Gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) survey and sightings data from 1993 - 2014 collected by the National Marine Mammal Laboratories' California Current Ecosystem Program (AFSC/NOAA) personnel. Gray whales surveys were conducted along the coasts of California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and British Columbia, Canada. Gray whales were counted and photographed during the surveys. This dataset contains the survey data for the sighted whales, survey effort, and photo logs from the surveys. This dataset does not contain the photographs or identifications of individual whales.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has conducted shore-based counts of the Eastern North Pacific stock of gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) 26 years from 1967 to 2008 at Granite Canyon (or nearby at Yankee Point), 13 km south of Carmel, in central California. Convenient access to the Granite Canyon research station (owned by NOAA but operated by the State of California Department of Fish and Game) and the narrowness of the whales' migratory corridor in this area permitted an efficient counting process at this site. All counts were conducted during the 2-month southbound migration (mid-December to late February) rather than the protracted 3-month northbound migration. The routine nature of these counts and the consistency in research protocol lend themselves to inter-annual trend analyses. Research protocol has been based on single observers independently searching for whales and recording data on environmental conditions and the time, location, count, and direction of travel for each sighting. The counting system and observer performance has been tested through paired, independent observational effort; aerial surveys; thermal imagery; radio-tagging of whales; systematic observations through high-powered (25x) binoculars; and teams of observers tracking specific whale pods through the viewing area.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has conducted shore-based counts of the Eastern North Pacific stock of gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) 26 years from 1967 to 2008 at Granite Canyon (or nearby at Yankee Point), 13 km south of Carmel, in central California. Convenient access to the Granite Canyon research station (owned by NOAA but operated by the State of California Department of Fish and Game) and the narrowness of the whales' migratory corridor in this area permitted an efficient counting process at this site. All counts were conducted during the 2-month southbound migration (mid-December to late February) rather than the protracted 3-month northbound migration. The routine nature of these counts and the consistency in research protocol lend themselves to inter-annual trend analyses. Research protocol has been based on single observers independently searching for whales and recording data on environmental conditions and the time, location, count, and direction of travel for each sighting. The counting system and observer performance has been tested through paired, independent observational effort; aerial surveys; thermal imagery; radio-tagging of whales; systematic observations through high-powered (25x) binoculars; and teams of observers tracking specific whale pods through the viewing area.

In 1992-95 and 1999-2000, the U.S. Government provided funds for the Alaska Beluga Whale Committee (ABWC) to conduct studies of belugas in Alaska. Part of the ABWC research program consisted of aerial surveys of western Alaska beluga stocks, including the Eastern Bering Sea (EBS) stock. In 1992, several aerial surveys were conducted during three periods: 27-29 May, 17-21 June, and 18-22 September to assess the distribution of belugas during those periods. The surveys found relatively few belugas in May and September, but a large number of belugas in June. Based on those results, surveys in subsequent years were conducted only in June: 14-18 June 1993, 11-16 June 1994, 5-8 and 20-22 June 1995, 15-17 June 1999, and 17-20 June 2000. This dataset contains aerial survey data from the surveys described above.

Bowhead whales were documented during their spring migration most years from 1979 to 1992 by biologists from NMML. This documentation consisted of flying aerial surveys in an area generally north and east of Barrow, Alaska, (avoiding whaling operations to the west) to record sighting information and conduct vertical photography of the whales. Flight lines were sometimes on systematic transects perpendicular to the nearshore ice edge, providing an offshore distribution of whales (used in calculating the proportion of the population within sighting range of ice-base observation teams). Often, the flight lines were not prescribed, following instead the openings in sea ice (leads) to maximize opportunities for finding whales. These latter surveys were designed primarily for aerial photography, which provides information on individual, recognizable whales and, through photogrammetry, provides lengths of whales.

Gray whale calf production is estimated from data collected during the northbound migration as whales return to their feeding grounds in the Arctic. Counts of adult female whales with calves are made by observers and used to make the estimates. Gray whale abundance is estimated from data collected during the southbound migration from feeding grounds in the Arctic to breeding grounds in the lagoons of Mexico. Observers record counts of whales as they pass the long-term study site at Granite Canyon, California. Gray whale abundance is estimated from data collected during the southbound migration from feeding grounds in the Arctic to breeding grounds in the lagoons of Mexico. Counts of whales made from thermal imagery recorded during the migration are used to estimate abundance.

Comprises data from surveys focused on killer whales with opportunistic data from other cetacean species; includes data describing encounters for photo-identifications, biopsy, and acoustic sampling. Data includes surveys conducted by CAEP/NMML, and also contributed data from Alaska Ecosystem Program/NMML, Southwest Fisheries Science Center and other collaborators. Surveys were conducted in the Aleutian Islands, Bering Sea, and western Gulf of Alaska, 2000 to the present.

Aerial photographic surveys for bowhead whales were conducted near Point Barrow, Alaska, from 19 April to 6 June in 2011. Approximately 4,594 photographs containing 6,801 bowhead whale images were obtained (not accounting for resightings). The 2011 field season was very successful: we flew 36 out of 49 available days and conducted 49 flights in that time; we were grounded due to weather on 13 days. The longest period of time that we were grounded due to weather (low ceilings/fog) was three days. This occurred after the migration had slowed down, during a time when few whales passed the ice perches according to the ice-based visual survey. The 2011 migration was steady with several peaks (30 April, 4-5 May, 12 May), and then the migration rate slowed down considerably after 14 May. The photographs taken in 2011 are a significant contribution to the bowhead whale photographic catalogue. They will be used to calculate a population estimate that may be used for comparison with the 2011 ice-based estimate and will provide better precision in estimates of bowhead whale life-history parameters.

The North Pacific right whale (NPRW) was heavily hunted between the 17th and the 20th centuries. Protection was supposedly afforded by international treaties in the 1930s and 1940s, but the illegal capture of hundreds of individuals by the Soviet Union, primarily in the 1960s drastically impacted the recovery of the species. Currently, only a small remnant of this population (estimated at approximately 30 individuals) inhabits the southeastern Bering Sea (SEBS). There is an increasing body of evidence suggesting that the middle shelf domain constitutes the primary habitat of NPRWs in the SEBS during the summer. Despite substantial observation effort from various sources in some other areas, the only region in the Bering Sea where NPRWs have been consistently seen is the middle shelf. Vessel surveys were conducted in the summers of 2007 - 2011 in the EBS mostly within the NPRW critical habitat boundary (located on the middle shelf of the SEBS). A total of eight NPRW individuals were identified from photographs taken during the survey.

Since 1980, the Cetacean Assessment and Ecology Program of the National Marine Mammal Laboratory has been collecting photos of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Alaskan waters. Photo-identification is a useful method to gain insight into stock structure, life history, habitat use and movements. Some of the images were collected during humpback whale specific projects while others have been documented on an opportunistic basis. Photos have been collected within Southeast Alaska, along the Alaskan Peninsula, Kodiak Island, the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea sides of the Aleutian Chain, as well as, the Bering Sea, Bering Strait and Chukchi Sea.