The Polar Ecosystems Program conducts research and monitoring on pinnipeds in the Arctic, sub-Arctic, and Antarctic marine ecosystems. The research projects focus primarily on abundance, trends, distribution, and foraging behavior of harbor, bearded, ringed, spotted, and ribbon seals in Alaska. The primary objectives of the program are to support management and assessment of population status under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and to gain a better understanding of the factors responsible for the dynamics of populations and their roles in the ecosystem.
Program Leader: Peter Boveng
Recent Reports, Publications, and Posters
- Bering Sea Research Cruise '09 on the McArthur II
- UAS Test Flights, NOAA Oscar Dyson
- Ice Seal Breeding Ecology Cruise '08, NOAA Oscar Dyson
- Ice Seal Abundance Survey '08, USCG Polar Sea
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Long-term Satellite Tags on Ribbon Seals Begin to Pay Off
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Review of Ribbon Seal Status
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Abundance and Distribution Surveys for Ice Seals Conducted from the USCG Icebreaker Polar Sea, 6-27 April 2008
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Comanagement Activities with Alaska Native Organizations
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Polar Ecosystems Program Prepares for Ice Seal Research Cruises
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Harbor Seal Census in Southeast Alaska
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Tests of New Sampling Technique to Track Harbor Seal Populations in Alaska Fjords
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Abundance and Distribution Surveys for Ice Seals Aboard the USCG Healy and the Oscar Dyson, 10 April - 18 June 2007
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Telemetry of Ice Seals Captured During the USCG Healy and Oscar Dyson Research Cruises in the Eastern Bering Sea
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Polar Ecosystems Program Prepares for Ice Seal Research Cruises
- CRESSIE, N., C. A. CALDER, J. S. CLARK, J. M. Ver HOEF, and C. K. WIKLE.
2009. Accounting for uncertainty in ecological analysis: the strengths and limitations of hierarchical statistical modeling. Ecol. Appl. 19:553-570.
- ANGLISS, R. P., and B. M. ALLEN.
2009. Alaska marine mammal stock assessments, 2008. U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-AFSC-193, 258 p. (.pdf, 14.4MB). Online.
- YANO, K. M., J. Y. TINGG, and C. W. FOWLER.
2009. Northern fur seal rookery photo archive: Aerial and ground-level photos, Pribilof Islands, Alaska, 1895 - 2006. AFSC Processed Rep. 2009-03, 62 p. Alaska Fish. Sci. Cent., NOAA, Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle WA 98115. (.pdf, 4.3 MB). Online.
- TOWELL, R. G., R. R. REAM, C. W. FOWLER, J. T. STERLING, L. W. FRITZ, and J. L. BENGTSON.
2008. Population assessment of northern fur seals on the Pribilof Islands, Alaska, 2006-2007, p. 8-25. In J. W. Testa (editor), Fur Seal Investigations, 2006-2007. U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-AFSC-188.
- JOHNSON, D. S., D. L. THOMAS, J. M. Ver HOEF, and A. CHRIST.
2008. A general framework for the analysis of animal resource selection from telemetry data. Biometrics 64:968-976.
- SMALL, R. J., P. L. BOVENG, G. V. BYRD, and D. E. WITHROW.
2008. Harbor seal population decline in the Aleutian Archipelago. Mar. Mammal Sci. 24(4):845-863.
- BOVENG, P. L., J. L. BENGTSON, T. W. BUCKLEY, M. F. CAMERON, S. P. DAHLE, B. A. MEGREY, J. E. OVERLAND, and N. J. WILLIAMSON.
2008. Status review of the ribbon seal (Histriophoca fasciata). U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-AFSC-191, 115 p. (.pdf, 4.78 MB). Online.
- JOHNSON, D. S., J. M. LONDON, M. A. LEA, and J. W. DURBAN.
2008. Continuous-time correlated random walk model for animal telemetry data. Ecology 89(5):1208-1215.
- Additional recent Polar Ecosystems Program publications
- The Role of Unmanned Aerial Systems in Monitoring Ice-Associated Seals
By: ERIN E. MORELAND, MICHAEL F. CAMERON, PETER L. BOVENG, JOSH M. LONDON, LISA HIRUKI-RARING
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2009
(2009 poster, .pdf, 1.92MB) Online.
- A Comprehensive Approach for Estimating Harbor Seal Abundance in Alaska
By: JOSH M. LONDON, PETER L. BOVENG, JAY M. VER HOEF, JOHN K. JANSEN, KYMBERLY M. YANO, LUCIANA SANTOS
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2009
(2009 poster, .pdf, 1.21MB) Online.
- Seasonal Movements, Habitat Selection, Foraging and Haul-out Behavior of Adult Bearded Seals in the Chukchi Sea
By: MICHAEL F. CAMERON, PETER L. BOVENG, JAY M. Ver HOEF, HEATHER L. ZIEL
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2009
(2009 poster, .pdf, 4.26MB) Online.
- Recent Counts of Freshwater Seals in Alaska's Lake Iliamna
By: DAVID E. WITHROW, KYMBERLY M. YANO
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2009
(2009 poster, .pdf, 7.45MB) Online.
- Spring Diet of Ribbon and Spotted Seals in the Bering Sea
By: HEATHER L. ZIEL, MICHAEL F. CAMERON, PETER L. BOVENG
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2008
(2008 poster, .pdf, 1.8MB) Online.
- Densities of Seals in the Pack Ice of the Bering Sea
By: ERIN E. MORELAND, MICHAEL F. CAMERON, PETER L. BOVENG
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2008
(2008 poster, .pdf, 309KB) Online.
- Multi-Year Aerial Surveys Using Photogrammetry to Estimate the Abundance of Harbor Seals in Glacial Ice Habitats
By: LUCIANA O. SANTOS, MICHAEL F. CAMERON, JOHN L. BENGTSON, PETER L. BOVENG
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2008
(2008 poster, .pdf, 1.84MB) Online.
- One Dot at a Time: Counting Alaska’s Harbor Seals
By: KYMBERLY M. YANO, JOSH M. LONDON, RAY B. OUTLAW
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2008
(2008 poster, .pdf, 3.66MB) Online.
- Additional recent Polar Ecosystems Program poster presentations