Results from the April 2009 Gulf of Alaska Line Transect Survey (GOALS) in the Navy Training Exercise Area

• Main Authors: Rone, B. K., Douglas, A. B., Zerbini, A. N., Morse, L., Martinez, A., Clapham, P. J., Calambokidis, J.
• Other Authors: NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE SEATTLE WA ALASKA FISHERIES SCIENCE CENTER
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: Agronomy; Horticulture and Aquiculture; Biology; *ALASKA GULF; *SURVEYS; CETACEA; WHALES; NAVAL TRAINING; OFFSHORE; Gulf of Alaska; Pacific; Balaenoptera physalus; Beaufort Sea; Kodiak; Megaptera novaeangliae; Orca; Orcinus orca; Phoca vitulina; Phocoena phocoena; Alaska
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA522221; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA522221

Little is known about the present-day occurrence of cetaceans found in offshore waters in the Gulf of Alaska; however, whaling records and a few recent surveys have shown this area to be important habitat. The U.S. Navy maintains a maritime training area in the central Gulf of Alaska, east of Kodiak Island, and has requested additional information on marine mammal presence and use of this area. To describe the occurrence and distribution of marine mammals in and around the U.S. Navy training area, a line transect visual and acoustic survey was conducted 10-20 April 2009 from the NOAA ship Oscar Dyson. The primary survey area encompassed nearshore and offshore pelagic waters of the central Gulf of Alaska. Survey lines were designed to provide equal coverage of the nearshore and offshore habitat. During this project, the visual survey covered a total of 760 km (410 nautical miles, nmi) on-effort (visible horizon, Beaufort sea state 5 or less, and survey speed of 10 knots through the water) while transit (visible horizon, Beaufort sea state 5 or less, and survey speed of 12 knots) and fog effort (no horizon, Beaufort sea state 5 or less) legs accounted for 553 km (298 nmi). There were a total of 96 sightings (453 individuals) of 11 confirmed marine mammal species; these included fin (Balaenoptera physalus), humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae), gray (Eschrichtius robustus), minke (B. acutorostrata) whales, and killer whales (Orcinus orca), Dall's (Phocoenoides dalli) and harbor (Phocoena phocoena) porpoise, Pacific white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens), Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus), harbor seals (Phoca vitulina), and sea otters (Enhydra lutris). Prepared in cooperation with Cascadia Research Collective, Olympia, WA; and Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Miami, FL.