Marine mammal biologists with the Alaska Fisheries Science Center are embarked through mid-July on a survey of endangered Steller sea lions in the western Aleutian Islands, aboard the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service research vessel Tiglax.
Tiglax, pronounced “TEKH-lah”, is the Aleut word for eagle.
The biologists departed from Adak the week of June 23 to survey areas the Steller sea lions were known to inhabit, and to look for permanently marked individual sea lions to learn more about them.
They will collect images from digital cameras that have been mounted to photograph rookeries and haulouts. The cameras were programmed to capture images year-round during daylight hours.
Other biologists in a Twin Otter operated by NOAA’s Aircraft Operations Center meanwhile will survey the Delarof Islands and the east to conduct a complete survey of Steller sea lions on the Aleutian Islands.
The team will also photograph pods of killer whales and humpback whales to identify individual whales, and deploy satellite tags on the whales when possible.
They also plan to tow underwater cameras at sites where satellite-tagged sea lions have been observed foraging for prey in the Aleutians, primarily Atka mackerel.
