Although we don’t always emphasize the humpback whale work that we do, part of our mission has always been to contribute to the cooperative work on North Pacific humpback whales between various research groups and the National Marine Fisheries Service. During our mid-July cruise we made some fascinating observations of humpback whales (more on that later).  Recently Olga von Ziegesar, Jan Straley, and NGOS pooled data to look at humpbacks in Prince William Sound and determine if there are different whales using inshore areas of Prince William Sound and those found mainly offshore from the Sound.   It appears the whales that regularly use the Sound are unique individuals and their feeding habits differ from whales in adjacent areas. Along with Olga and Eye of the Whale, we have pooled data to complete a long term picture of changes in population that uses Prince William Sound... The analysis is being completed by graduate student Suzy Terlink and results should be out soon...

After a 4am start on July 8, 2010, traveling across the Gulf of Alaska from Seward to the Sound, we spotted a number of humpbacks in Puget Bay and watched four of them lunge feed as a group... They weren’t setting bubblenets as they do in southeastern Alaska, but working cooperatively to herd and corral fish... we could spot where they were about to lunge through the surface by watching the birds (see photo) that hungrily grouped up, hovered and anticipated the leftovers from the next lunge.  Most of the time in the Sound humpbacks feed at depth, but occasionally we are treated to this exciting action at the surface.

The big surprise regarding humpbacks occurred on our way back to Kenai Fjords ten days later. When we listened on the hydrophone for killer whales outside Resurrection Bay, we heard humpback calls, not killer whales.  In the far distance we could see the blows that marked an aggregation of humpback whales.  We were operating with two vessels at the time.  We called our coworker, Cy St.-Amand, on the recently launched R.V. Right Whale and asked him to go investigate while we looked for killer whales farther west.

Cy was stunned by what he heard and found.  A group of seven humpback whales was making extremely loud calls as they synchronously dove and then returned to the surface with lunges through schools of  fish.  The calls reverbrated so loudly through the steel hull of the Right Whale he could record them without the aid of a hydrophone.  The only time humpbacks make feeding calls this loud is when they are herding fish during bubblenet feeding.   Indeed as he watched he could see the perfectly circular bubble trails that would pock-mark the surface before the group of whales synchronously lunged through the middle of the bubble net.  He was observing THE FIRST DOCUMENTED EXAMPLE OF TRUE BUBBLENET FEEDING IN THE PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND/KENAI FJORDS REGION.  Prior to this we and others had seen the whales lay out bubble curtains and other forms of using bubbles when feeding, but never this.  True bubblenet feeding is a highly specialized behavior, requires a closely coordinated group of whales, a very intricately constructed “bubble” net coupled and very loud and specific vocalizations that all serve to highly concentrate the prey fish prior to a group lunge.(see photos).  It is an unmistakable behavior when you know what you are looking for, but can be confused with other forms of feeding if you have not previously seen it.  The vocalizations involved are so loud that the gulls sitting on the surface use them (as we do) to determine when the whales are heading for the surface... and the bubble rings allow the gulls and researchers to pinpoint, at the last minute, the location the whales will lunge through.  These whales bubblenetted  intensely all day long, much to the amazement and delight of passengers of the tourboats.  The tourboats were instructed to simply drift in the general area, not to approach the whales, and let the whales come up as they desired. They did a great job and were very respectful of the whales.  At times the bubblenets were formed right next to the drifting boats and passengers found themselves looking down the throats of the feeding humpacks.   As several of the veteran skippers, each with more than a dozen years of experience agreed, “We have never seen anything like this on any of our tours before”.   As we found out later, some of the participating whales had been photographed in Southeast Alaska in previous years... perhaps they are teaching the local whales a new feeding technique for this area...

Our first killer whale encounter of the July trip came in Latouche Passage, shortly after entering the Sound.  It was with part of the AE pod, the only pod of whales we know that does not leave Prince William Sound.  We know this from our many years of encounter records, from photographs contributed by boaters and this has been confirmed by records of their long-term movements as transmitted by satellite tags we have attached.  Truly these are the Prince William Sound “local yokel” whales.  Their photos comprise the majority contributed by boaters in the Sound.  They often travel separately in three subgroups.  This encounter is with a subgroup distinguished by the lack of a matriarch... In fact these whales could all be viewed as the orphan group; they are all “orphans” as the two matriarchs in this group, AE10 and AE11 have both died, each leaving one young female offspring born in 2000 as well as a total of three male offspring.  It is up to the young females to eventually breed and carry on the matriline. If not the matriline will perish.  AE10’s female offspring, AE22 (Petal, with a beautifully distinctive saddle patch, see photo) has a single brother, AE15 (Hanning) who is characterized by constantly leaning to the right as if he is having trouble with holding up his large dorsal fin.  AE11 is survived by her brother AE14 as well as two male offspring AE18 (Lethcoe) and AE19 (Nowell)  and her sole female offspring, AE23 (Patch).  It will be fascinating to see if Petal or Patch carry these matrilines into the future or whether they fade into extinction.

Our August 8-20 trip starts off with lots of activity surrounding the tourboats in Kenai Fjords.  We are almost halfway across Blying Sound headed for Prince William Sound when we hear from the tourboats on the radio that a large group of killer whales has entered Resurrection Bay.  We turn and crank up the speed.  It will take us at least two hours to get back into the Bay.  But the effort is worth it.  All of the AB17 subpod is there is resting formation so that we can clearly sort our individuals.  AB pod is the pod that lost 13 whales following the Exxon Valdez oil spill so we want to make sure we keep close track of what is going on in this group.  We find two first time mothers.  AB53, Evans, is thirteen years old and has her first offspring trailing on behind her. AB54, Irish, is twelve years old and already has her first calf, a very orange tinged little whale, small and frisky... Unfortunately we have also lost  the oldest matriarch in the pod, AB10, Jeannie, who we estimate was born in about 1948... she was probably over 60 years old, our oldest known matriarch.  She leaves one male son AB11, Olsen, who is about 35 years old. Her other sons have all died, Olsen is the last of her matriline.

We end up staying in Kenai Fjords and working with the tourboats for a couple more days.  Weather is not so good for crossing Blying Sound.  We have both the AD8’s and AK pods in the area.  Our intern on this trip is a student from Whitman College,  Loren Flynn,  who rapidly learns how to keep track of tourboat activities around the whales and complete the forms... and make these observations as the boat rocks and rolls in the wind and the swell... doing research isn't all just spending time alone with the whales.  For the most part, tour operators in Kenai Fjords are well behaved and have learned through workshops and experience to treat the animals with respect.  By watching them in operation we can provide feedback and suggestions.  Fortunately we have a good working relationship with tourboat operators and managers.  It is important that people get an opportunity to see these incredible animals in a constructive manner.

When we get to Prince William Sound we find part of AB pod and part of AJ pod traveling together.   It is evening and they are spread out feeding and hard to approach but I get a tag on an AJ whale just as it gets dark. It works well and allows us to find the whales again and again over the next few days.  It also gives us great long-term data on the travels of these whales and important feeding areas.  It is pouring rain (as has been the case much of this extremely cold and wet summer) as we anchor in Little Bay, glad to be back in Prince William Sound.   Despite the weather, over the following days we are able to get the biopsies and observations we need, primarily from AB and AJ pods.

The greatest thrill comes near the end of the trip when we get an ARGOS satellite tag on an AT1 transient, the first AT1 transient ever tagged.   It was one of those odd events, seemingly a gift from the whales.   We had spent hours following a group of five AT1s... AT9,10,18,2 and 6.  They were initially resting, diving synchronously with very long downtimes, weaving their way down lower Knight Island Passage off Lucky Bay. All were together except for AT6, the only male with an adult sized dorsal fin.  He is quirky and often travels alone... today he was a bit apart from the group, but paralleling.  He gave us a close approach, a bit of an inspection, but turned away just as I was about to tag him.  This has happened before, but it was encouraging that he made such a close approach.  We alternately tried to approach him and then would  let him wander on his own, staying well away from him so he wouldn’t feel pursued.  With the AT1s everything is “cat and mouse”, just like the way they hunt.  You could lose track of them at any time. Later AT6 came up in perfect position for tagging, but was tilting his fin down so that I could get a square shot.  At times it has seemed that he knows what is up and the kind of angle and distance I have to have to place a tag... and he never gives it to me…not quite.  It was after 9pm and getting dark and pouring rain when we decided to end the encounter and head for anchor.  We had been struggling just to keep the whales in sight when they surfaced between their six or seven minute dives.  We could never be sure which direction they would go once they submerged.  Being unpredictable is how they confuse their prey... or those that follow them.   We were outside Little Bay.  I went below, removed the tag from the crossbow and had just taken off my raingear when Cy started tapping with his foot on the deck of the flying bridge above... the signal to get back out... quick.  I glanced up to see the older female, AT9, right along the bow of the boat.  Oddly, she had followed and approached us as we were steaming away.  I quickly grabbed the crossbow and tag and readied it for service. No time for raingear.  No time for a  retrieval line on the tag.  I would have to make the shot count.  She came up again but a bit  too far in front.  As we moved along she started pacing us... first in front of the boat and then behind, while remaining just below the surface.  Cy tried to alter the speed so she would end up alongside at the right distance... all the time calling out her position to me from his position at the helm on the flying bridge. Cy was repeating “she’s coming up!, shes coming up!  Looks like a good angle... shes coming up!”  and there she was, alongside, but about 18m off, a very long shot.  No time for thought, I instinctively fired. The tag dropped a bit in flight but hit and attached right at the base of the dorsal fin... perhaps not implanting quite all the way, but a good attachment.  It certainly seemed that just as we had given up, this whale had offered herself up.  Something aligned in the cosmos and it was time for an AT1 to be tagged.  Oddly I had mixed feelings.  In a way this was like tagging a sacred cow... there are only seven of these AT1s left and it feels like they are sacrosanct, left alone to live out there final years.  On the other hand, a pressing curiosity is always gnawing at me. It’s what caused me to start following killer whales in the first place.  In this case of the tagging,  I want to know just what encompasses their current range and what important habitat entails.  How much time do they spend offshore foraging for Dall's porpoise versus nearshore foraging for harbor seals?  How much area do they cover in a day and how many days do they spend in one locale... hopefully this tag will begin to give me answers.   I only wish Eva was here and we had more time so we could take advantage of our ability to relocate these whales day after day and make extended observations.  Now, back from the field, we are following the movements of this whales gaining insight into what constitutes important habitat for these whales and other vital questions...

Our field season got off to a rough start.  Dan Olsen filled in, starting our early fieldwork in April and early May, using our research vessel the R.V. Natoa in Kenai Fjords and Resurrection Bay.  He documented the arrival of  the AD and AK pods,  an annual spring event here… possibly one of the most predictable of wildlife events.  These pods (and sometimes others) come every year for a month or more to eat the succulent Chinook or king salmon that pass through the region in May and early June.  The tourboat skippers out of Seward, Alaska look forward to sighting the whales in calm waters on a daily basis.  These whales are quite used to the attention of the tour boats each spring.  The boats are well trained to observe them, but not disturb them(see below).  The whales get more and more relaxed as they feed daily on the Chinook, probably their first source of abundant salmon for the year.

We had not seen the AD5 subpod since fall of 2008, so it was great to see this pod again and find that there were two new calves, apparently one born in 2009 to an experienced mom, Tutka, AD25, and one born this year to first time mom China Poot, AD25, who is 15 years old (the average age for having a first surviving calf). This was Great News.   There was also sad news...  One of the two old matriarchs in AK pod, AK6, is missing and apparently dead.  She was born about 1953, and was at least 57 years old, about the age that most female killer whales die in Alaska.  Her eldest offspring, an older male, Hive, AK1, and youngest offspring Lou, only nine years old, were seen in the vicinity of Cheval, her adult daughter who has three offspring of her own.  Hive and Lou were wandering, seeming a bit adrift without there mother.  On another occasion Hive and Lou were not with Cheval and her offspring.  We are concerned about them and hope they survive the death of their mother. We will see what happens to this part of AK pod now that AK6 is gone.  This again points up the importance of the matriarch in holding a pod together… and why AB pod split up after the oil spill, when several important female matriarchs died.

Again we worked with the tourboats in Kenai Fjords to assure all new operators were clear on the ‘rules of the road” for observing whales.  In general the whalewatching fleet in this region is respectful of the whales.  Most have years of  experience in following the guidelines.  We recommend you come to view whales here in Kenai Fjords!

We also continued our work in adjacent Prince William Sound, going into Hinchinbrook Entrance, a hot spot for resident killer whales this time of year, as the summer return of chum and silver salmon, important foods, begin to move into Prince William Sound.  We weren’t disappointed.  There were over 100 killer whales in the area when we arrived and we worked on them for three days.  Four pods were present:  AJ pod which totals over 50 whales, AI pod, part of AX48 pod, and all 30 whales of AB pod, including the AB25 subpod that has traveled with AJ pod since the oil spill.   The whales were spread out over an area that spanned several miles, making it difficult to photograph them all.  It is important we complete our annual inventory... documenting new calves, determining who was missing and dead...  More on that after the data is analyzed!

We were fortunate to watch a “greeting ceremony” after part of the huge AJ pod returned after leaving the area for a day.  Several long lines of about 25 whales formed first, which soon became two lines of  about 50 whales in each line.  The lines of whales, all surfacing synchronously,  faced and swam toward each other before diving and disappearing... what happened underwater as the groups mingled we can only guess.  Soon the whales dispersed and went about their business of finding and feeding on salmon.

We tagged two of these resident (fish eating) whales, one from AJ pod and one from AX48 pod, both whales from groups that we suspect use the Navy testing range offshore of the Kenai Peninsula.  Sure enough, tag returns indicate the AX48 pod is in the testing range as I write this.  The navy wants to expand the use of live ammunition and explosives in this area as well as test sonar that can damage whales hearing.  We are very concerned and our working to mitigate problems before they occur.  First we need to know just how many whales use this testing area.

We were also able to tag a member of a group of transient (marine mammal eating) whales that also appear to use the Navy testing range.  These mammals eaters are much rarer in our region and we are concerned about there future.  Determining important habitat for them is a first step in looking at their ecology.

All in all, a very successful trip.  I include a few photos of these fantastic whales.  More later….

Craig Matkin 15 June 2010