Marine Mammals

Large and charismatic, marine mammals are often perceived as signs of a “healthy” ecosystem. Alaska’s marine regions support a rich assemblage of seals, sea lions, walrus, whales, dolphins, porpoises, sea otters, and polar bears. They are found throughout the ocean, with ranges that often overlap with major fisheries and other human activities.

To ensure the long-term health and sustainability of this very visible component of the marine ecosystems off Alaska, NPRB funds research that attempts to answer questions such as:

• What are the preferred habitats, foraging locations, and prey of key species of marine mammals?
• How can humans use the abundant fisheries resources and still provide for sustainable marine mammal populations?
• How can we reduce bycatch, entanglement, and disturbance of marine mammals during fishing operations?
• How does predation control marine mammal populations?
• What will climate change do to those populations, and can we distinguish those effects from natural variability and other changes we may create?  

Marine Mammals Research Summary Booklet

This publication summarizes marine mammal research 2002-2007, with a spotlight on fur seals.

Download the PDF

 

Marine Mammal Research at a Glance

Learn about the substance and relevance of each project in just two pages. Our goal is to provide a synopsis for each completed project.

307 | Bering Sea Right Whale Distributions

309-412 | Sperm Whale Interactions with Longline Fisheries

312 | Ice seal bio-monitoring in the Bering-Chukchi Sea region

313 | Effects of prey availability and predation risk on the foraging ecology and demography of harbor seals in Prince William Sound

324 | Bering Sea Wintering Grounds of Beluga Whales

409 | Marine Bird and Mammal Observations and the Pacific Continuous Plankton Recorder Program

411 | Dietary specialization of killer whales in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands

414 | Consequences of fur seal foraging strategies

515 | Ice seal movements

646 | Steller sea lions in Alaska: direct mortality by humans

Supporting research to enable effective management and sustainable use of Alaska's marine resources
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