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
- U.S.-Russia Collaborative Ice Seal Survey, April-May 2012
- 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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U.S. and Russia Collaborate to Study Ice Seals
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Habitat Use and Seasonal Movements of Adult Bearded Seals in Kotzebue Sound, Alaska
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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
- 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.
- 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., 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.
- 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.
- Additional recent Polar Ecosystems Program publications
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Estimating Productivity and Pup Growth Using Aerial Imagery of Harbor Seals on Ice
By: JOHN JANSEN, JAY Ver HOEF, GAVIN BRADY, SHAWN DAHLE, PETER BOVENG
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2012
(2012 poster, .pdf, 7.31 MB) Online.
- Seasonal Migration of Bearded Seals Between Intensive Foraging Patches Preference and Breeding Site Fidelity
By: PETER BOVENG, MICHAEL CAMERON, JOHN GOODWIN, ALEX WHITING
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2012
(2012 poster, .pdf, 756 KB) Online.
- A General Modeling Framework for Animal Movement in Discrete Time Using Multi-State Random Walks
By: BRETT T. McCLINTOCK, RUTH KING, LEN THOMAS, JASON MATTHIOPOULOS, BERNIE J. McCONNELL, JUAN M. MORALES
Conference: Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, AK, Jan 2012
(2012 poster, .pdf, 16.43 MB) Online.
- Will Global Warming Result in Habitat Gains for Ice-breeding Bearded Seals? (2011 conference)
By: SHAWN P. DAHLE, MICHAEL F. CAMERON, PETER L. BOVENG
Conference: Biology of Marine Mammals 19th Biennial Conference, Tampa, FL, Dec-Nov 2011
(2011 poster, .pdf, 3.59 MB) Online.
- 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.
- Additional recent Polar Ecosystems Program poster presentations