Harbor Seal Monitoring in Southern Kenai Peninsula Fjords, Alaska: 1979 - 2007

• Main Authors: Anne Hoover-Miller, Caroline Jezierski, Shannon Atkinson
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Gulf of Alaska Data Portal
• Subjects: oil spill; disturbance; evostc; exxon valdez; Alaska; exxon valdez oil spill trustee council; harbor seal; glacial ice; monitoring; phoca vitulina; pelagic; Phoca vitulina; vitulina; Atkinson; Kayak; Pedersen; Pedersen Lake; glacier; glaciers; Tidewater
• Online Access: https://search.dataone.org/view/df35d.275.10

Abstract: Harbor seals in Aialik Bay, a tidewater glacial habitat on the Kenai Peninsula, have been monitored since 1979 by field observations and remotely controlled video cameras. From 1980-2002 mean numbers of pups, adjusted for environmental conditions, declined 88% from 148 to 18 pups and remained stable through 2007 while seals counted during molt declined 82% from 801 seals to 141seals. Since 2002, numbers of molting seals have shown rapid growth of 21%/yr, coincident with use of expanding habitat near Pedersen Glacier. Results indicate that Aialik Bay, especially Pedersen Lake, is a favorable molt location, but low pup counts indicate continued poor recruitment. Kayak interactions and seal behavior were evaluated from 2004-2007. Results showed seals in Pedersen Lake abandoned the ice more frequently when humans were present. Although guided trips caused less impact than unguided trips, mitigation training provided to guides resulted in a further reduction in numbers of seals abandoning the ice. Purpose: Population studies of harbor seals using glacial ice in Aialik Bay were first conducted from 1979-1981 (Hoover 1983) and were continued intermittently through 1995 (NPS unpublished, Hoover-Miller unpublished). Beginning in 2002, the National Park Service’s Ocean Alaska Science and Learning Center supported the development and use of remotely controlled video cameras to document information on numbers of seals at haulouts and haulout attendance relative to local environmental conditions, glacier activity and interactions between humans and seals since 2002. Description of data: Two primary data sets are produced by the video monitoring project: one includes count, environmental co-variates, video camera performance, and general video tape log, and the other includes video observations pertaining to vessel interactions with harbor seals. Format – Primary data associated with video monitoring have been incorporated into two Access databases. Original video images are stored on VHS video tape; a digital conversion of a subset of records is planned for 2008. Paper records of counts, vessel Other data sets pertainin to weather, lunar cycles, tidal cycles and related environmental data have been compiled from other sources for analysis. Publications: Hoover-Miller, A., C. Jezierski, and S. Atkinson. 2008. Harbor seal monitoring in Southern Kenai Peninsula Fjords. Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Gulf Ecosystem Monitoring and Research Project Final Report (GEM Project 050749), Alaska SeaLife Center, Seward, Alaska.