Bowhead whale distribution and feeding near Barrow, Alaska, in late summer 2005–06

• Main Authors: Moore, Sue E., George, John C., Sheffield, Gay, Bacon, Joshua, Ashjian, Carin J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Arctic Institute of North America 2010
• Subjects: Bowhead whale; Feeding; Functional anatomy; Zooplankton; Western Arctic; Beaufort Sea; Aerial surveys; Arctic; Barrier Islands; Barrow Canyon; Arctic Institute of North America; Barrow; bowhead whale; Alaska; Copepods
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/1912/5126

Author Posting. © Arctic Institute of North America, 2010. This article is posted here by permission of Arctic Institute of North America for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Arctic 63 (2010): 195-205. Aerial surveys for bowhead whales were conducted in conjunction with oceanographic sampling near Barrow, Alaska, in late summer of 2005 and 2006. In 2005, 145 whales were seen, mostly in two distinct aggregations: one (ca. 40 whales) in deep water in Barrow Canyon and the other (ca. 70 whales) in very shallow (< 10 m) water just seaward of the barrier islands. Feeding behaviours observed in the latter group included whales lying on their sides with mouths agape and groups of 5–10 whales swimming synchronously in turbid water. In 2006, 78 bowheads were seen, with ca. 40 whales feeding in dispersed groups of 3–11 whales. Feeding behaviours observed included surface skimming, echelon swimming, and synchronous diving and surfacing. Surfacing behaviour included head lunges by single animals and groups of 2–4 whales. Of 29 whales harvested at Barrow, 24 had been feeding. Euphausiids were the dominant prey in 2006 (10 of 13 stomachs), but not in 2005 (4 of 11 stomachs). Copepods were the dominant prey in the stomachs of three whales harvested near Barrow Canyon in 2005. Mysiids were the dominant prey in four stomachs, isopods in two, and amphipods in one although these taxa were not routinely captured during plankton sampling conducted in the weeks prior to the autumn harvest. Much of the field portion of this work was supported by the NSF/SNACS program.