"Cetacean Assessment and Ecology Program"

Lower Cook Inlet survey: No belugas but plenty of wildlife.

Gearing up biennial survey of endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales.

Gray whales are now making their great annual migration to Arctic feeding grounds. What they find there may be changing.

Through an Inter-Agency agreement (IA) between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), NMML is conducting a dedicated multi-year study to determine relationships between dominant currents passing from the Bering Sea into and through the Chukchi Sea and prey resources delivered to the Barrow Arch area (an area of high bowhead whale and prey concentrations between Wainwright and Smith Bay), and to provide information about the dynamic nature of those relationships relative to whale distribution and habitat utilization in the eastern Chukchi and extreme western Beaufort Seas. This study will also provide important baseline data on the occurrence, distribution, and habitat use of large whales in an area that is subject to rapid change in climate and human industrial development. This quarterly report covers the period of this study from January through March 2015.

Through an Inter-Agency agreement (IA) between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), NMML is conducting a dedicated multi-year study to determine relationships between dominant currents passing from the Bering Sea into and through the Chukchi Sea and prey resources delivered to the Barrow Arch area (an area of high bowhead whale and prey concentrations between Wainwright and Smith Bay), and to provide information about the dynamic nature of those relationships relative to whale distribution and habitat utilization in the eastern Chukchi and extreme western Beaufort Seas. This study will also provide important baseline data on the occurrence, distribution, and habitat use of large whales in an area that is subject to rapid change in climate and human industrial development. This quarterly report covers the period of this study from April through June 2015.

These findings will be useful for formulating designs of mitigation for human activities in the region. In particular, these data will be used to support National Environmental Policy Act analysis and documentation for Chukchi Sea Lease Sales, Draft Proposed Programs, and monitoring, as well as ESA consultations, Marine Mammal Protection Act permitting, and preparation of Biological Evaluations and Biological Opinions. The main components of both studies include satellite tagging (ARCWEST only, in 2013 and 2014), passive acoustic recorder and oceanographic instrument deployments, and biophysical (CTD and plankton tow) sampling stations. In addition, a passive acoustic survey (using sonobuoys) and a visual observation survey will be undertaken throughout the survey. Although 2015 is the last year of field work for both ARCWEST and CHAOZ-X, a subset of moorings will be redeployed in order to continue the long time series; tentative plans have been made to retrieve moorings off the NOAA Ship Ronald Brown in 2016.

Through an Inter-Agency agreement (IAA) between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), NMML is conducting a dedicated multi-year study to determine relationships between dominant currents passing from the Bering Sea into and through the Chukchi Sea and prey resources delivered to the Barrow Arch area (an area of high bowhead whale and prey concentrations between Wainwright and Smith Bay), and to provide information about the dynamic nature of those relationships relative to whale distribution and habitat utilization in the eastern Chukchi and extreme western Beaufort Seas. This study will also provide important baseline data on the occurrence, distribution, and habitat use of large whales in an area that is subject to rapid change in climate and human industrial development. This quarterly report covers the period of this study from July through September 2015.

The 2015 Arctic Whale Ecology Study (ARCWEST)/Chukchi Acoustics, Oceanography, and Zooplankton Study-extension (CHAOZ-X) cruise took place on board the F/V Aquila. The cruise began in Nome, AK on 8 September 2015 and ended in Dutch Harbor, AK on 28 September 2015. Chief Scientist was Dr. Catherine Berchok, and the survey team consisted of 11 scientists representing six different laboratories or institutions (for full personnel list, see Appendix 1). In summary, a total of 24 passive acoustic, 24 oceanographic, and 4 combination (oceanographic/passive acoustic) moorings were retrieved, and 20 passive acoustic, 13 oceanographic, and 4 combination moorings were redeployed. A total of 17 CTD casts were conducted, 133 sonobuoys were deployed for 24 hour passive acoustic monitoring, over 600 nm were surveyed for marine mammals, and over 900 nm were surveyed for seabirds.

Ecosystems & Fisheries-Oceanography Coordinated Investigations (EcoFOCI) is an effort by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and associated academic scientists. Eco-FOCI’s goal is to understand the effects of abiotic and biotic variability on ecosystems of the Gulf of Alaska, Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort seas. This cruise is in support of research sponsored by NOAA’s North Pacific Climate Regimes & Ecosystem Productivity Program, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), and PMEL/AFSC base.

Through an Inter-Agency agreement (IAA) between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), NMML is conducting a dedicated multi-year study to determine relationships between dominant currents passing from the Bering Sea into and through the Chukchi Sea and prey resources delivered to the Barrow Arch area (an area of high bowhead whale and prey concentrations between Wainwright and Smith Bay), and to provide information about the dynamic nature of those relationships relative to whale distribution and habitat utilization in the eastern Chukchi and extreme western Beaufort Seas. This study will also provide important baseline data on the occurrence, distribution, and habitat use of large whales in an area that is subject to rapid change in climate and human industrial development. This annual report covers work conducted in 2015, the third year of the study.