Bowhead whale autumn distribution and relative abundance in relation to oil and gas lease areas in the northeastern Chukchi Sea

• Published in: Polar Record
• Main Authors: Moore, Sue E., Clarke, Janet T.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1993
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Ecology; Geography, Planning and Development; Chukchi Sea; Barrow; bowhead whale; Chukchi; Point Barrow; Polar Record; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400018507; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247400018507

ABSTRACT Bowhead whales pass near or through offshore oil and gas lease areas in the northeastern Chukchi Sea during their westward migration each autumn. Results of aerial surveys conducted from mid-September through October 1982–1990 indicate that whale distribution overlapped lease area boundaries north and east of Point Barrow, Alaska. Bowhead relative abundance was high throughout the fall in nearshore sub-blocks east, north, and southwest of Point Barrow, with somewhat lower indices in offshore sub-blocks northwest of Point Barrow.