| 5. Accomplishments: |
Wynne has already established
a reputation, rapport, and working relationship with many of Kodiak’s
marine resource users that will form the basis for this network
of volunteers. Numerous Kodiak residents have repeatedly and effectively
demonstrated their support for the concept and operations of UAF’s
fully funded GAP study and have already volunteered information
and biological samples for this project. September 2002
Samples
Wynne involved a variety of resource users in the collection
of biological samples to be used in the study of trophic-level
interactions between Steller sea lions and other apex predators
(including humans) in the Kodiak area.
- Wynne worked with commercial fishermen and processors to collect
samples needed to assess diets of sharks and other piscivorous
fish in the Kodiak area; distributed results of the 2001 study
to individual participants along with permit and request to
collect in 2003; collected stomachs from sport-caught salmon
and halibut processed in Kodiak.
- Wynne trained 25 NMFS-funded observers in proper identification,
documentation, and sampling of marine birds and mammals taken
as bycatch in Kodiak commercial set gillnets. Received harbor
porpoise (2) and bird (35) carcasses from which stomach content,
fatty acid signatures and stable isotopes will be sampled and
used to document prey use by these apex predators.
- Coastal residents reported five dead and beachcast marine
mammals (gray whale [1], Cuvier's beaked whale [1], harbor porpoise
[1], and Steller sea lions [2]) to the PI, two of which were
salvaged or sampled for later necropsy.
Sightings
Marine mammal/whale observation is a public/tourist attraction
of growing popularity in the Kodiak area. Data collected from
the public can also support research on the distribution and diets
of these apex predators. During this reporting period, Wynne helped
publicize a 3-day public census of killer whales for the North
Pacific Universities Marine Mammal Research Consortium (NPUMMC);
received whale sightings from Kodiak residents, commercial fishermen,
U.S. Coast Guard vessels, coastal homeowners, recreational boaters,
and charter vessels; and provided identification materials and
logbooks to Kodiak air charter pilots in order to document their
whale observations and track distribution.
Wynne presented a visual description and aid to identification
of whales common to Kodiak to 65 Kodiak residents during WhaleFest
2002. This allowed the community's contribution of whale sightings.
Wynne was interviewed for stories on observed killer whale-sea
lion interactions in Kodiak Harbor that were published in the
Anchorage Daily News and Kodiak Daily Mirror.
Wynne took a film crew into the field to document UAF whale and
Steller sea lion research for inclusion in a "nature news
magazine-style" television show to be broadcast fall 2002.
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