Alaska’s marine species hold great economic and cultural significance for the nation, and our research is focused on supporting sustainable management and conservation of these vital resources. Our studies aim to understand the health and population sizes of marine mammals such as whales, seals, sea lions, and porpoises, as well as the key areas where they feed, breed, and grow.
We gather important data on the sustainability of marine life by monitoring environmental conditions in different ocean habitats such as sea surface temperatures in the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska. Through analyzing biological, oceanographic, and ecological data collected during research surveys and by trained fisheries observers in our laboratories, we learn more about marine animal diets, age, growth, reproduction, food web dynamics
