| Data/Information and Research Needs Relative to Humpback Whalesin Glacier Bay and Elsewhere (these lists are examples and notnecessarily all inclusive). |
| A. | Compilation and analyses of existing data (available data presently are not in a form that is optimally useful) |
| | I. | Whales |
| | a. | whale distribution and abundance in Glacier Bay and surrounding areas—by year, season, time of day, age, sex, weather (tide, rain, etc.), birds, boats (by total and by class), depth of water, distance from shore, prey species, effort,—— |
| | b. | movements/habitat use patterns—home range, temporal/spatial distribution of sightings of individually recognizable animals—are there resident, migratory and/or transient animals in the Bay or surrounding waters—do individuals have seasonal, annual cycles as to when/where they occur |
| | c. | undisturbed ("normal"—baseline) whale behavior—by age, sex, group size, group composition, time of day, season, location (descriptive and quantitative) |
| | 1. resting dive times/breathing
2. traveling
3. feeding
i. lunge-feeding
ii. bubble net-feeding
iii. other | | | a. vocalization | 1.
2.
3.
" | b. tail lob
c. raking
d. finning
e. breaching
f. avoidance
g. other |
|
|
| | 4. interaction with other whales/social organization of whales |
| | d. | disturbed whale behavior—stimulus/response— behavior (as above) before, during and after an event—response distance (by age, sex, pre-event activity, location, time between events, time of day, season, weather, etc.)—recovery time (by age, sex, etc.). |
| | II. | Boat and Aircraft Traffic |
| | a. | distribution and abundance in Glacier Bay and surrounding areas—by type (class), year, season, time of day, weather |
| | b. | movements/use patterns—by type, year, etc. |
| | c. | activities (behavior)—by type, year, etc.
1. whale watching
2. fishing (sport/commercial) |
| | III. | Habitat (physical, chemical, biological environment—by year, season, etc.) |
| | a. | physical—water temperature, sediment load |
| | b. | chemical—salinity, oxygen content, inorganic nutrient, pollutants |
| | c. | biological
| 1. | distribution and abundance of primary and secondary prey species—by year, season, time of day | | 2. | distribution, size, and species composition of fish catch, including by-catch—by year and season | | 3. | distribution and abundance of predators (killer whales) and competitors other than man—by year, season, time of day, etc. |
|
| B. | Improve base line data |
| | I. | Acoustic |
| | a. | ambient noise levels—representative areas (in and outside Bay), seasons, time of day, weather and tide conditions, sea state |
| | b. | boat- and plane-related noise—representative types, representative areas (in and outside Bay), speed (prop rpm), season, time of day, sea state |
| | II. | Whales—in and outside the Bay |
| | a. | abundance |
| | b. | distribution |
| | c. | movements (habitat use pattern) |
| | d. | activity patterns |
| | e. | behavior vocalization |
| | f. | habitat requirement/areas of special significance |
| | III. | Boats and Planes—in and outside the Bay |
| | a. | abundance—by type, season, time of day |
| | b. | distribution— |
| | c. | movements— |
| | d. | activity in patterns |
| | IV. | Habitat |
| | a. | physical |
| | b. | chemical—pollutant levels |
| | c. | biological
| 1. | distribution, abundance and dynamics of primary and secondary prey species—in and outside the Bay | | 2. | distribution, size and species composition of fish catch—in and outside the Bay | | 3. | distribution, abundance and movements of competing and predatory species |
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| C. | Experiments to validate hypothesis concerning possible effectsof various stimuli on whales—representative stimuli,representative whales (age, sex), representativeactivities/behaviors (resting, feeding, traveling, vocalizing,etc.), representative areas, seasons, times of day, weather andenvironmental conditions. |
| D. | Long-term monitoring (at regular intervals) |
| | I. | Environment (physical, chemical) |
| | II. | Whales (distribution, abundance, movements, activity patterns, vocalization patterns, cow/calf ratios) |
| | III. | Boat/Planes (abundance, type, distribution, movements, activities) |
| | IV. | Prey species |
| | V. | Fish catch |