Aerial survey of glacial harbor seals : 2024 field report (with historical methods)

Aerial surveys were flown from 5–26 August 2024 to estimate the abundance of ice-associated harbor seals inhabiting glacial fjords in Alaska. Using a NOAA Twin Otter aircraft, a survey team of 2–3 scientists from NOAA’s Marine Mammal Laboratory, Polar Ecosystems Program and University of Washington’s CICOES conducted aerial photo-surveys to target 31 glacial fjords, and several freshwater lakes, known to host harbor seals during the molting season, from the western end of the Kenai Peninsula, east through Prince William Sound and the coastal Gulf of Alaska (including the Lost Coast) to Southeast Alaska.