Estimates of bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) numbers in the Beaufort Sea during late summer

Abstract

Annual estimates ranged from 700-1200 to 3000-3500 whales for the latter half of August and 2000-2200 to 1600-2900 whales for the first half of September. Estimates of up to 3000 whales were calculated for subregions of the Beaufort Sea for two separate two-week periods, with adjacent-period estimates of only several hundred whales in the same subregions, implying that whale concentrations were highly transitory. The highest estimate (c3500 whales) accounts for less than half of the estimated 7800 whales in the Bering Sea bowhead population. -from Authors