AOOS Board Meeting, Anchorage
Tuesday, 10 November, 10a-5p
2010 Alaska Marine Science Symposium REGISTER (free): Oct. 28, 2009 - Jan. 5, 2010
SUBMIT AN ABSTRACT for a poster: Oct. 28 - Nov. 20, 2009
SUBMIT AN ABSTRACT for a talk: Oct. 28 - Nov. 20, 2009
Scientists from Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, the nation, and beyond will gather in Anchorage January 18-22, 2010 to inform each other about their research in the large marine ecosystems of the Arctic, the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska.
Find out more about the 2010 Symposium
45 managers throughout Alaska met in Anchorage Oct 6-8 to learn about coastal processes, share projects, and discuss ways that AOOS can better assist decision makers.
Workshop presentations can be found below:
Read the Summer 2009 Newsletter featuring the Field Experiment
Although the “official” Prince William Sound Field Experiment -- known as Sound Predictions 2009 -– is completed, in reality the project is far from over. Not only are two drifters still floating out in the Gulf of Alaska, but the AOOS field team, the data team in Fairbanks, and modelers in California will spend the next several months analyzing the data acquired during this unprecedented field exercise.
The team will be preparing journal papers and symposium presentations, and meeting with stakeholder groups to help decide what pieces of the Prince William Sound observing system structure are critical to meeting future needs. Stay tuned.
Spotlight on OrcasPrince William Sound is home to approximately 30-200 “resident” fish eating killer whales, and seven “transient” marine mammal eating whales (with occasional transients visiting from the Gulf of Alaska). There are also more than 600 killer whales in the Gulf of Alaska that can be seen in or near the Sound. Right: Orca in Prince William Sound. (Craig Matkin)
Orcas are considered a sentinel species, and their health reflects the health of an ecosystem. Craig Matkin and Eva Saulitis of the North Gulf Oceanic Society have studied the orcas of the Sound since the mids1980s. The population of transient whales ( the AT1 pod) in the Sound has decreased by two thirds since 1989.
What do orcas sound like? Eva Saulitis knows; she did her Master’s thesis at the University of Alaska Fairbanks on the vocalizations and foraging behavior of the AT1 transient whales of Prince William Sound.