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Cetacean Assessment & Ecology Program

Winter Whale Surveys in Kodiak, Alaska

Figure 2, humpback whale
Figure 2.  A humpback whale photographed in Uganik Bay, Kodiak, as it was being biopsied.  Photo by Sally Mizroch.

  Figure 3, fin whale
Figure 3.  A fin whale with cookie cutter shark scars, photographed in Uyak Bay, Kodiak.
Photo by Sally Mizroch.

  Figure 4, humpback whale
Figure 4.  A humpback whale photographed in February 2007.  This whale had been photographed previously in summer months in Kodiak and the Shumagin Islands.  Photo by Sally Mizroch.



 
 

From 5 to 12 February 2007, Sally Mizroch (Cetacean Assessment and Ecology Program) collaborated with seabird researcher Denny Zwiefelhofer (Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge) to conduct opportunistic photo-identification and biopsy studies of whales during winter seabird surveys in western Kodiak, Alaska. Zwiefelhofer has been opportunistically observing marine mammals during systematic winter seabird and sea duck surveys conducted each year since 1980. His humpback whale data have been integrated into the NMML North Pacific humpback whale database and various Kodiak-area humpback whale photo-identification catalogs, and his fin whale data will be included in a paper (by Mizroch et al.) documenting the distribution and movements of fin whales in the North Pacific Ocean.

During the February 2007 survey of western Kodiak waters, seven individual humpback whales and nine individual fin whales were identified, and biopsies were collected from five humpback whales and two fin whales (Fig. 2).

The presence of cookie cutter shark, Isitius brasilensis, scars on the photographed fin whales confirmed that the wintering fin whales were migratory, not resident (Fig. 3). Since the distribution of cookie cutter sharks does not include waters north of the northern limits of the subarctic boundary (lat. 38°N), these fin whales have spent time in waters south of the boundary. However, the low latitude migratory destinations of these western Gulf of Alaska fin whales are unknown.

Humpback whale photo-identification data confirmed that many of the photographed humpback whales had been seen by Zwiefelhofer in Kodiak waters in previous years, including one whale that was seen during summer months in both Kodiak (D. Zwiefelhofer, unpublished data) and the Shumagin Islands (B. Witteveen, unpublished data) (Fig. 4). If these whales follow the same pattern found in Southeast Alaska, we can assume that they are feeding on overwintering forage fish before migrating south to one of the low-latitude concentration areas.

Based on photo-identification data in the NMML North Pacific humpback whale database, humpback whales from the Kodiak region have been seen in Hawaii and in all regions of Mexico (mainland Mexico, Baja California, and offshore), and humpback whales from nearby areas (eastern Aleutian Islands, Shumagin Islands) have been photographed in Japan as well.

By Sally Mizroch
 

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