News Archives
2016
Wynne and Witteveen fly first aerial survey of 2016
May 2016
On May 6, 2016, Kate Wynne and Bree Witteveen conducted the first aerial surveyof 2016 to document any whale carcasses that may be indicative of a continuation of the Large Whale Unusual Mortality Event in the Western Gulf of Alaska during this summer feeding season.
Former GAP graduate student publishes chapters from thesis
April 2016
Former graduate student Dana Wright had both chapters of her master's thesis published.
- Wright, D.L., B.H. Witteveen, K. Wynne, and L. Horstmann-Dehn. 2015. Evidence of two subaggregations of humpback whales on the Kodiak, Alaska, feeding ground revealed from stable isotope analysis. Marine Mammal Science 31(4): 1378–1400. http://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12227
- Wright, D.L., B.H. Witteveen, K. Wynne, and L. Horstmann-Dehn. 2016. Fine-scale spatial differences in humpback whale diet composition near Kodiak, Alaska. Marine Mammal Science. http://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12311.
2015
Wynne and Witteveen investigate large whale die-off in western Gulf of Alaska
June 2015
In the summer of 2015, Marine Advisory Program Marine Mammal Specialists and GAP principle investigators, Kate Wynne and Bree Witteveen, were on the front lines of the Large Whale Unusual Mortality Event in the western Gulf of Alaska. Wynne and Witteveen were critical players in the field response, documentations and investigation of the ongoing event. As UME Onsite Coordinator, Witteveen participates in bimonthly team meetings as the investigation into the cause of this large whale die-off continues.
The event garnered national, state and local attention.
- Whales Are Mysteriously Dying In Alaska (Huffington Post)
- 9 endangered whales found dead in Alaska waters in recent weeks (Alaska Dispatch News)
- Scientist says unexplained mass whale deaths off Alaska island may remain a mystery (U.S. News and World Report)
New publication
February 2015
Former graduate student Jennifer Marsh recently had a chapter of her GAP related thesis published. Marsh, J.M., R.J. Foy, N. Hillgruber, and G.H. Kruse. 2015. Variability in trophic positions of four commercially important groundfish species in the Gulf of Alaska [PDF; 2.7 MB]. Fisheries Research 165: 100–114. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2015.01.003
GAP researcher in Huffington Post article
2/26/2015
GAP researcher Bree Witteveen was featured in On the Trail of the Whales: Kodiak, Last Chance Island, a Huffington Post article about gray whale migration.
2014
GAP graduate student successfully defends thesis
December 2014
Dana Wright successfully defended her thesis, Variability in foraging by humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangaliae) on the Kodiak, Alaska, feeding ground [PDF; 6.3 MB], and graduated with an MS in Marine Biology in December 2014. Dana was hired as contractor at the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle, and is working on publishing chapters of her thesis.
New publication!
September 2014
We are pleased to announce the publication of the following article:
Witteveen, B.H., A. De Robertis, L. Guo, and K.M. Wynne. 2014. Using dive behavior and active acoustics to assess prey use and partitioning by fin and humpback whales near Kodiak Island, Alaska. Marine Mammal Science 31(1): 255–278. http://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12158
This article describes prey use and potential prey partitioning between fin and humpback whales by combining analysis of vertical whale distribution obtained from tagged individual whales with concurrent assessment of pelagic prey.
Kodiak Area Marine Science Symposium
April 2014
GAP research was very well represented at the second triennial Kodiak Area Marine Science Symposium
- Lei Guo presented “Not All Waters Were Created Equal – Not Even Close: Spatial Variation in Consumption by Groundfishes in the Kodiak Area” [PDF; 1.43 MB]
- Bree Witteveen presented “Whales as Sentinels in a Changing Marine Environment in the Gulf of Alaska” [PDF; 3.4 MB]
- Kate Wynne presented “Whale Bycatch Reduction: What’s NOT to Love about Pingers?” [PDF; 1.31 MB].
- Graduate student Dana Wright presented “Modeling the Diet of Kodiak Humpback Whales, Megaptera novaeangliae: Implications for Marine Predators and Commercial Fisheries near Kodiak, Alaska.” [PDF; 443 KB]
Alaska Marine Science Symposium
January 2014
- GAP graduate student Dana Wright won an award for her poster presentation outlining the importance of basal food web isotopes in trophic ecology studies illustrated through a case study of Kodiak humpback whales and weathervane scallops
- Bree Witteveen presented GAP research on seasonal variability of prey and whale distribution around the Kodiak Archipelago.
2013
Alaska Marine Science Symposium presentations
1/25/2013
GAP researchers gave presentations at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium in Anchorage.
- Accoustic assessment of pelagic backscatter to assess prey use and niche separation of fin and humpback whales near Kodiak Island, AK [PDF; 3 MB]
- Mesoscale spatial distribution of pelagic forage fishes over a highly productive submarine bank in the Gulf of Alaska: is there an optimal stability window? [PDF; 410 KB]
2012
GAP welcomes new graduate student!
10/3/2012
The GAP project is pleased to welcome Dana Wright as a master’s student. Dana comes to the project after receiving a B.S. in Marine and Aquatic Sciences from the University of Maine in May 2012. During her tenure at UM, she received a prestigious NOAA National Hollings Scholarship in 2010 and was also Division I swimmer. Dana’s project will be to revise and update abundance estimates of humpback whales around Kodiak Island while also exploring fine scale differences in their stable isotope signatures.
Dead humpback whale washes ashore near Kodiak
9/27/2012
Bree Witteveen examined a dead male humpback whale that likely was the victim of a killer whale attack.
The Baranov Museums hosts “Thar She Blows!”
9/26/2012
Kodiak’s own Baranov Museum hosted Bree Witteveen as she summarized 12 years of whale research around the Emerald Island. The talk was a free event open to the public made possible by a grant from the National Park Foundation.
GAP completes 2012 vessel-based surveys
9/15/2012
GAP researchers completed 15 days of vessel based surveys throughout the Kodiak archipelago. The purpose of these surveys was to document whale distribution and relative abundance while concurrently documenting prey availability through hydroacoustics and oceanographic conditions using CTD casts. Kate Wynne and Bree Witteveen led the whale component of these surveys and collected photographs and biopsy samples of individual fin and humpback whales. The prey assessment and oceanographic component of the surveys were led by Lei Guo. While the researchers hoped to tag whales as well, weather conditions did not allow for this to occur. These surveys will continue in 2013.
Kate Wynne and Bree Witteveen present at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Land and Sea Lecture Series
7/2012
2011
Scat collection
12/2011
GAP researchers conducted a quarterly scat collection at Cape Ugat and Long Island haulouts on December 23 and 29. They collected almost 180 scats.
Photo courtesy Beth and Amy Pingree, Kodiak, Alaska.Right whale sighting
12/2011
Extremely rare sighting of a right whale in Kodiak waters.
Whale tagged with acoustic/ultrasonic recorder
8/2011
GAP researchers tagged a humpback whale with three-dimensional Acousonde tag to assess behavioral reactions to acoustic deterrents.
