Passive acoustic monitoring of killer whales in the northern Gulf of Alaska

Hannah Myers

doi:10.15468/9e4dyf

Passive acoustic monitoring of killer whales in the northern Gulf of Alaska

Citation

Myers, H. 2021. Passive acoustic monitoring of killer whales in the northern Gulf of Alaska. Data downloaded from OBIS-SEAMAP (https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/2158) on yyyy-mm-dd. https://doi.org/10.15468/9e4dyf accessed via GBIF.org on 2025-07-18.

Description

Original provider: Hannah Myers Dataset credits: Hannah Myers, University of Alaska Fairbanks Abstract: Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are top predators throughout the world’s oceans. In the North Pacific, the species is divided into three ecotypes—resident (fish-eating), transient (mammal-eating), and offshore (largely shark-eating)—that are genetically and acoustically distinct and have unique roles in the marine ecosystem. We deployed hydrophones in the northern Gulf of Alaska to examine the year-round distribution of killer whales from 2016 to 2020 using passive acoustic monitoring. Highest year-round acoustic presence occurred in Montague Strait, with strong seasonal patterns in Hinchinbrook Entrance and Resurrection Bay. Passive acoustic monitoring revealed that both resident and transient killer whales used these areas much more extensively than previously known and provided novel insights into high use locations and times for each population. These results may be driven by seasonal foraging opportunities and social factors, and have management implications for this species. Purpose: Year-round passive acoustic monitoring of killer whales Supplemental information: This dataset presents killer whale presence or absence based on acoustic detection. The locations of the stationary acoustic devices are approximate. Passive acoustic monitoring efforts were done during the following periods: Montague Strait Hanning Bay 10/1/2016 - 1/31/2017 Little Bay 9/14/2017- 5/7/2018 Little Bay 5/15/2018 - 9/17/2018 Little Bay 10/1/2018 - 9/24/2019 Little Bay 09/27/2019 - 5/31/2020 Hinchinbrook Entrance Port Etches 10/1/2016 - 6/16/2017 Port Etches 9/7/2017 - 5/12/2018 Port Etches 5/15/2018 - 9/30/2018 Zaikof Bay 10/1/2018 - 7/25/2019 Zaikof Bay 10/1/2019 - 5/29/2020 Resurrection Bay 6/7/2018 - 10/2/2018 10/2/2018 - 5/27/2019 5/27/2019 - 9/22/2019 9/22/2019 - 5/31/2020

Purpose

Year-round passive acoustic monitoring of killer whales

Sampling Description

Study Extent

NA

Sampling

NA

Method steps

NA

Additional info

marine, harvested by iOBIS

Taxonomic Coverages

Scientific names are based on the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).

Orcinus orca
common name: Killer Whale rank: species

Geographic Coverages

Alaska

Bibliographic Citations

Contacts

Hannah Myers
originator
position: Primary contact
University of Alaska Fairbanks
email: hmyers8@alaska.edu
homepage: https://uaf.edu/cfos/people/student/detail/hannah-myers.php

OBIS-SEAMAP
metadata author
Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, Duke University
A328 LSRC building
Durham
27708
NC
US
email: seamap-contact@duke.edu
homepage: https://seamap.env.duke.edu

OBIS-SEAMAP
distributor
Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, Duke University
A328 LSRC building
Durham
27708
NC
US
email: seamap-contact@duke.edu
homepage: https://seamap.env.duke.edu

Hannah Myers
owner
position: Primary contact
University of Alaska Fairbanks
email: hmyers8@alaska.edu
homepage: https://uaf.edu/cfos/people/student/detail/hannah-myers.php

Hannah Myers
administrative point of contact
position: Primary contact
University of Alaska Fairbanks
email: hmyers8@alaska.edu
homepage: https://uaf.edu/cfos/people/student/detail/hannah-myers.php