NGOS News Archive: 2002

Read the RECENT NEWS...

13 November 2002: Petition to list the AT1 transients as depleted

Seven conservation groups petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to designate the unique AT1 transient killer whale group as a "depleted stock" under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). The "depleted stock" designation would mark the first time the federal government took action specifically to protect orcas in Prince William Sound.

• Read the full National Wildlife Federation news posting
   
• Read the petition (PDF file, you need Adobe Acrobat Reader)

18 October 2002: Bering Sea update

Our intern L.A. Holmes braved the rough waters of the Bering Sea where she was extremely helpful in assisting the crews on board both our vessels operating in that region. They brought back thousands of frames of identification photos, biopsy samples and acoustic recordings from the poorly known killer whales from this remote area. Analysis of the photographs by David Ellifrit and of the tapes by Harald Yurk is underway. Lance Barrett-Lennard is doing the genetic analysis. Over the next few years we hope to develop a much better idea of the size and composition of the populations of killer whales in this region.

In addition to killer whales there are numerous humpback whales and even some Baird's beaked whales in the eastern Aleutians and Bering Sea. Here is a dead animal that Peter Nilsson is collecting samples from, assisted by L.A. Holmes. Our researchers also got acoustic recordings of these shy whales and determined areas of important habitat.

4 September 2002: First results of the Alaska Killer Whale Count

First results of the great Alaska Killer Whale Count are available HERE

For more information about this program, visit: www.alaskakillerwhales.org

29 August 2002

Rose (AE10), Hanning (AE15) and Petal (AE22) Petal (AE22) playing along the boat

It is the end of a fruitful week of research in Prince William Sound and we are heading in before the storm. Grey clouds are scudding across the sky, rain is falling and the seas are building as we cross the Gulf of Alaska toward Seward. I (Craig Matkin) was accompanied by Adam U (yes, that is his full name), a researcher with the Alaska Sea Life Center and Alessandro Ponzi, a veterinary intern from Italy. We had killer whale encounters every day we were out and spent a considerable amount of time with AE pod (also called the Circus pod by some tourboat operators because of the aerobatic displays of its juveniles). We hadn't seen the AEs since 2000 so it was important to get up to date photographs and record any deaths and new calves in the group. Unfortunately, there has been one death since 2000. The large, photogenic bull with a very tall dorsal fin, Hogan (AE9), is gone. He was at least 38 years of age when he died. This is within the age range where death for male killer whales is expected, although some live into their forties. Females may live decades longer. The absence of AE9 was first noticed when we found the small group he traveled with which included his distinctively marked sister Rose (AE10) her recent calf Petal (AE22) and her recently matured son Hanning (AE15). His mother had died in 1989. This is my favorite group within the pod. They often approach the boat; Petal likes to spyhop and make small breaches when alongside. We often tap on the hull to acknowledge her.

The female AE2 had the only calf born this year (AE24, as yet unnamed) and Heather's (AE17) first calf born from last year was doing well at a year and a half. Heather (AE17) was 12 years old when the calf was born; we noted Heather's birth shortly after the devastating Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. It is hard to believe she is already twelve and a mother! AE pod often travels alone and generally mixes with other pods only during superpod encounters when 3 or more pods temporarily mix to socialize and possibly interbreed. The pod is also distinctive because several males have recently matured. Even after the loss of Hogan (AE9) there are six mature males in this pod of 19. When AE pod is grouped tightly there is a forest of tall dorsal fins.

Eccles (AT14) at Chenega Glacier

We watched as one of the remaining nine AT1 transient group whales hunted seals among the ice flows beneath the rugged face of Chenega Glacier. Eccles (AT14) no longer travels with his long time companion Eyak (AT1), another male who stranded and died two years ago near the town of Cordova. The genetically unique AT1 group of transient killer whales is in imminent danger of extinction. They have very high contaminant levels (PCBs and DDTs) in their blubber, their primary prey, harbor seals, have declined by over 80% in the past 25 years, and at least 6 members of the group disappeared following the Exxon Valdez oil spill. It is sad to watch this lone bull circle through the bay, silently hunting for the increasingly rare harbor seals. He still appears healthy, although he is at least 40 years old.

We are nearing the end of the summer field season and are pleased with the progress we have made this year. Next week we will be doing a final trip in the Kenai Fjords region and along the outer coast of the Kenai Peninsula before attending the Orca Symposium in France in late September. Stand by for our update on this summers work in the Aleutian Islands and Kodiak Island. Will keep you posted.

14-17 August 2002 : Prince William Sound field trip

Lance, Kathy and Lee on Natoa

The Natoa crew embarked again for a research trip to Prince William Sound late on August 14. Kathy Heise, Lance Barrett-Lennard and their three-year old son Lee joined Eva on the voyage. Tour boat captains informed us that no killer whales had been seen the 13th or 14th in Resurrection Bay, so we crossed the Gulf of Alaska (a five and a half hour trip from Seward) and anchored at the edge of the Sound, in Foxfarm Bay, near Cape Elrington. Jumping salmon, thrashing sea lions and lazing sea otters surrounded our boat in the morning. The pink salmon are here! Our old friend Roger, who operates a fishing lodge in the Sound, reported that some silver salmon had arrived, and a group of killer whales had been feeding near his lodge in Mummy Bay. With that good news, we headed up Prince of Wales Passage, through salmon schools, into Knight Island Passage and Montague Strait, where the killer whale study began almost twenty years ago. Lance and Kathy hadn't been back to the Sound together in ten years.

We spent most of the 15th of August photographing humpback whales. The whales fed in deep water, diving for up to ten minutes at a time. Lance spotted splashes near the Montague Island shore, so we approached to investigate. Sickle-shaped tails slashed through the water and pale bodies partially breached. What at first we took for dolphins turned out to be an aggregation of salmon sharks, feeding on salmon near the mouth of a spawning stream. We shut down our engine and watched for over an hour. Dozens of sharks circled our boat, cruising silently, fins skimming the surface, while other sharks lunged for salmon, and some swam by with salmon in their mouths. A radio call ended our observations. A boat captain reported killer whales off the Needle, a sea lion rookery in the middle of Montague Strait! We raced over and found Matushka, Natasha and Roamer, the new calf, cruising the rocks of the Needle, greatly alarming the sea lions. Matushka (AT109) is a Gulf of Alaska transient who hunted alone last summer at Chiswell Island rookery and this summer joined AT111 and her new calf. As the three killer whales swam along the rocks, the calf charging excitedly, a group of over twenty sea lions, many of them large bulls, huddled together, snorting, rising up out of the water, craning their long necks at the whales. As the whales moved away, the sea lion group swam behind them, roaring and splashing. When the whales turned back toward the sea lions, the pack porpoised away. At one point, the killer whales dove and then surfaced in the midst of the sea lion group, which exploded at the surface in a confusion of bodies flying and water spraying. No kill was seen and the killer whales moved off to the northeast.

August 16th began with humpbacks again, out in Montague Strait. We photographed the flukes of five animals, including a cow and calf pair. A boat radioed to report killer whales moving north up Prince of Wales Passage, so we rapidly headed that way and found AB pod resting, slowly making their way into the Sound. AB pod is the resident group that lost fourteen animals after the oil spill. Part of the pod joined AJ pod, so the main group only contains 17 animals. All animals were present, but there were no new calves again this year (the last calf was born in 2000). The whales rested silently all the way to southern Knight Island Passage, when they began traveling toward Montague Strait. At Point Helen, AB pod suddenly began milling excitedly, with several animals breaching and some slapping their tails. Suddenly we spotted different whales in their midst - the AE pod! The whales formed three long lines and charged north for a mile, then abruptly turned and charged south. The lead AE pod whales, which had been traveling separately from the rest of the AE animals, rejoined the others. Twenty whales lined up and began resting, changing directions frequently. AB pod remained behind them for a while, then disappeared. Did AB pod know that AE pod was nearby? If so, how, since neither pod was vocalizing? Why didn't the whales interact? These are questions we often ask ourselves. Many aspects of killer whale social behavior remain perplexing, intriguing and mysterious. That's one of the things that makes studying them a constant challenge and marvel.

We were excited to see AE pod, which has not been completely photographed since 2000. The pod contains many large males who've matured during the course of our study, lots of juveniles, at least one new calf, and a favorite female, Rose (AE10), with an unusual saddle patch shape.

Eva scanning with binoculars

Little Lee steering the Natoa

Today, August 17, we cruised many miles of Montague Strait, listening, scanning with binoculars, talking to other mariners on the radio, but no killer whales were spotted. We did photograph two humpback whales, counted 125 Steller sea lions at the Needle haul-out (including two mom and pup pairs, indicating that animals are dispersing from the rookeries, where the pups were born). With binoculars, we recorded a number branded on one sea lion, information that helps researchers keep track of their movements away from the rookeries, where they were marked. Further north, we counted harbor seals on small rocky haul-outs. Sea otter mothers and pups played in kelp beds nearby.

Lee, at three years old, is an excellent mariner, making use of this tiny boat space to dance, look at books, cast his play fishing lure over the side and even look through the binoculars, scanning for whales. He makes life much more exciting and delightful as the youngest calf in our pod of four.

8-12 August 2002

Craig, Eva and Shelly Romer (a graduate student at Alaska Pacific University who is working on the killer whale data, see below) headed out for Resurrection and Aialik Bays this week. The Andromeda went into town for maintenance after several days of superpod encounters. As we left Seward Harbor, we had to wend our way through dozens of small boats, bristling with fishing poles, like motorized porcupines. The annual silver salmon derby is underway, bringing hundreds of "weekend warriors" out to try to catch the biggest salmon in Resurrection Bay (the biggest so far was over twenty pounds). The silver salmon also attract killer whales; we saw resident pods every day, but work was a little bit challenging due to big swells and the rains of August. On the 8th, two superpods were seen, one in Aialik Bay, and the other in Resurrection Bay. We were able to intercept the AKs, AN10s, AIs and a group we saw last year, dubbed "The Dancing Bears," a mixture of AS, AH and AY pods. The small AI pod, a single matrilineal group consisting of a grannie, her daughter and grand-daughter and three sons, hadn't been seen yet this year. We were distressed to see bullet hole in AI6's dorsal fin, near the top. We've seen several bullet-wounded whales this year, and we're concerned that killer whale-longline interactions may be intensifying again. Luckily, dorsal fin wounds are usually not fatal to the whale.

On 9 August at 4:30 am, we were sound asleep in Natoa Cove, our favorite anchorage in the Chiswell Islands. Craig was dreaming about killer whales. In his sleep, he began to realize that the blows seemed very real, and finally awoke, jumped up, ran out on deck and saw three killer whales swimming under the boat! We pulled anchor and tried to follow, but mid-summer is long gone now, and without the midnight sun, it was too dark to follow the whales. The next morning, we found another superpod nearby, this time the AN10s, the AKs and an unknown pod. It was a beautiful sunny, hazy day, and the whales were busy feeding and socializing for much of the day, very spread out in small groups. That night, walking on the beach in Verdant Cove, we spotted two large porcupines lumbering along the beach line. The night was clear and cool, but by morning, low clouds, fog and a southeast wind heralded a late summer storm's arrival. We tried to find a superpod reported to the east of Resurrection Bay, in the Gulf, but the weather came down around us and the whales were nowhere to be seen, so Natoa headed into town so her crew could exercise and see a movie.

We headed back out the next morning, on 11 August, into rain and fog and some large swells lingering from the storm. A large resting pod was sighted outside Aialik Bay, but never found again, but we followed up on a sighting of killer whales near the Aialik Glacier. We found our old friends, the AD5s, feeding over the glacial moraine, probably for halibut. The seas were glossy calm and the air saturated with moisture, so the whales' blows were barely visible. Their fins seemed to silently slice through the gelled surface of the sea. After feeding, the whales rested in three groups, one of which included Capra (AD31), the lively four-year old calf of Aaxlu (AD8). Capra has new nicks at the base of his dorsal fin, probably from rough play with his siblings, many of whom are males. Capra was extremely friendly, swimming beside and behind the boat, seemingly intrigued by our wake. He was also playing vigorously with Skana, his nine-year old brother. We left Capra and his family off Holgate Arm, which terminates in a beautiful glacier which seemed to glow an unearthly pale blue through the gray drizzle and fog. We anchored in nearby McMullen Cove, a tiny bight, where the rain fell all night, but in the morning, the fog seemed to dissolve, the green mountainsides shown and we rejoiced to see the sun again.

The whales seemed happy too, over fifty killer whales congregated in Aialik Bay, socializing for over seven hours, making a great circle up into Aialik Bay and then back into the Chiswells, where the whales were first seen. Present were the AD5s (Capra again!), the AN10s and a large group of whales we didn't recognize (some of whom were present earlier in the week). The pods were completely mixed, with the females and calves resting in groups of a dozen or more, and the males off in "play-groups," which commonly form in such large social gatherings. Old and young males alike caroused at the surface, engaged in chases and sexual activity that may relate to establishing dominance, training calves or may simply be a kind of ritualized behavior. After a few hours, all of the whales joined in the social fracas, with calves rolling over the top of each other, bumping each other, spyhopping, breaching repeatedly, and in the case of two rambunctious calves, chasing the boat, responding to our taps on the hull. The calves repeatedly swam upside down within an arm's length of the stern, breaching in the boat wake or swimming rapidly beneath us. A wonderful encounter! In another day, Lance, Kathy, Eva and Lee (a three-year old human "calf") will be headed to Prince William Sound to search for the "Circus Pod," so stay tuned!

Some words from graduate student Shelly Romer, aboard Natoa on our last research trip (August 8-12):

The research vesselNatoa

" My name is Shelly Romer and I'm a graduate student at the Alaska Pacific University. Craig has hired me to do the GIS analysis for his paper and I've been accompanying him on research outings through out the summer. I've gotten to know Resurrection Bay and surrounding areas very well, when the sea is nice, and then glimpses of the swells as I'm in and out of a slumber. I've found that my sea legs are picky and when the conditions are rough, they choose to shut down. I can't tell you how amazing it is to wake up next to the sound of a blow and see a giant, black, glistening body within five feet of you. Now that is a dream. I've been lucky to have seen the Kodiak Killers actually kill and to have been amongst a superpod of around 50 resident killer whales. It's been amazing to see how well Craig and Eva have gotten to know the whales and how important their well-being is to them. Eva's come pretty close to getting a fin-shake from the unknown calves today (Aug 12). The social behavior I have witnessed has been astounding! Bodies in every direction, breaching, slapping, male bonding (a bit different than I expected) and just a lot of playful interaction. Overall, my experience has been amazing. Craig, Eva and the whales have been extremely kind and welcoming, as well as very informative. Thanks guys! "

5 August 2002

It is now the time of year when the larger resident pods tend to follow the returning salmon inshore as these migrating fish home in on their natal rivers and streams. New pods are arriving and moving through both the Prince William Sound and Kenai Fjords. Last week we found AB pod in Prince William Sound, although they passed through quickly, probably because there aren't many silver salmon in the Sound yet. A few days later we found part of AB pod in Kenai Fjords where there are many silver salmon returning. AB pod lost 14 members following the Exxon Valdez oil spill and still is far from recovering to the number of whales (36) that it contained before the spill. Last year there were 25 whales in the pod, we haven't a complete tally for this year yet because one of the subgroups was not in the encounters. AN pod was also found in Kenai Fjords on August 3 and spent much of the day resting after what must have been a long night of feeding on salmon. Our first superpods (3 or more pods) of the late summer season have been forming. On the first of August members of AD5, AN10, AK and AB; pods were all socializing together in Kenai Fjords. It is truly an exciting time of year and we are anxious to see who will show up next.

Steller sea lions hauled out on Chiswell Island

Chiswell Island

We have been surprised by how few transient (marine mammal eating) whales have been seen in both Kenai Fjords and Prince William Sound. Last week, though, Matushka (AT109) and Natasha (AT111) who has a new very active and inquisitive calf , showed up in the Chiswell Islands of Kenai Fjords where they hunted sea lions. Last year Matushka traveled alone and stayed around the Chiswell Island rookery much of the late summer eating sea lion pups as they first learned to enter the water. We are glad to see she has found some company. Watch out sea lions!

 

26 July 2002

Its always a pleasure to return to southwestern Prince William Sound, where our longterm killer whale study began nearly 20 years ago. We were rewarded our first day in the Sound this year with a superpod encounter with over 50 whales. Pods we could identify included AA, AJ, and AE, but there were others that couldn't be field identified and will await our winter analysis. Interestingly, the encounter began on land. We had hiked to the light station at Point Helen and were scanning lower Montague Strait when distant dorsal fins were sighted to the north. Killer whales headed up the Strait! After scrambling down the rocky beach and back to the boat we managed to catch up with the rapidly moving, socializing whales, spread out across the strait in various mixed groups. There were 3-4 seas, a wind chop and stiff southerly breeze which made photographs difficult. We were fortunate that the whales pulled into the lee of Green Island and began resting. When the whales fall into their resting groups, they tend to separate into pods. Close relatives swim near or next to each other. It was in these groups we began to decipher the identity of the whales and get the quality photographs we needed. After a couple hour the groups began rapidly traveling toward Hinchinbrook Entrance and out into the open Gulf of Alaska where it was too difficult to follow. In a matter of hours we had covered over 25 miles with these whales.

Above: Eva and Craig carefully approaching the whales and taking photo-ID pictures...

30 June 2002

After three days of looking and not finding killer whales, we were sliding along the Pacific side of Unalaska Island about six miles offshore, feeling certain that there just aren't any killer whales on this side of the island. Typically, several killer whales appeared instantly in front of the boat. It turned out this was part of a group of 7 transient killer whales in two widely spaced groups with one whale traveling outside the other groups. We scramble to get our gear together. Cameras, biopsy equipment, tape recorder, hydrophone. The whales are quite approachable for transients, We got photos of one group, then moved on to the other group after watching one of them persue a Dall's porpoise. The porpoise had a head start and the whlale abandoned the chase. Biopsy samples from the only adult male and an older female also came relatively easily. After being darted each of the whales stopped in the water and turned as if to see what it was that had just poked them. They moved on seemingly undisturbed, the large male swimming under the bow of the boat for awhile. The didn't seem to associate the biopsy with the vessel that traveled alongside them. We now backed away from the whales and followed at a distance watching with binoculars so as not to effect their behavior. We were rewarded an hour later when we saw splashing and the slash of whale flukes at the surface. We motored in that direction and caught a glimpse of the foreflippers of a northern fur seal surrounded by the whales. They took turns hitting this possibly 500 pound adult male with their flukes. As we approached the fur seal it swam rapidly toward the boat, coming up so close to the side that standing on deck we could have reached out and touched it. The whales would not approach us so we began to move away from the area to allow nature to take it course. The fur seal apparently followed us and swam beneath the boat where it was hit by the spinning propeller. It came up bleeding profusely from its dislocated lower jay. We continued away and the whales again approached the injured fur seal and began striking again with their flukes. All the whales were involved, including a juvenile, perhaps five years old. This went on for over an hour before they finally took it beneath the surface and fed. The feeding went on for nearly forty five minutes, we eventually saw the entrails which were pounced upon by the waiting albatross. We observed whales with chunks of flesh in their mouths. There was much milling and the groups split up again. We were nearly fourteen miles offshore when we left the rapidly traveling whales.

27 June 2002: From the Bering Sea, Eastern Aleutian Islands...

The wind is howling a good 40 knots as we sit on anchor in lost harbor on Akun Island. It is midnight and still light out. I watch a bald eagle drag a salmon up the beach, flying a few yards with it then stopping to rest. Yesterday we watched as about 60 killer whales followed along after a trawler eating the discarded fish (bycatch) that were washed out the chutes on the side of the vessel. We were 30 miles off the nearest islands in the Bering Sea. The trawler was targeting Pacific Cod but caught many other fish as its huge net scraped along the bottom. These incidentally caught fish are illegal to keep, so they are dumped overboard into the crowd of killer whales that follow along behind. The discarded fish include halibut, salmon, turbot and other species. Some of the whales vie for position along the side of the boat by the chute releasing bubbling clouds of air as they adjust their buoyancy to stay submerged. The same whales seemed to frequently be in the front positions and that they included juveniles as well as adults. You could see the whales beneath the edge of the hull, swimming along at the same speed as the boat, and coming out away from the boat to rise and breath every couple minutes. Many of the whales followed at a greater distance in the wake of the trawler, zigzagging back and forth as they picked up the discards that made it past the first line of whales. As we traveled in our small boat alongside the trawler alongside the whales, we were able obtain identification photographs and biopsy samples while the whales fed. The crew on the trawler busily went about there jobs, but apparently the whales sometimes come close enough for them to reach out and touch. These fishermen harbor no ill toward the whales. The whales are causing no economic loss to these fishermen. They are taking fish that are dead or dying and would otherwise drop to the sea floor. However in this region, killer whales also strip hooked turbot, blackcod and halibut, from long lines of hooks that other fishermen set in this area. This causes severe economic loss at times. These fishermen are not fond of the whales. As we study the resident (fish eating) whales in the Aleutian Islands of western Alaska we find that many obtain some percentage of their sustenance from the catch of fishermen.

Humpback whales are also a focus of our long-term research program. In the Bering Sea we are teaming up with the National Marine Fisheries Service to determine how many humpbacks feed in these waters and how they are related to humpbacks in other regions. We collect fluke identification photographs and biopsy samples from these whales when we are not working on killer whales. Last night in 25 knot winds we watched as a humpback breached on the horizon, the shower of spray blowing flat in the wind. We followed these three rapidly swimming, socializing humpbacks for an hour finally getting identification photographs of the flukes that were not covered in sea spray. The whales were bumping and jostling each other as they shot up through breaking wave crests, traveling a long at 7 knots. Their explosive breaths shot spray along the surface, occasionally their tails lashed the water.

15 July 2002: The Great Alaska Killer Whale Count

During the weekend of July 19, 20 and 21st 2002 we would like YOU to watch for killer whales in Alaska and tell us two things:

• Where did you go on those days?
• Did you see any killer whales?

To participate, go to www.alaskakillerwhales.org.

20 May 2002: summer field season on Natoa begins

The summer field season of 2002 began on May 1 in Resurrection and Aialik Bays. Once again, AD5 and AK pods are here, feeding on king salmon between Porcupine Cove and Agnes Bay. AD5 pod has been seen in that area for the last 18 days! AD5 and AK pods both have new calves, Spire, born to Cheval (AK7), her fourth calf, and Auriga (which means "all's well") to Tutka (AD21), her first calf. Tutka is 12 years old. Auriga has several very deep scratches on her body, possibly the result of a difficult birth. She and Tutka are very active, friendly whales.

Collecting fish scales

We again accompanied school children from the Chugach School District aboard the Mariah, captained by Tim Willie, out of Seward. Kids from Tatitlek (a remote Native village in Prince William Sound), Seward, Cordova and Whittier learned how we conduct our killer whale research, including photo-identification, collecting salmon scales from sites of predation, recording calls and genetic sampling. AD5 pod helped out when a female caught a large king salmon near the boat, then released it in front of us, letting her young juveniles chase it all around Mariah's hull for several minutes before she finally caught the fish and shared it with them. Needless to say, all those watching, kids and adults alike, were beside themselves. The event was recorded on video and still camera by teachers. The Cordova kids had recently completed a project on the AT1 transients. Eyak (AT1) died near Cordova, and his skeleton is being prepared for an educational display. The Cordova and Seward students named Auriga, AD21's new calf.

In May, a rarely seen group of Gulf of Alaska transient killer whales visited Aialik Bay on several occasions. These whales were observed killing sea lions in the Kodiak boat harbor in late winter; thus, they've been dubbed the "Kodiak Killers." They're also known as the AT50's. This group of five has two new calves this year, named Sputnik and Chekov. Sputnik's mother has a very chewed up dorsal fin, typical of Gulf of Alaska transients. The two large chunks missing from the fin might be the result of sea lion bites. The male in the group, Sasha, has a bent dorsal fin. Since the whales often hunt very close to rocky shores in rough waters, their fins may also be damaged from hitting rocks.

On May 18, we observed the whales attack and kill a medium-sized (possibly juvenile) Steller sea lion in Pony Cove. On our hydrophone, we heard sharp cracks and cavitation sounds. The whales surfaced within a few meters of the shoreline, milling. When we reached the area, a group of four juvenile sea lions huddled in the rocks, near the milling whales. The whales moved to the middle of the cove and fed on the sea lion for about 40 minutes. At first, the adults passed the carcass back and forth before tearing it up. The male surfaced beneath our boat with a large chunk of blubber in his mouth.

Much of the time we've spent observing these transients, they have been resting or foraging close to shorelines. Earlier in May, we watched them rest for nearly seven hours. Observing kills is rare, as the whales are very secretive when hunting, staying down for many minutes, traveling within a few meters of shore or changing directions frequently. On May 19, we watched the whales pass within 100 m of a very active group of Dall's porpoises and travel for several minutes within 300 m of a minke whale, with no apparent interest. We hope to learn much more about the elusive Gulf of Alaska transients over the next few years.

May 20. Woke up to another sunny day and calm seas. Last night, at 10:30 until past midnight, AK pod rested in our anchorage in Agnes Bay. A tour boat reported that the AKs are now in Eldorado Narrows, where they were seen yesterday. Some fin whales were sighted off Barwell Island. We are combing the shorelines in Aialik Bay and the Chiswell Islands, hoping for one more chance to observe the Kodiak Killers.

Now on our way back to Seward. The Kodiak Killers returned today, reported to us by Mark, a tour captain. The whales attacked a Steller sea lion near his 100' boat. We were nearby and spent two hours recording calls while the whales fed upon and played with the carcass of the sea lion. The recording was the best we've ever made of Gulf of Alaska transients, who are almost always silent. We listened to the whales whistling, loudly calling, echolocating and crunching sea lion bones. The sea lion kills we've seen so far have occurred beneath the water's surface. We haven't seen whales throwing sea lions into the air, as researchers observe in southeastern Alaska. The whales do feed over long periods of time, perhaps teaching the young ones about handling prey. Over an hour after the kill, Sasha floated 10 m from the bow of our boat, holding a skinned sea lion flipper in his jaws, waving it in the air, then releasing and retrieving it. The calf, Sputnik, was close beside him. We obtained biopsy darts from Sasha and Natasha, one of the females. These will confirm the whales as members of the Gulf of Alaska population and provide data on toxic contaminant levels in the whales' blubber. Gulf of Alaska transients have some of the highest PCB levels documented for any species.

We are now on our way back to Seward to return to Homer for a week. Daniella and Adam will spend the night observing the Kodiak Killers on Andromeda. Stay tuned for further updates!

20 May 2002: new projects beginning

Daniella Maldini will be running the Alaska Sea Life Center's new boat, Andromeda, taking on the challenging task of determining Gulf of Alaska transient killer whale prey. Daniella is joined this summer by Adam U, from the Center for Whale Research in Puget Sound, and several interns. In addition to the Andromeda, an inflatable, the Puffin, will base out of a field camp on Fox Island, in Resurrection Bay, searching the eastern bay for transients.

Mike Brittain will head to Dutch Harbor this summer to run one of three research vessels that will be observing transient killer whales from Kodiak Island through the central Aleutians, attempting to determine their feeding habits and population status. Concern over the decline of Steller sea lions and sea otters has prompted NMFS and other groups to fund studies investigating the role (if any) of killer whale predation in these declines. NGOS is helping to coordinate these studies.

20 May 2002: winter field season

Mike Brittain continued to monitor the remote hydrophone from his home in Seward and to run the Natoa, photographing killer whales. He was joined by Daniella Maldini, who is working on transient killer whale predation through the Alaska Sea Life Center. AB and AJ pods once again visited inner Resurrection Bay on a regular basis in March and April. Mike made many valuable recordings through out the year, documenting winter use of the Bay by many resident pods and by the AT1 transients. Now, a new remote hydrophone is monitoring Chiswell Island, where the transient Matushka foraged last summer, to record calls during predations. So far, bull sea lions have staked out their territories on Chiswell, waiting for females to arrive. Pups will be born later in the season. We'll see if Matushka returns again.

7 March 2002

AE1's curling fin a few years ago

There have been animals in the bay recently, we found about 80 animals on the 5^th of March and spent several hours with them. They included the AJs and we're not sure who else. There was also at least one new calf, and an adult male with a collapsed dorsal. It was either AE1 whose dorsal has been partially collapsed for years and it finally went all the way, or a different animal that until now was okay.

 

 

 

 

 

31 January 2002

Today was the first sunny, calm day in Homer after weeks of wind, blizzards and cold. A friend and charter boat operator, Dan Donvich, called to say he spotted killer whale dorsal fins across the bay. So we headed out, getting reports from the few other boats that were on Kachemak Bay. After heading up-bay we found them finally, spread out and feeding at depth, apparently on Chinook or king salmon. It looked like AS pod, a rarely seen group of animals that we last saw in Kenai Fjords last May. A cow with a new calf came by the boat, the little calf slapping his tail and looking at us... With the short days, it was dark by 4:30 pm and we headed to the harbor after we got our identification photographs. The fish eating resident killer whales are around all winter (as we know from listening on the remote hydrophone), but we don't get out that often with the storms, darkness and cold weather.

16 January 2002

The ID photographs taken during the 2001 field work are being analyzed in Canada. One result is that a poorly known group of resident killer whales called "Dancing Bears" encountered repeatedly last spring looks like about three different pods, including AS and AY pods, whom we haven't seen in several years, and a new pod we call AH. Also, AB pod has two new calves and suffered only one mortality so it now numbers 26. This is still far below the 36 whales in the pod before the spill, but an improvement, nevertheless. There were no new calves in the AT1 group this year. The prognosis for this genetically unique transient group remains grim.

The remote hydrophone has been working well. Most pods were gone in the fall but several including the AJs returned in November and we have been listening and recording them on the remote hydrophone ever since. The signal is broadcast in Seward on the FM band. On Christmas Eve the whales gave a long performance, much to the delight of everyone in Seward who was listening. They went on late into the night with their "Christmas caroling." We are able to determine just which pods and how many whales are present from the recordings we make.

Mike Brittian took our vessel, Natoa, out last week and encountered AJ pod in Resurrection Bay. The 38 whales were spread out across the bay which made it difficult to get pictures, but Mike kept at it between the snow showers. Mike is ready to respond whenever whales move into the Kenai Fjords area, while Craig Matkin is ready to respond to winter whale sightings in Kachemak Bay. Although it is tough to work in the very short days of the Alaskan winter and in the rugged weather, it sometimes pays off. Last year in January all of the infrequently seen AG pod rolled into Kachemak Bay.

We are still working on the draft of the petition to list the AT1 group under the Endangered Species Act and getting more environmental groups to sign on. We want to make sure the petition is very complete before we submit it.

We are planning a large field project in the Kodiak region and the eastern Aleutians next summer. We are interviewing skippers and looking at boats to select for the work. Jody Rose is now working for us in the office and will be our logistical coordinator for this critical work that will investigate the impact of killer whale predation on Steller sea lions and also assess the impact of marine mammal declines on killer whales. It seems that the Gulf of Alaska and Aleutian marine ecosystems are not healthy and this is one step in a research effort to find out why.

 

Read the past news updates for 2001.

 

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