A dead juvenile female humpback whale near Dolgoi Island
Observation: A dead juvenile female humpback whale sighted from the F/V Northern Star outside of Dolgoi Island in the summer of 2015. Darien Uttecht
BeringWatch Consult: The sighting was one of four dead whale sightings that were reported to the Agdaagux Tribe by fishermen participating in the BeringWatch Citizen Sentinel program. These included two sightings of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), including this juvenile female, which were confirmed and added to the list of dead whales in the 2015 Gulf of Alaska Unusual Mortality Event (UME). Lauren Devine, Aleut Community of St. Paul Island, ECO Co-Director
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LEO Comment: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) - The humpback whale is a migratory species, spending its summers in temperate and subpolar waters, but mating and calving in tropical and sub-tropical waters closer to the equator. Humpbacks may be seen at any time of year in Alaska, but most animals winter in temperate or tropical waters near Mexico, Hawaii, and in the western Pacific near Japan. An exception to this rule is a population that remains year-round in the Arabian Sea. Migrations of up to 3,000 miles (4,800 km) each way are typical. In the spring, the animals migrate back to Alaska where food is abundant and tend to concentrate in several areas including Southeast Alaska, Prince William Sound, Kodiak, the Barren Islands at the mouth of Cook Inlet, and along the Aleutian Islands. The Chukchi Sea is the northernmost area for humpbacks during their summer feeding, although, in 2007, humpbacks were seen in the Beaufort Sea east of Barrow, which would suggest a northward expansion of their feeding grounds. M. Brubaker
