Long-term trends in
Puget Sound marine mammals

Harbor seal and forage fish, east Strait of Juan de Fuca, 6/26/2011

Scott Veirs, Chair of PSEMP Marine Mammal Work Group (MMWG)

Marine Waters 2018 Overview Workshop, May 1, 2019

MMWG species sub-groups

Which species are highest priority for you?

Furthest along with long-term monitoring time series: SRKWs, Bigg's, harbor porpoise, and harbor seal...

SRKW long-term perspective

With inspiration from Marine Waters longer-term time-series!
PDO+NPDO (1950); herring spawning biomass (1973); bird metrics (1974); larval fish density (2000).

Data sources -- 1973-present from Ken Balcomb, Center for Whale Research; 1960-1972 from Olesiuk et al., 1990; baselines and forecasts from NOAA recovery plan

SRKW long-term perspective

With inspiration from Marine Waters longer-term time-series!
PDO+NPDO (1950); herring spawning biomass (1973); bird metrics (1974); larval fish density (2000).

Data sources -- 1973-present from Ken Balcomb, Center for Whale Research; 1960-1972 from Olesiuk et al., 1990; baselines and forecasts from NOAA recovery plan

SRKW 2018 trends and events

  1. Total population down to 75 (K pod steady at 18)
  2. J pod: lost J50 (3 y.o. female); fell to 23
  3. L pod: lost L92 (23 y.o. male); fell to 34
  4. No new calves observed in 2016, 2017, or 2018 census
  5. Public awareness raised: J35 carrying dead calf; SRKW Task Force
  6. Other trends: later arrivals; less resident

Data source: Ken Balcomb, Center for Whale Research
Draft SRKW entry for 2018 Marine Waters report

Bigg's killer whales

Long-term trends: increasing annual occurence; seasonal peak in August ~1990; bimodal peak in Apr-May and Aug-Sep

Data sources: 1987-1993 (Baird and Dill, 1995); 2004-2010 (Houghton et al., 2015); 2011-2017 (Shields et al., 2018).
Draft Bigg's "species brief" for the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound (EoPS) (Monika Wieland, lead MMWG author)

Harbor (and Dall's) porpoise(s)

Winter density of harbor porpoise and Dall’s porpoise during 1995-2015 by region.

Data source: aerial surveys by Evenson et al., 2016

Draft harbor porpoise species brief for the EoPS (Cindy Elliser, lead MMWG author)

Harbor seal

Estimated haulout counts of three WA inland stocks 1978-2015.

Data source: 12/14/2018 WDFW Commission presentation by Pamplin, Anderson, and Pearson
(Carrying capacity earlier ~1995 in Strait of Georgia 1974-2009.)
Notes for harbor seal species brief for the EoPS

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