Gulf of Alaska | Mammals
Expanded monitoring efforts for the critically endangered North Pacific right whale, Eubalaena japonica Presenter: Jessica Crance , jessica.crance@noaa.gov, Marine Mammal Lab, AFSC Catherine Berchok , catherine.berchok@noaa.gov, Alaska Fisheries Science Center/Marine Mammal Lab Eric Braen , eric.braen@noaa.gov, Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean & Ecosystem Studies, University of Washington Robyn Angliss , Robyn.Angliss@noaa.gov, Alaska Fisheries Science Center/Marine Mammal Lab With an estimated 30 individuals remaining, the eastern North Pacific right whale (NPRW; Eubalaena japonica ) is one of the world’s rarest large whale populations. Because of this, much about their migratory pathways and anthropogenic impacts remains unknown. Given their critically endangered status and extensive historical range, it is important to continue to augment our existing long-term and real-time monitoring efforts. In recent years, NPRW have been observed during various vessel-based visual/passive acoustic research surveys (e.g., POWER, PacMAPPS), which resulted in identification of new individuals. A few opportunistic sightings from the public have also been reported in the past few years. This year alone there have been two separate reports of skim-feeding NPRW, one in February just north of Unimak Pass, and one in April off Año Nuevo, CA. Raising awareness about this population is difficult due to the extreme rarity and remote location of NPRW, they do not have the higher public profile of the ‘urban’ North Atlantic right whale. However, a recent petition submitted to NMFS to expand the current NRPW critical habitat shows that public awareness is slowly increasing. We have also expanded our long-term passive acoustic monitoring to include new mooring locations within possible migratory pathways in the northern Gulf of Alaska (GOA), as well as to the west of the current Bering Sea NRPW Critical Habitat. These new mooring locations will help determine the extent of overlap between NPRW and high traffic shipping lanes and commercial fishing areas. Here we will be presenting the latest preliminary results on NPRW distribution, recent sightings, and passive acoustic detections both from our expanded efforts in the northern GOA and southern Bering Sea as well as outside Alaskan waters.
Alaska Marine Science Symposium 2023 256
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