National Marine Mammal Laboratory

The Cetacean Assessment and Ecology Program (CAEP) is responsible for conducting studies to assess the status of cetaceans in Alaskan waters under the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Major CAEP projects have included studies of North Pacific right whales, bowhead whales, gray whales, humpback whales, beluga whales, killer whales, Dall’s porpoise, and harbor porpoise. Other species included in CAEP research are blue whales, fin whales, sei whales, minke whales, sperm whales, beaked whales (including Cuvier’s, Baird’s, and Stejneger’s), and Pacific white-sided dolphins. Most research projects involve determination of abundance, trends, stock structure, habitat use, and feeding ecology using aerial and vessel surveys, shore-based counts, acoustic studies, radio and satellite tagging, genetic studies, photo-identification of individual animals, and opportunistic sighting data. CAEP uses the results of these stock assessments to provide the scientific advice necessary to manage cetaceans in Alaskan waters. CAEP scientists also collaborate widely with other national and international research groups working on cetaceans across the North Pacific and, sometimes, in other oceans.

Program Leader: Phillip Clapham

Note: The National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML) has recently changed its name to "Marine Mammal Laboratory" (MML). Please be aware that the former name still exists on lower-tier pages which have been retained for historical context.

Recent Reports, Publications, and Posters

Quarterly Reports

Publications

RONE, B. K., A. N. ZERBINI, A. B. DOUGLAS, D. W. WELLER, and P. J. CLAPHAM. 2016. Abundance and distribution of cetaceans in the Gulf of Alaska. Mar. Biol. 164:23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00227-016-3052-2 Online.
NOTARBARTOLO DI SCIARA, G., M. CASTELLOTE, J.-N. DRUON, and S. PANIGADA. 2016. Fin whales, Balaenoptera physalus: at home in a changing Mediterranean Sea? p. 75-101. In G. Notarbartolo di Sciara, M. Podestà, and B. E. Curry (editors), Mediterranean Marine Mammal Ecology and Conservation. Academic Press.
DAHLHEIM, M., and M. CASTELLOTE. 2016. Changes in the acoustic behavior of gray whales Eschrichtius robustus in response to noise. Endang. Spec. Res. 31:227-242. Early online. http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/esr00759 Online.
STEVICK, P. T., S. D. BERROW, M. BÉRUBÉ, L. BOUVERET, F. BROMS, B. JANN, A. KENNEDY, P. LÓPEZ SUÁREZ, M. MEUNIER, C. RYAN, and F. WENZEL. 2016. There and back again: Multiple and return exchange of humpback whales between breeding habitats separated by an ocean basin. J. Mar. Biol. Assoc.U.K. 96(Special Issue 04):885-890. Online.
MOONEY, T. A., M. CASTELLOTE, L. QUAKENBUSH, R. HOBBS, C. GOERTZ, and E. GAGLIONE. 2016. Measuring hearing in wild beluga whales, p. 729-735. In A. N. Popper and A. Hawkins (editors). Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life II. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
MAGLIO, A., G. PAVAN, M. CASTELLOTE, and S. FREY. 2016. Overview of the noise hotspots in the ACCOBAMS area. Part 1 - Mediterranean Sea. Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea Mediterranean Sea and Contigous Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS) (Technical Report) 45 p.
LUNDIN, J. I., R. L. DILLS, G. M. YLITALO, M. B. HANSON, C. K. EMMONS, G. S. SCHORR, J. AHMAD, J. A. HEMPELMANN, K. M. PARSONS, and S. K. WASSER. 2016. Persistent organic pollutant determination in killer whale scat samples: Optimization of a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry method and application to field samples. Arch. Environ. Contamin. Toxicol. 70(1):9-19. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00244-015-0218-8 Online.
JACKSON, J. A., E. L. CARROLL, T. D. SMITH, A. N. ZERBINI, N. J. PATENAUDE, and C. S. BAKER. 2016. An integrated approach to historical population assessment of the great whales: Case of the New Zealand southern right whale. Royal Soc. Open Sci. 3:150669. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.150669 Online.
HARRISON, J., M. FERGUSON, J. GEDAMKE, L. HATCH, B. SOUTHALL, and S. VAN PARIJS. 2016. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's cetacean and sound mapping effort: Continuing forward with an integrated ocean noise strategy, p. 409-416. In A. N. Popper and A. Hawkins (editors). Effects of noise on aquatic life II.Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
FOOTE, A. D., N. VIJAY, M. C. AVILA-ARCOS, R. W. BAIRD, J. W. DURBAN, M. FUMAGALLI, R. A. GIBBS, M. B. HANSON, T. S. KORNELIUSSEN, M. D. MARTIN, K. M. ROBERTSON, V. C. SOUSA, F. G. VIEIRA, T. VINAR, P. WADE, K. C. WORLEY, L. EXCOFFIER, P. A. MORIN, M. T. P. GILBERT, and J. B. W. WOLF. 2016. Genome-culture coevolution promotes rapid divergence of killer whale ecotypes. Nat. Commun. 7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11693 Online.
Di TULLIO, J. C., T. B. R. GANDRA, A. N. ZERBINI, and E. R. SECCHI. 2016. Diversity and distribution patterns of cetaceans in the subtropical southwestern Atlantic outer continental shelf and slope. PloS One 11(5). http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0155841 Online.
DEKELING, R., M. TASKER, M. AINSLIE, M. ANDERSSON, M. ANDRE, F. BORSANI, K. BRENSING, M. CASTELLOTE, J. DALEN, T. FOLEGOT, S. VAN DER GRAAF, R. LEAPER, A. LIEBSCHNER, J. PAJALA, S. ROBINSON, P. SIGRAY, G. SUTTON, F. THOMSEN, S. WERNER, D. WITTEKIND, and J. V. YOUNG. 2016. The European marine strategy: Noise monitoring in European marine waters from 2014, p. 205-215. In A. N. Popper and A. Hawkins, editors. Effects of noise on aquatic life II. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Additional recent Cetacean Assessment & Ecology Program publications

Posters

Gray Whale Calf Occurrence in the Chukchi Sea, Summer and Fall 2015
By: AMY WILLOUGHBY, AMELIA BROWER, JANET CLARKE, MEGAN FERGUSON
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2016
(2016 poster, .pdf, 1.46 MB) Online.
Occurrence of Humpback, Fin, and Minke Whales in the Eastern Chukchi Sea, 2008-2015: Population Recovery, Response to Climate Change, or Greater Effort?
By: JANET CLARKE, MEGAN FERGUSON, AMELIA BROWER, AMY WILLOUGHBY, CHRISTY SIMS
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2016
(2016 poster, .pdf, 1.03 MB) Online.
Observations of Bowhead Whale Foraging Near Barrow, Alaska, in 2015 Support the Krill Trap Model
By: MEGAN FERGUSON, STEPHEN OKKONON, JANET CLARKE, AMY WILLOUGHBY, AMELIA BROWER, CARIN ASHJIAN, CRAIG GEORGE
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2016
(2016 poster, .pdf, 3.46 MB) Online.
Finding the Calls in the CHAOZ: Marine Mammals and Oceanographic Conditions off Alaska's Northern Slope
By: JESSICA L. CRANCE, CATHERINE L. BERCHOK, ELLEN C. GARLAND, JEFF NAPP, PHYLLIS J. STABENO
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2016
(2016 poster, .pdf, 2.66 MB) Online.
Gray Whale Foraging Occurrence in the Northeastern Chukchi Sea, Summer and Fall 2015
By: AMELIA BROWER, AMY WILLOUGHBY, JANET CLARKE, MEGAN FERGUSON
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2016
(2016 poster, .pdf, 1.2 MB) Online.
CHAOZ in a Nutshell: Five Years of Work in Sixteen Square Feet
By: CATHERINE L. BERCHOK, CHRISTOPHER W. CLARK, JESSICA L. CRANCE, ELLEN C. GARLAND, JULIE A. MOCKLIN, SUE E. MOORE, JEFF M. NAPP, PHYLLIS J. STABENO, BRENDA K. RONE, ADAM H. SPEAR, MUYIN WANG
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2016
(2016 poster, .pdf, 4.72 MB) Online.
Operating UAS in the Arctic: Comparing Manned and Unmanned Surveys of Cetaceans
By: ROBYN ANGLISS, MEGAN FERGUSON, PHILIP HALL, VAN HELKER, AMY KENNEDY, TODD SFORMO
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2016
(2016 poster, .pdf, 2.61 MB) Online.
Steak for Breakfast and Calamari for Dinner – Does 'Surf & Turf' for Killer Whales Mean a Predator Pit for Steller Sea Lions?
By: PAUL R. WADE, JOHN W. DURBAN, RUSS D. ANDREWS, TOM GELATT
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2016
(2016 poster, .pdf, 1.31 MB) Online.
Marine Mammal Occurrence in the Distributed Biological Observatory (DBO) From Ship-based Visual and Passive Acoustic Surveys
By: CATHERINE L. BERCHOK, JESSICA L. CRANCE, BRENDA RONE, SUE E. MOORE
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2015
(2015 poster, .pdf, 11.7 MB) Online.
A New Bird in the Alaskan Arctic: Lessons Learned During Coordination of Manned and Unmanned Aerial Operations in 2013 and 2014
By: MEGAN FERGUSON, JANET CLARKE, ANDREW HARCOMBE, WILLOW HETRICK, SHEYNA WISDOM
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2015
(2015 poster, .pdf, 18.8 MB) Online.
Beluga Whale (Delphinapterus leucas) Vocalizations From the Eastern Beaufort Sea Population
By: ELLEN C. GARLAND, CATHERINE L. BERCHOK, MANUEL CASTELLOTE
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2015
(2015 poster, .pdf, 4.01 MB) Online.
Acoustic Monitoring and Prey Association for Beluga and Harbor Porpoise off Two River Mouths in Yakutat Bay, Alaska
By: MANUEL CASTELLOTE, KATHLEEN M. STAFFORD, A. DARCIE NEFF, WILLIAM LUCEY
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2015
(2015 poster, .pdf, 962 KB) Online.
Additional recent Cetacean Assessment & Ecology Program poster presentations