locations of the survey have varied over the years, but the study goals, general area of survey, and survey methods have stayed remarkably similar. ASAMM is co-managed by the NOAA Fisheries Marine Mammal Laboratory, and funded and co-managed by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

Norton Sound beluga whale survey to be conducted for first time in nearly 20 years.

Norton Sound beluga whale survey to be conducted for first time in nearly 20 years.

This report describes field activities of the Aerial Surveys of Arctic Marine Mammals (ASAMM) project conducted during summer and fall (1 July–31 October) 2016, and data and 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. Between 19 July and 20 August, surveys extended up to 111 km north of the usual ASAMM study area to collect information specific to the Eastern Chukchi Sea (ECS) stock of belugas. Sea ice cover in the study area in 2016 was generally light compared with historical (pre-2007) sea ice cover. When surveys commenced in early July, sea ice remained north of 70°N, and persisted though early August. By late August, sea ice remained near Hanna Shoal, but was otherwise absent from the study area. The remnant sea ice near Hanna Shoal shifted location through late September, moving closer to Point Barrow and into the westernmost Beaufort Sea, and was completely absent by mid-October. By late October, new ice was forming in shallow nearshore areas in the study area.

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. Sea ice cover in the study area in 2015 was generally light compared with historical (pre-2007) sea ice cover. In early July, sea ice in the eastern Chukchi Sea remained north of 71.5°N. By late July, sea ice remained in the Hanna Shoal area, but was otherwise absent from the Chukchi Sea study area. Sea ice persisted in most of the western Beaufort Sea through August. From early September through mid-October, sea ice was largely absent from the ASAMM study area although some grounded ice remained nearshore between Camden Bay and Deadhorse. By late October, new ice was forming in the northern blocks and in shallow nearshore areas in the western Beaufort Sea study area. The northeastern Chukchi Sea study area remained almost completely ice free through late October, with sea ice present only in shallow nearshore areas.

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.

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.

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.

In 1953, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) (43 USC 1331-1356) charged the U.S. Secretary of the Interior with the responsibility for administering minerals exploration within and development of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The Act empowered the Secretary to formulate regulations so that its provisions could be met. The OCSLA Amendments of 1978 (43 USC 1802) established a policy for the management of oil and natural gas in the OCS and for protection of the marine and coastal environments. The amended OCSLA states that the Secretary of the Interior shall conduct studies in areas or regions of sales to ascertain the “environmental impacts on the marine and coastal environments of the Outer Continental Shelf and the coastal areas which may be affected by oil and gas development” (43 USC 1346).