Project Information

Title: Assessment of Injuries and Recovery Monitoring of PWS Killer Whales Using Photo-Identification Techniques 93042

Project Year and Number: 1993: 93042

Other Fiscal Years and Numbers for this Project: 1994: 94092

Principal Investigator (PI): Marilyn Dahlheim (DOI )

Managing Agency: NOAA

Assisting Personnel: None

Research Location: Prince William Sound

Restoration Category: Monitoring

Injured Resources Addressed: Killer Whales

Abstract: Since 1984, research on killer whale populations within Prince William Sound has included photo identification studies to assess the number of whales occurring in the area and their habitat use patterns. The AB pod had 36 whales when last sighted before the EVOS in September 1988. When sighted on March 31, 1989, seven days after the EVOS, seven whales were missing. In 1990, an additional six whales were missing, and then one more was missing in 1991. The purpose of this contract is to obtain photographs of individual killer whales, with an emphasis on the AB pod, occurring throughout the Prince William Sound area. Photographs will be compared to the photographic database available for the years 1989 to 1991 to determine if changes have occurred in whale abundance, distribution, mortality, or natality rates. This study is a continuation of the damage assessment work conducted in 1989, 1990, and 1991.


Proposal: Not Available

Reports:
Final Report: View (2,897 KB)

Publications from this Project: None Available