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Anne Hoover-Miller Alaska SeaLife Center Photo: DW Miller.

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Presentation on theme: "Anne Hoover-Miller Alaska SeaLife Center Photo: DW Miller."— Presentation transcript:

1 Anne Hoover-Miller Alaska SeaLife Center Photo: DW Miller

2 Gulf of Alaska Harbor Seal Trend: Tugidak Island Tugidak Island 1974-1990’s - 90% 1994-2000: Molt 3.0%/yr Pups 5.4%/yr Kodiak Island area 1993-2002 7.2%/yr From: Pendleton and Wolfe 2005 Alaska Department of Fish & Game

3 Harbor Seal Population Trend: Prince William Sound PWS 1984-1997 - 63% 1990-1999 - 3.1%/yr 2000-2004 ? From: Pendleton and Wolfe 2005 Alaska Department of Fish & Game

4 Kenai Fjords Study Areas  Kenai Fjords Region –Focal areas: Aialik Bay: Glacial Ice Aialik Bay: Glacial Ice Day Harbor: Land Haulouts Day Harbor: Land Haulouts –Regional Surveys

5 Aialik Bay: Seals on Ice Tidewater Glacier Habitat Aialik Glacier Head of 30 km long fjord Pedersen Glacier Abuts tidally influenced lake Counts have been conducted intermittently since 1979 B. Hoover

6 Glacier Habitats Differ Aialik Glacier Pedersen Glacier B. Hoover

7 Aialik Glacier: Ice on the move

8 Pedersen Lake

9 Past Research: 1979-2001   1979-1981: – – Behavior and Ecology of Harbor Seals Inhabiting Glacial Ice in Aialik Bay (Hoover 1983) Population dynamics Demography Habitat use – – Response of Seals to Human Disturbance (Murphy and Hoover 1981)   NPS continued monitoring, with emphasis in 1989, 1994, and 1995.

10  Remote Video Monitoring – Ecology & Population Biology – Glacier Ice Environments – Human Interactions Caroline Jezierski Poster  Aerial Surveys Current Research: 2002-2005

11 2002-2005: Remote Video Monitoring Camera control commands sent from ASLC to cameras via UHF transmissions Video transmission received via microwave

12 Aialik Bay Trends: 1979-2005 Total Seals Pups 1980-1989 - 84% (17%/yr) 1989-2002 Stable 2002-2005 +90% (45%/yr) 1980-1989 - 74% (13%/yr) 1989-1994 -12%/yr 2003-2005 +3%/yr

13 Total Seals (Molt) 2002-2005 Pups 2002-2005 Aialik Bay Trends: 2002-2005

14 Molt: 1,165 seals in 2004 1,508 seals in 2005 _______ 30% Regional Increase during Molt 2004 2005 Pupping, Excluding McCarty Fjord : 541 seals in 2004 546 seals in 2005 _______ Similar numbers during Pupping

15 Proportion of Tugidak, Aialik, Day Harbor and Prince William Sound (relative to 1983): 1976-2005

16 1983-2005 How similar are trends throughout the Gulf of Alaska?

17 Proportion of AT1 Pod Killer Whales relative to seal populations they prey on 1983-2005 EVOS

18 Summary   Population decline of harbor seals included land and glacial ice habitats on the outer Kenai Peninsula   Magnitude of decline since 1983 shows similarities between areas   Recovery in each area shows different trajectories that may be related to local environmental change (bottom-up factors)   Stabilization and recovery in the Kenai Fjords and Prince William Sound coincides with reduced numbers of killer whales (top- down effects).

19 Collaborators P. Armato, OASLC, NPS S. Atkinson, ASLC, UAF/SFOS SeeMore Wildlife Inc. Port Graham Corporation U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Maritime Wildlife Refuge System National Marine Fisheries Service University of Alaska, Fairbanks Permits: NMFS 881-1673 881-1724, NPS KEFJ-2004-SCI-0001, USFWS745-03-045 Field and Video Monitoring Personnel: R. Day, K. Oakley, T. Carpenter, D. Miller, C. Miller, M. Tetreau, J. Pfeiffenberger, S. Pfeiffenberger, G. Smith, K. Link, W. Bryden, J.Welsh, S. Brennan, P. Salzman, K. Wilson, K. Felitz, S. Aughe, L. O’Brien, L. Dickinson, J. Follin, T. Mauro, M. Sternberg, K. Heffron, R. Pearce and C. Jezierski.


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