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
- Seal Disease Outbreak in Arctic - Updated Nov 2011
- 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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Researchers from the Polar Ecosystems Program Census Harbor Seals Along Coastal Alaska
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Completion of Endangered Species Act Status Reviews for Ringed and Bearded Seals
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NMML Researchers Census Harbor Seals Along Coastal Alaska
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Research Cruise Aboard the McArthur II in the Central Bering Sea, April-May 2010
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Blood-Oxygen Capacity of Ribbon, Spotted, and Bearded Seals
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Habitat Use and Seasonal Movements of Adult and Sub-Adult Bearded Seals
- Ver HOEF, J. M.
2012. Practical considerations for experimental designs of spatially autocorrelated data using computer intensive methods. Stat. Methodol. 9:172-184.
- Ver HOEF, J. M.
2011. Practical considerations for experimental designs of spatially autocorrelated data using computer intensive methods. Stat. Methodol. 9:172-184.
- JOHNSON, D. S., J. M. LONDON, and C. E. KUHN.
2011. Bayesian inference for animal space use and other movement metrics. J. Agric. Biol. Environ. Stat. 16(3):357-370.
- GURARIE, E., and O. OVASKAINEN.
2011. Characteristic spatial and temporal scales unify models of animal movement. Am. Nat. 178:113-123.
- MONTGOMERY, R. A., G. J. ROLOFF, and J. M. Ver HOEF.
2011. Implications of ignoring telemetry error on inference in wildlife resource use models. J. Wildl. Manage. 75:702-708.
- BENGTSON, J. L., J. L. LAAKE, P. L. BOVENG, M. F. CAMERON, M. B. HANSON, and B. S. STEWART.
2011. Distribution, density, and abundance of pack-ice seals in the Amundsen and Ross Seas, Antarctica. Deep-Sea Res. II 58:1261-1276.
- ALLEN, B. M., and R. P. ANGLISS.
2011. Alaska marine mammal stock assessments, 2010. U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-AFSC-223, 292 p. (.pdf, 9.5 MB). Online.
- MONTGOMERY, R. A., G. J. ROLOFF, J. M. Ver HOEF, and J. J. MILLSPAUGH.
2010. Can we accurately characterize wildlife resource use when telemetry data are imprecise? J. Wildl. Manage. 74:1917-1925.
- Additional recent Polar Ecosystems Program publications
- Habitat and Ecological Processes Research (HEPR) Program
By: MIKE SIGLER, MANDY LINDEBERG, CRAIG FAUNCE, MICHAEL CAMERON, BEN LAUREL, TOM HELSER
Conference: non-conference use
(2011 poster, .pdf, 1.14 MB) Online.
- Freshwater Harbor Seals of Lake Iliamna, Alaska - Do They Pup and Over-Winter in the Lake?
By: DAVID WITHROW, KYMBERLY YANO, JENNIFER BURNS, COURTENAY GOMEZ, TATIANA ASKOAK
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2011
(2011 poster, .pdf, 2.3 MB) Online.
- Testing Thermal Detection of Seals on Ice
By: ERIN MORELAND, ERIN RICHMOND, PETER BOVENG
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2011
(2011 poster, .pdf, 1.79 MB) Online.
- Hemoglobin, Packed Cell Volume, and Dive Characteristics from Ribbon and Spotted Seals
By: HEATHER ZIEL, JOSH LONDON, MICHAEL CAMERON, PETER BOVENG
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2011
(2011 poster, .pdf, 632 KB) Online.
- Ebbs and Floes of Seals: Using Aerial Photo-Mosaics to Track Changes in Abundance of Harbor Seals on Ice
By: JOHN JANSEN, LUCIANA SANTOS, GAVIN BRADY, ERIN RICHMOND, PETER BOVENG
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2011
(2011 poster, .pdf, 5.44 MB) Online.
- Estimating Disturbance of Harbor Seals by Cruise Ships
By: GAVIN BRADY, JOHN JANSEN, JAY Ver HOEF, SHAWN DAHLE, PETER BOVENG
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2010
(2010 poster, .pdf, 3.04MB) Online.
- Hemoglobin and Packed Cell Volume of Ribbon, Spotted, and Bearded Seals in Alaska
By: HEATHER ZIEL, MICHAEL CAMERON, TRACEY GOLDSTEIN, SHAWN JOHNSON, PETER BOVENG
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2010
(2010 poster, .pdf, 5.94MB) Online.
- Freshwater Harbor Seals of Lake Iliamna, Alaska: Updated Counts and Research Coordination for 2010
By: DAVID E. WITHROW, KYMBERLY M. YANO
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2010
(2010 poster, .pdf, 20.18MB) Online.
- Additional recent Polar Ecosystems Program poster presentations