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.

The National Marine Mammal Laboratory conducted aerial surveys to monitor the abundance and distribution of beluga whales in Cook Inlet, Alaska. This database contains the counts of beluga whale groups made by the aerial observers during surveys from 1993-2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2021 and 2022. Counts occurred concurrent with video collection during each pass near a beluga group.

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.

As a part of NMFS management of the endangered beluga whale population in Cook Inlet, Alaska, aerial surveys have been conducted during summer since 1993 to monitor their distribution and abundance. When beluga whale groups are found, observers make counts from the bubble windows while one observer records the group with a video camera. The video has been used to count the number of animals in the group to correct for missed animals in the observer counts. In 1996, a second video camera was added; the first video camera had a lens set at a wide angle to view the entire beluga group while the second video camera was zoomed to approximately 10x to magnify a subsample of individual whales in the group. The zoomed video has been used to examine color ratios of white adults relative to smaller and darker juveniles and calves and correct for those individuals missed due to their size or coloration. In 2005, a computer program was designed to digitize the process for analyzing the video, which had been conducted manually prior to that year. The program allows an analyst to digitally mark and number each individual whale image, track it across the screen, and measure relative whale size. The dataset described here includes the data from the years that video was analyzed using the computer program, 2005-2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2021, and 2022.

Suction cup attached multisensor tags were placed on beluga whales in Bristol Bay, Alaska, to collect depth, 3D acceleration and sound. Data were coupled with satellite tag data and stomach temperature data from the same individual in 2014. Hearing sensitivity was also collected on these individuals.

NMFS is mandated by the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to collect reports of marine mammal stranding events. This particular catalogue item is specific to the endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale population.

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.

This dataset is a compilation of line-transect data collected on surveys in the Aleutian Islands, Bering Sea, and western and central Gulf of Alaska, 2001 - 2010. All the surveys were conducted with similar methods using line-transect protocols, allowing effort to be quantified, but there were differences in transect design in some years (some surveys were systematic, some were not). Sighting information for all cetacean and at-sea pinniped species was collected. The database was compiled with the intent of including all surveys with sighting data on killer whales, in order to assess killer whale population biology in this region. Surveys included in this database are 2001 - 2007, 2009 and 2010 NMML killer whale surveys.

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.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has conducted aerial counts of Cook Inlet beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) from 1993 to 2022 (excluding 2013). 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. Aerial observer counts are used to calculate median counts for each beluga group to provide a daily index for the population prior to calculating the abundance estimate. Video has been used to count the number of animals in the group to correct for missed animals in the observer counts (perception bias). One video camera had a lens set at a wide angle to view the entire beluga group while the second video camera was zoomed to approximately 10x to magnify a subsample of individual whales in the group. The zoomed video has been used to examine color ratios of white adults relative to smaller and darker juveniles and calves and correct for those individuals missed due to their size or coloration. Aerial counts and video footage of beluga whales provide the fundamental data used to calculate the abundance of and a calving index for the Cook Inlet population. The abundance estimates are applied to trends analyses to determine the status of the stock. Three datasets are included here that contain basic survey data such as latitude, longitude and sightings, as well as the counts of beluga whale groups made by the aerial observers and the results from video analysis from data collected on surveys.