Ice Seal Research
Movements and Habitat Use Studies
Tagging activities
Tagging activities in 2019
During 2019 we deployed satellite tags on 13 ice seals during three cooperative tagging events near Utqiaġvik, Alaska, with the North Slope Borough, Department of Wildlife Management (NSB). The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Marine Mammal Laboratory provided the 8 flipper-mounted SPOT tags that were deployed on seals.
June 2019: We tagged 5 adult male ringed seals swimming amongst sea ice offshore of the community of Utqiaġvik. Three seals were instrumented with CTD tags, the other two with SPLASH tags, and all were also instrumented with a flipper-mounted SPOT tag.
September 2019: We tagged an adult male bearded seal hauled out on a river bank in Dease Inlet. Very few adult bearded seals have been captured and tagged in Alaskan waters. This seal was instrumented with a CTD tag and a flipper-mounted SPOT tag.
In mid-September, we tagged 7 male spotted seals in Dease Inlet. Six of the 7 spotted seals were adults and one was a subadult. Four seals were instrumented with CTD tags, the other three with SPLASH tags, and all were also instrumented with a flipper-mounted SPOT tag.
Tagging activities in 2018
July 2018: We tagged 2 young spotted seals near the community of Scammon Bay. One seal was instrumented with a SPLASH tag, the other with a CTD tag, and both were also instrumented with a flipper-mounted SPOT tag. These seals were tagged by a local crew of seal hunters, River Simon, Al Smith, and Yukon Rivers, with assistance from Justin Crawford (ADF&G) and Ryan Adam (ADF&G).
Also in July, we tagged 1 young spotted seal with a CTD and flipper-mounted SPOT tags near Utqiaġvik during a cooperative tagging event with the North Slope Borough, Department of Wildlife Management (NSB).
September 2018: During a cooperative tagging event involving ADF&G Arctic Marine Mammal Program, NSB, and Vernon Long (resident of Nuiqsut), we tagged 2 spotted seals, one young seal with a SPLASH tag and one adult with a CTD tag near Nuiqsut. Both seals were also instrumented with a flipper-mounted SPOT tag. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Marine Mammal Laboratory provided the 2 flipper-mounted SPOT tags that were deployed on these spotted seals.
In late September, we tagged 1 young bearded seal with a CTD and flipper-mounted SPOT tag near the community of Koyuk. This bearded seal was tagged by a local seal hunter and reindeer herder Merlin Henry and Evett Henry, with assistance from Justin Crawford (ADF&G) and Justin Olnes (ADF&G).
Also in late September, we tagged 3 spotted seals with CTD and flipper-mounted SPOT tags near Utqiaġvik during a cooperative tagging event with the North Slope Borough, Department of Wildlife Management (NSB).
Tagging activities in 2017
June 2017: We tagged 2 adult male ringed seals and 1 young spotted seal in Kotzebue Sound, near the community of Buckland. One ringed seal received a SPLASH tag, the second ringed seal received a CTD tag, and all 3 seals received a flipper-mounted SPOT tag. We were unable to epoxy a SPLASH or CTD tag to this spotted seal because it was molting. These seals were tagged by a local crew of seal hunters, Raymond Lee Jr. and Raymond Lee III, and assisted by Mark Nelson (ADF&G) and Ryan Adam (ADF&G).
July 2017: We tagged 3 young spotted seals near the community of Scammon Bay. Two seals received a SPLASH tag, 1 received a CTD tag, and all 3 received a flipper-mounted SPOT tag. These seals were tagged by a local crew of seal hunters, Morgan and River Simon, and assisted by Mark Nelson (ADF&G) and Ryan Adam (ADF&G).
Also in July, we tagged 1 spotted seal with CTD and flipper-mounted SPOT tags near Utqiaġvik (Barrow) during a cooperative tagging event with the North Slope Borough, Department of Wildlife Management (NSB).
August 2017: During a cooperative tagging event involving ADF&G Arctic Marine Mammal Program, NSB, and Richard Tukle (resident of Nuiqsut), we tagged 3 spotted seals and 1 bearded seal, each with CTD and flipper-mounted SPOT tags near Nuiqsut. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, Marine Mammal Laboratory provided 3 flipper-mounted SPOT tags that were deployed on spotted seals and the NSB provided 1 flipper-mounted SPOT tag deployed on the bearded seal.
September 2017: We tagged 3 young bearded seals, each with CTD and flipper-mounted SPOT tags, near the community of Koyuk. These bearded seals were tagged by a local seal hunter and reindeer herder Merlin Henry and Jeremiah Henry, and assisted by Justin Crawford (ADF&G) and Ryan Adam (ADF&G).
October 2017: We tagged 1 young bearded seal with CTD and flipper-mounted SPOT tags near Nome. This bearded seal was tagged by a local seal and beluga whale hunter Tom Gray. Tom uses nets to capture beluga whales and seals for subsistence and has previously worked with us to deploy tags on beluga whales.
Tagging activities in 2016
June 2016: We tagged 1 young male ringed seal with a flipper-mounted SPOT tag near the community of St. Michael on 10 June. This seal was tagged by a local crew of seal hunters, Alexander Niksik and Palsson Fitka.
July 2016: We tagged 4 young bearded seals near the community of St. Michael. All four received a flipper-mounted SPOT tag, one also received a glue-on SPLASH tag, and one received a glue-on CTD tag. These seals were tagged by a local crew of seal hunters, Alexander Niksik and Palsson Fitka.
Also in July we tagged 2 ringed seals with CTD tags near Utqiaġvik (Barrow) during a cooperative tagging event with the North Slope Borough, Department of Wildlife Management (NSB).
August 2016: In cooperation with the NSB we tagged 7 spotted seals with CTD tags near Utqiaġvik. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Marine Mammal Laboratory provided three flipper-mounted SPOT tags that were also deployed on spotted seals. During the spotted seal captures we also captured and tagged a bearded seal with a flipper-mounted SPOT tag.
September 2016: We tagged 2 young bearded seals near the community of Koyuk. Both bearded seals received flipper-mounted SPOT tags and one received a SPLASH while the other received a CTD tag. These bearded seals were tagged by a local seal hunter and reindeer herder Merlin Henry and assisted by Mark Nelson (ADF&G) and Justin Crawford (ADF&G).
October 2016: We tagged 2 spotted seals with CTD tags near the community of Scammon Bay on 18 October. These seals were tagged by a local seal hunter Morgan Simon and assisted by Mark Nelson (ADF&G).
November 2016: We tagged 1 young bearded seal with a CTD and flipper-mounted SPOT tag near Nome. This bearded seal was tagged by a local seal and beluga whale hunter Tom Gray and assisted by Mark Nelson (ADF&G). Tom uses nets to capture beluga whales and seals for subsistence and has previously worked with us to deploy tags on beluga whales.
Tagging activities in 2015
May 2015: We tagged 1 young male ringed seal on 14 May. This seal was tagged near the community of Hooper Bay by Albert Simon 2nd. Albert 2nd was assisted by Mark Nelson (ADF&G).
August 2015: During August we tagged 8 bearded and 1 ringed seal in the Norton Sound region. We tagged 4 young bearded seals (2 male and 2 female) on 18–20 August about 15 miles up the Koyuk River from the community of Koyuk. These seals were tagged by a local seal hunter and reindeer herder Merlin Henry. We also tagged 4 young bearded seals (2 male and 2 female) and 1 young female ringed seal on 22 and 23 August in St. Michael Canal and Little St. Michael Canal, near the community of St. Michael. These seals were tagged by a local crew of seal hunters Alexander Niksik and Palsson Fitka. The hunter-taggers in both locations were assisted by Mark Nelson (ADF&G).
Tagging activities in 2014
June 2014: We tagged 4 adult ringed seals (2 male and 2 female) and 1 young male bearded seal on 18 and 19 June. The seals were tagged south of Kotzebue by the local crew consisting of John Goodwin, Pearl Goodwin, Boyuk Goodwin, Frank Garfield, Edward Ahyakak, and Denali Whiting with logistics assistance by Alex Whiting. The non-local crew included Kathy Frost and Mark Nelson.
September 2014: We tagged 3 young male bearded seals between 26 and 30 September about 15 miles up the Koyuk River from the community of Koyuk. The seals were tagged by a local seal hunter and reindeer herder Merlin Henry and Mark Nelson.
Previous Ice Seal Movement and Habitat Use Studies
We have worked with seal hunters from the Native Village of Kotzebue to capture and tag ringed seals to learn more about movements and habitat use. We are expanding this project to other villages.