Side-Scan Sonar Assessment of Gray Whale Feeding in the Bering Sea

Side-scan sonar was used to map and measure feeding pits of the California gray whale over 22,000 square kilometers of the northeastern Bering Sea floor. The distribution of pits, feeding whales, ampeliscid amphipods (whale prey), and a fine-sand substrate bearing the amphipods were all closely corr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science
Main Authors: Johnson, Kirk R., Nelson, C. Hans
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 1984
Subjects:
Multidisciplinary
Bering Sea
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.225.4667.1150
https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.225.4667.1150
Description
Summary:Side-scan sonar was used to map and measure feeding pits of the California gray whale over 22,000 square kilometers of the northeastern Bering Sea floor. The distribution of pits, feeding whales, ampeliscid amphipods (whale prey), and a fine-sand substrate bearing the amphipods were all closely correlated. The central Chirikov Basin and nearshore areas of Saint Lawrence Island supply at least 6.5 percent of the total gray whale food resource in summer. While feeding, the whales resuspend at least 1.2 × 10 8 cubic meters of sediment annually; this significantly affects the geology and biology of the region.

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