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Photo-identification data on killer whales occupying the northern Gulf of Mexico have been collected in association with large vessel surveys since 1991. Photographs of killer whales are taken during encounters and unique dorsal fin marking can be used to identify individual animals. These images have been reviewed and individuals cataloged to evaluate residency and demographic patterns in killer whales in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Aerial surveys were conducted during the spring-summer of 2010 and seasonally during 2011-2012 to assess the abundance and spatial distribution of marine mammals and sea turtles within the region impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Surveys were conducted in high-winged twin engine aircraft flying at altitudes of 600-750 feet. Visual observations of marine mammals, sea turtles, birds, and other species are recorded including species identifications, counts of animals. Surveys are conducted along line transects oriented perpendicular to the shoreline and follow protocols consistent with analysis using Distance approaches to estimate detection probability and abundance. These data have been used to evaluate the potential impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on protected species.

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.

This layer is intended to represent the geographic extent of NOAA Fisheries’ Pacific Northwest Marine Mammal Survey. The Pacific Northwest Marine Mammal Survey is part of the larger West Coast Marine Mammal Surveys started in 2021 and led by NMFS Alaska Fisheries Science Center. These surveys have a specific focus on small vessel surveys (Class II small vessel, 34-ft LOA) for marine mammals from the western Strait of Juan de Fuca south along the outer coast to Eureka, California. Although focal species vary from year-to-year, surveys have historically prioritized gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus), humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), and Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) given the program’s long-term survey efforts for these species. Since 2021, surveys from June through September now represent a substantial increase in both spatial coverage and frequency relative to historical surveys, documenting all opportunistic sightings of marine mammals independent of program priorities. Data are used to derive estimates of species-specific occurrence, density, abundance, and resource utilization. As the length of the time series improves, data will be leveraged to better understand environmental drivers of occurrence, abundance and density, phenology of migration, and the health/condition of individuals and populations.The Pacific Northwest Marine Mammal Survey periodically samples marine mammals along coastal, shelf, and shelf edge ecosystems - out to approximately 20 nautical miles offshore - from northern Washington (including the western Strait of Juan de Fuca) to northern California. Periodic sampling efforts include collection of spatially explicit presence/absence data for all marine mammals, mark-resight observations of individually identifiable large whales (including gray whales, humpback whales, killer whales, blue whales, and fin whales) and Steller sea lions (from branded and tagged animals), boat-based tissue sampling of large whales, boat-based UAS surveys for enumerating pinnipeds at haulouts/rookeries along the PNW coast, and UAS-based photogrammetry for measuring body condition in large whales and pinnipeds.

Photos of catch, methodology, scientists, and habitat organized by year and month, 2003-current.

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.

This product represents the marine mammal observation count data for the 2018-2020 Gulf of America Marine Assessment Program for Protected Species surveys and the subsequent 2022-2023 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service aerial surveys in the northern Gulf of America. File goamapps_air_marine_mammal_observations_forDistribution.csv and both an html and xml metadata file are included. For more information, consult the associated metadata.

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.

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.