The Marine Mammal Laboratory (MML) conducts research on marine mammals important to the mission of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with particular attention to issues related to marine mammals off the coasts of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California. Research projects focus on ecology and behavior, population dynamics, life history, and status and trends. Information is provided to various domestic and international organizations to assist in developing rational and appropriate management regimes for marine resources under NOAA's jurisdiction. These organizations include the NMFS Alaska and Northwest Regional Offices, the NMFS Office of Protected Resources, the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council, the International Whaling Commission, and the Arctic Council.
Research conducted by MML utilizes a variety of methods and tools to obtain needed information. Determination of status and trends of marine mammal populations requires information on abundance, stock structure, mortality and net productivity. To obtain these data, censuses are carried out from ships, aircraft and on land. Radio and satellite-linked telemetry is utilized to determine movements and migrations, critical feeding areas and depths, and other behavioral data. Sophisticated analyses and modeling are carried out to determine necessary population parameters. Research programs are carried out cooperatively with many other federal, state and private sector collaborators.
For more information about MML, please contact us at nmml.information@noaa.gov or call Go Here for info about Marine Biology Opportunities |
Marine Mammal
Laboratory |
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
- Video of NOAA Fisheries scientists working to protect and study threatened Steller sea lions.
- Video of NOAA Fisheries scientists working to protect and study threatened Ice seals.
- Seal Disease Outbreak in Arctic - Updated Oct. 2012
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Remote Cameras Increase Sightings of Marked Steller Sea Lions
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Occurrence of Humpback, Fin, and Minke Whales in the Eastern Chukchi Sea, 2008-2015: Population Recovery, Response to Climate Change, or Increased Effort?
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What's the Catch? Using Soviet Whaling Data to Reveal Illegal Catches of Sperm Whales by Japan
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Bogoslof Island Research: 2015
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Harbor Seal Research in the Aleutian Islands, 2015
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Successful Harbor Seal Survey Throughout Alaska
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Steller Sea Lions for Breakfast and Calamari for Dinner-A Balanced Diet for Killer Whales?
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Stable Isotope Models Predict Foraging Habitat of Northern Fur Seals in Alaska
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Passive Acoustic Monitoring to Study Belugas in Cook Inlet, Alaska: A Novel Approach or a Novel Nightmare?
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Resurrecting Leviathan: Reconstructing Sperm Whale Catches in the North Pacific
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Flying Beneath the Clouds at the Edge of the World: the Use of an Unmanned Aircraft System to Survey the Endangered Steller Sea Lion in Western Alaska
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Fifth Annual International Whaling Commission POWER Cruise
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Below the Fog: Monitoring Endangered Steller Sea Lions in the Western Aleutian Islands
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Remote Observations: Studying Steller Sea Lions Year Round
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Big GOALS Accomplished: Surveying for Cetaceans in the Gulf of Alaska
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A Research Cruise to Study the Ecology of Ice-Associated Seals in the Central Bering Sea Aboard the NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson in April 2014
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Spatio-Temporal Movement Patterns of Two Alaskan Beluga Whale Stocks Based on Acoustic Detections
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Demography of Northern Fur Seals on the Pribilof Islands
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Investigating the Foraging and Diving Behavior of "Transient"-type Killer Whales in the Central and Western Aleutians
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Gray Whale Calf Occurrence in the Alaskan Arctic, Summer and Fall 2013, with Comparisons to Previous Years
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Re-examining Habitat Segregation and Foraging Effort of Northern Fur Seals After 15 Years of Decline
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Bering Okhotsk Seal Surveys (BOSS) Joint U.S.-Russian Aerial Surveys for Ice-associated Seals, 2012-13
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Estimating Steller Sea Lion Population Trends
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National Marine Mammal Lab Participates in 10 Years of NOAA Science Camp
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Genetic Evidence for Population Structure in Northern North Pacific Killer Whales
- Additional National Marine Mammal Laboratory quarterly reports
- 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.
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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.
- RUEDIG, E., C. DUNCAN, B. DICKERSON, M. WILLIAMS, T. GELATT, J. BELL, and T. E. JOHNSON.
2016. Fukushima derived radiocesium in subsistence-consumed northern fur seal and wild celery. J. Environ. Radioactiv. 152:1-7.
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.
- McHURON, E. A., S. H. PETERSON, J. T. ACKERMAN, S. R. MELIN, J. D. HARRIS, and D. P. COSTA.
2016. Effects of age, colony, and sex on mercury concentrations in California sea lions. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 70(1):46-55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00244-015-0201-4 Online.
- 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.
- Additional Marine Mammal Laboratory Publications
- Severe Decline in Abundance on Steller Sea Lion Rookery at Medny Island (Commander Islands), Russia
By: NATASHA LASKINA, VLADIMIR BURKANOV, THOMAS GELATT
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2016
(2016 poster, .pdf, 1.16 MB) Online. - 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. - Fur Seal Foraging Behavior Reflects Prey Stock Structure, Abundance, and Responses to Variable Oceanography and Storms
By: JEREMY T. STERLING, MIKE E. GOEBEL, SARA J. IVERSON, STAN KOTWICKI, NOEL A. PELLAND, ROLF R. REAM, ALAN M. SPRINGER
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2016
(2016 poster, .pdf, 1.56 MB) Online. - Postpartum Period in the Steller Sea Lions of the Commander Islands: the Connection With Decline in Natality
By: SERGEY D. RYAZANOV, VLADIMIR N. BURKANOV, THOMAS S. GELATT
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2016
(2016 poster, .pdf, 2.4 MB) Online. - Monitoring the Small and Remote Population of Harbor Seals on Otter Island in the Pribilof
By: DAVID WITHROW, LAURI JEMISON
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2016
(2016 poster, .pdf, 2.05 MB) Online. - Location, Location, Location: Is the Largest Harbor Seal Haulout in the World Any Different From the Others?
By: JOHN K. JANSEN, JAY M. Ver HOEF, GAVIN M. BRADY, PETER L. BOVENG
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2016
(2016 poster, .pdf, 10.97 MB) Online. - Longline Fisheries and Their Possible Effect on Steller Sea Lions in the Russian Side of the Bering Sea
By: S. V. FOMIN, Y. B. ARTUKHIN, A. I. TESTIN, O. A. BELONOVICH, V. N. BURKANOV
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2016
(2016 poster, .pdf, 2.02 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. - Additional Marine Mammal Laboratory Posters