Shrnutí

Popis

As part of the Bering Sea Integrated Ecosystem Research Program (BSIERP) funded by the North Pacific Research Board (http://www.nprb.org/bering-sea-project), cetacean surveys were conducted to describe distribution and estimate abundance on the eastern Bering Sea shelf. Three marine mammal observers conducted visual surveys along transect lines sampled during the Alaska Fisheries Science Center walleye pollock assessment survey in June and July of 2008 and 2010. We collected sighting data for all cetaceans, and produced abundance estimates for the following species: humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) and fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), minke whale (B. acutorostrata), Dalls (Phocoenoides dalli) and harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena).