The National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML) 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 NMML 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.

Quarterly Reports

• Seal Disease Outbreak in Arctic - Updated Nov 2011
• By Land, Sea, and Air: A Collaborative Steller Sea Lion Research Cruise in the Aleutian Islands
  
• Cetacean Distribution and Abundance in Realtion to Oceanographic Domains on the Eastern Bering Sea Shelf in June and July of 2002, 2008, and 2010
  
• U.S. and Russia Collaborate to Study Ice Seals
  
• Changes in Northern Fur Seal Foraging Behavior with Increasing Population Density on Bogoslof Island, Alaska
  
• Southeast Alaska Harbor Porpoise Research
  
• Habitat Use and Seasonal Movements of Adult Bearded Seals in Kotzebue Sound, Alaska
  
• Using Traditional Knowledge and Archived Documents to Aid Research and Conservation Goals for the Northern Fur Seal
  
• Finding the Needle in the Haystack: Using Sonobuoys to Locate a Critically Endangered Species
  
• Researchers from the Polar Ecosystems Program Census Harbor Seals Along Coastal Alaska
  
• Life History and Distribution Patterns of Fishes and Cephalopods: A Window into the Foraging Ecology of Pinnipeds
  
• Pushed to the Edge: Soviet Catches of Right Whales in the Eastern North Pacific
  
• The Endangered Beluga Whales of Cook Inlet, Alaska
  
• First Winter Capture and Tracking of Adult Female Steller Sea Lions in Southeast Alaska
  
• The Long and the Short of It: A Simple Photograph-based Approach for Discriminating between Free-ranging Long-finned and Short-finned Pilot Whales off the East Coast of the United States
  
• Completion of Endangered Species Act Status Reviews for Ringed and Bearded Seals
  
• Northern Fur Seal Research in 2010
  
• Mary Ann Sherman: The Life and Death of a Whaling Wife
  
• NMML Researchers Census Harbor Seals Along Coastal Alaska
  
• NMML Scientists Participate in St. Paul School's Bering Sea Days
  
• Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction Analysis of Northern Fur Seal Telomeres
  
• Guadeloupe Humpback Whale Satellite Tagging Project
  
• Research Cruise Aboard the McArthur II in the Central Bering Sea, April-May 2010
  
• Additional National Marine Mammal Laboratory quaterly reports

Publications

• WAITE, J. N., V. N. BURKANOV, and R. D. ANDREWS. 2012. Prey competition between sympatric Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) and northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) on Lovushki Island, Russia. Can. J. Zool. 90(1):110-127. 
  
• SHERTZER, K. W., and P. B. CONN. 2012. Spawner-recruit relationships of demersal marine fishes: Prior distribution of steepness. Bull. Mar. Sci. 88(1):39-50. 
  
• NORMAN, S. A., C. E. C. GOERTZ, K. A. BUREK, L. T. QUAKENBUSH, L. A. CORNICK, T. A. ROMANO, T. SPOON, W. MILLER, L. A. BECKETT, and R. C. HOBBS. 2012. Seasonal hematology and serum chemistry of wild beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in Bristol Bay, Alaska, USA. J. Wildl. Dis. 48(1):21-32. 
  
• MATKIN, C. O., J. W. DURBAN, E. L. SAULITIS, R. D. ANDREWS, J. M. STRALEY, D. R. MATKIN, and G. M. ELLIS. 2012. Contrasting abundance and residency patterns of two sympatric populations of transient killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the northern Gulf of Alaska. Fish. Bull., U.S. 110:143-155. (.pdf, 1.16 MB).  Online.
  
• HIRUKI-RARING, L. M., J. M. Ver HOEF, P. L. BOVENG, and J. L. BENGTSON. 2012. A Bayesian hierarchical model of Antarctic fur seal foraging and pup growth related to sea ice and prey abundance. Ecol. Appl. 22:668-684. 
  
• GOETZ, K. T., P. W. ROBINSON, R. C. HOBBS, K. L. LAIDRE, L. A. HUCKSTADT, and K. E. W. SHELDEN. 2012. Movement and dive behavior of beluga whales in Cook Inlet, Alaska. AFSC Processed Rep. 2012-03,40 p. Alaska Fish. Sci. Cent., NOAA, Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle WA 98115. (.pdf, 2.8 MB)  Online.
  
• GOETZ, K. T., R. A. MONTGOMERY, J. M. Ver HOEF, R. C. HOBBS, and D. S. JOHNSON. 2012. Identifying essential summer habitat of the endangered beluga whale Delphinapterus leucas in Cook Inlet, Alaska. Endang. Species Res. 16:135–147. (.pdf, 1.53 MB).  Online.
  
• Ver HOEF, J. M. 2012. Practical considerations for experimental designs of spatially autocorrelated data using computer intensive methods. Stat. Methodol. 9:172-184. 
  
Additional National Marine Mammal Laboratory Publications

Posters

• Will Global Warming Result in Habitat Gains for Ice-breeding Bearded Seals? (2012 conference)
  By:  SHAWN P. DAHLE, MICHAEL F. CAMERON, PETER L. BOVENG
  Conference:  Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2012
  (2012 poster, .pdf, 3.59 MB)   Online.
  
• Steller Sea Lions (Eumetopias jubatus) Demographic Studies in Russian Waters
  By:  VLADIMIR BURKANOV, ALEXEY ALTUKHOV, RUSSEL ANDREWS, DONALD CALKINS, THOMAS GELATT
  Conference:  Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2012
  (2012 poster, .pdf, 8.87 MB)   Online.
  
• Synoptic Aerial Surveys and Abundance Estimates for Ice-associated Seals in US and Russian Waters
  By:  MICHAEL CAMERON, PETER BOVENG, ERIN MORELAND, JAY Ver HOEF, VLADIMIR CHERNOOK
  Conference:  Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2012
  (2012 poster, .pdf, 6.45 MB)   Online.
  
• Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus) Distribution and Relative Abundance in the Alaskan Arctic, Summer and Autumn 2011
  By:  MEGAN FERGUSON, JANET CLARKE, AMELIA BROWER, CYNTHIA CHRISTMAN, STEPHANIE GRASSIA, AMY KENNEDY, BRENDA RONE, REBECCA SHEA
  Conference:  Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2012
  (2012 poster, .pdf, 4.42 MB)   Online.
  
• How "Resident" are Resident-type Killer Whales in Alaska? New Data Show Similar Widespread Movement Patterns in the Fall
  By:  M. BRADLEY HANSON, MARILYN E. DAHLHEIM, DANIEL L. WEBSTER, CANDICE K. EMMONS, GREGORY S. SCHORR, ROBIN W. BAIRD, RUSSEL D. ANDREWS
  Conference:  Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2012
  (2012 poster, .pdf, 703 KB)   Online.
  
• Agent-based Modeling of the Dynamics of Mammal-eating Killer Whales and Their Prey: Not Your Lynx-Hare Cycle
  By:  J. WARD TESTA, KENRICK J. MOCK, CAMERON TAYLOR, HEATHER KOYUK, JESSICA R. COYLE, RUSSELL WAGGONER
  Conference:  Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2012
  (2012 poster, .pdf, 1.94 MB)   Online.
  
• Population Declines of Harbor Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) in Inside Waters of Southeast Alaska
  By:  ALEXANDRE N. ZERBINI, MARILYN E. DAHLHEIM, JANICE M. WAITE, AMY S. KENNEDY, PAUL R. WADE, PHILLIP J. CLAPHAM
  Conference:  Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2012
  (2012 poster, .pdf, 2.62 MB)   Online.
  
• Hematology Values, Dive Characteristics and Food Habits of Ribbon and Spotted Seals in the Bering Sea
  By:  HEATHER ZIEL, JOSH LONDON, MICHAEL CAMERON, PETER BOVENG
  Conference:  Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2012
  (2012 poster, .pdf, 9.77 MB)   Online.
  
Additional National Marine Mammal Laboratory Posters