Bowhead Whale Feeding in the Beaufort Sea Studies
| NSB Project Coordinator | J. Craig George, Ph.D. |
| Collaborators | Gay Sheffield (ADF&G), Lloyd Lowry, Lara Horstmann (UAF) |
| Funding | MMS, NSB, ADFG, UAF |
Summary:
Stomach content analyses were conducted using samples taken during subsistence harvest of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) during a twenty year period in Barrow, Nuiqsut and Kaktovik, Alaska. Samples are collected under NMFS permit #814-1899-03. The conclusions from this study are:
- Coastal waters of the entire Alaskan Beaufort Sea are commonly used for feeding by bowhead whales during September-October.
- This entire coastal region should be considered part of their normal summer-fall feeding range.
- In the Alaskan Beaufort Sea there are regional and seasonal differences in bowhead whale diet.
- During spring, feeding by bowheads near Barrow is more common than previously thought.
The results are outlined in the poster below from 2007:
Bowhead Whale Diet Study Continued: Bering Sea to Beaufort Sea (2007-2012)
Poster presented at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium in Anchorage in 2014.
Publications:
Journal article
- Lowry, L.F., G. Sheffield, and J.C. George. 2004. Bowhead whale feeding in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea, based on stomach contents analyses. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 6(3):215-223.
Previous articles
- Lowry, L. F., Frost, K. J., and Burns, J. J. 1978. Food of ringed seals and bowhead whales near Point Barrow. Canadian Field-Naturalist 92(1): 67-70.
- Lowry, L. F. and Burns, J. J. 1980. Foods utilized by bowhead whales near Barter Island, Alaska, autumn 1979. Marine Fisheries Review 42: 88-91.
Posters
- Horstmann-Dehn, L., et al. 2012. Can stable isotopes ratios identify feeding events in bowhead whales? Poster presented at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, Alaska, January 2012.
St. Lawrence Island Feeding Project
| Principal Investigators | J. Craig George, Ph.D. |
| Collaborators | ADF&G (through 2009), Gay Sheffield (UAF-Northwest Campus) |
| Funding | ADFG, MMS |
Summary:
Stomach content analyses were conducted using samples taken during subsistence harvest of bowhead whales the fall of 2005 to the spring of 2008 on Saint Lawrence Island, Alaska. Samples are collected under NMFS permit #814-1899-03. Data were compared to previous harvest records (1972-2008).
The results are outlined in the poster below:
Publications:
- Quick Invertebrate Key for stomach contents of bowhead whales. Includes copepods, euphausiids and mysiids. Compiled by J.C. George and G. Sheffield (2007).
- Sheffield, G, J.C. George and C. Hanns. 2008. Bowhead whale diet investigation: St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, Bering Sea. Final project report prepared for the State of Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
Banner photo credit: Vicki Beaver
