The Southern Resident killer whale (SRKW) population is threatened by a number of identified risk factors including prey availability, contaminants, vessel noise and disturbance, and small population size. In addition, there are several data gaps SRKW regarding their ecology. Although summer distribution is well documented, their winter distribution is not well known. Satellite tagging, acoustic recorders, and a compilation of public sightings has allowed for a much better assessment of this population’s winter distribution. Satellite tagging has been suspended in response to the mortality of a tagged SRKW, such that acoustic recorders and public sightings will be the primary approaches used to improve our understanding of the whale population’s occurrence and habitat use. Recent data has shown changes in the whales’ summer distribution patterns. Consequently, additional data on occurrence and movement patterns will be particularly important to document in the near term as the next couple of years to assess their potential response to the expected to have relatively lower abundance of returning Chinook, their primary prey. SRKW coastal sightings.

SRKW have several data gaps regarding their ecology. Diet of killer whales is being determined by analyses of predation events and feces and from stomach content of harbor porpoises. The potential impact of Chinook predators is being evaluated through models. Information on killer whale prey samples.

SRKW have several data gaps regarding their ecology. Diet of killer whales is being determined by analyses of predation events and feces and from stomach content of harbor porpoises. The potential impact of Chinook predators is being evaluated through models. Information on killer whale prey samples.

This project extends and advances existing ocean distribution and size models for Chinook Salmon, a major prey of Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW) and target of important fisheries, to provide ocean distribution estimates for multiple run-types (fall, summer, and spring Chinook) arising from rivers from California to Alaska by season and under variable oceanic conditions. It leverages very large tag-recapture databases that have been developed for Chinook Salmon over the past 50 years – hundreds of millions of fish tagged and millions recovered – and links these recoveries to a range of fisheries in which Chinook are targeted or captured as bycatch. It integrates data coast-wide, from Alaska to California, and over more than 30 years (1978-2015), to provide a first synthetic, quantitative description of Chinook distribution that can be used to understand the total Chinook prey field available to SRKW, fishers, and other predators in different seasons and under alternate ocean states. In addition, this projects examines long-term trends in Chinook salmon size and their biological implications. Chinook populations have shown pronounced trends toward smaller and younger fish returning to spawn, and these trends have accelerated in the last 15 years. This erosion of the age-size structure and life-history diversity may negatively affect population productivity via reductions in reproductive potential, and may compromise the long-term viability of populations and jeopardize the sustainability of Chinook salmon fisheries. Consequently, long-term shifts in life-history characteristics, which are likely caused by changing ecological conditions in the ocean, might need to be accounted for when estimating reference points for fishery management. This work supports ongoing efforts to recover SRKW populations, informs the SRKW critical habitat designation process and recovery plans, feeds into the PFMC SRKW ad hoc work group, and is directly in line with the NMFS Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management Road Map and Policy as well as the National Climate Science Strategy.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has conducted aerial counts of Cook Inlet beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) from 1993 to 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2021, and 2022. Nearly all counts were conducted during the month of June. The routine nature of these counts and the consistency in research protocol lend themselves to inter-annual trend analyses. Beginning in 2005, an aerial survey was added during the month of August to document calving groups within the upper Inlet (north of East and West Foreland). Research protocol has been based on paired observers on the shoreward side of the aircraft and a single observer and computer operator on the offshore side independently searching for marine mammals. Data on environmental conditions, time, location, species, and inclinometer angle were collected for each sighting. The counting protocol included multiple passes near each beluga group while simultaneously collecting video footage. The counting system and observer performance has been tested through paired, independent observational effort. Information about the Cook Inlet beluga whale projects conducted at NOAA can be found here: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/beluga-whale#science.

As a part of National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) management of the endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale population, a database of opportunistic beluga whale sightings was compiled from reports made by the general public, aircraft patrols, wildlife surveys, and military and industry monitoring studies. Sightings are reported to NMFS Alaska Regional (AKR) office personnel either by voice- or e-mail. Sighting data are then transcribed and sent to the NMFS National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML) for entry into the database. Data are first assessed for quality during transcription by NMFS AKR personnel. Secondary review and confirmation is undertaken by NMFS NMML personnel prior to entry of data into the Access Database.

From 1993 to 1999, The National Marine Mammal Laboratories' California Current Ecosystem Program (AFSC/NOAA) collected fecal samples from Steller sea lions in Washington to examine their diet. Most of the collections are from sites on the northern coast of Washington where Steller sea lions are most common and abundant.

The Marine Mammal Laboratory (MML) Food Habits Reference Collection, containing over 1000 specimens of cephalopod beaks and fish bones and otoliths, is used to identify undigested prey remains found in scats or stomachs of stranded or incidentally taken pinnipeds and cetaceans. Marine mammal food habits data are used in conjunction with satellite telemetry and dive records to better understand foraging behavior and prey selection. This information is critical to understanding how commercial fisheries and changing environmental conditions impact these animals. The Food Habits Collection includes fish and cephalopod species that are commonly consumed by pinnipeds along the Pacific Northwest coast and in Alaska, but we are in the process of adding other potential prey species and specimens to fill unrepresented size ranges. We are very appreciative of NMFS/AFSC/RACE fisheries biologists, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the University of Washington for their ongoing donations to our collection. With the help and cooperation of researchers such as these, our collection continues to grow in size and usefulness. The Marine Mammal Food Habits Reference Collection is an important research tool within NMML, and is also used several times a year by graduate students and researchers from universities, government agencies and private institutions. These collections have contributed to food habits research on Magister armhook squid, Northern fulmar, Newells shearwater, Hawaiian petrel, river otters and marine mammals. The collections are also used by archeologists to identify fish and mammal bones found in Native American middens from Alaska to Mexico. The database is comprised of a table detailing specimens and associated data and measurements for fish and cephalopod soft tissue and hard parts contained within the reference collection.

Data collected by the ATLAS Client and transmitted electronically or by fax to the AFSC are loaded into production transaction tables which are the source data for those interfaces used for fishery management, scientific inquiry and fishing activity monitoring by industry.

The Bowhead Whale Feeding Ecology Study (BOWFEST) was initiated in May 2007 through an Interagency Agreement between the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) (formerly Minerals Management Service (MMS)) and the National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML). This was a multi-disciplinary study involving oceanography, acoustics, tagging, stomach sampling and aerial surveys and included scientists from a wide range of institutions (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), University of Rhode Island (URI), University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), University of Washington (UW), Oregon State University (OSU), North Slope Borough (NSB), and NMML). The data described and presented here are only from the aerial survey component of this larger study. The focus of the aerial survey was to document patterns and variability in the timing and locations of bowhead whales. Using a NOAA Twin Otter, scientists from NMML conducted aerial surveys from mid-August to mid-September during this five year study between years 2007-2011. Surveys were conducted in the BOWFEST study area (continental shelf waters between 157 degree W and 152 degree W and from the coastline to 72 degree N, with most of the effort concentrated between 157 degree W and 154 degree W and between the coastline and 71 degree 44'N).