James L Bodkin (Former Employee)

From March 21, 2010 to March 24, 2010, a winter marine bird and mammal skiff-based survey along the coast of Kenai Fjords National Park (KEFJ) was completed. This was the second winter survey completed for KEFJ since 2008. The primary objectives of the SWAN winter surveys are to characterize the species composition, density and distribution of the overwintering marine ducks prior to...

We conducted standardized surveys for marine birds in Glacier Bay in seven years between 1991 and 2008. From our most recent survey, a combination of line- and strip-transect methods completed in 2008, we estimated that 4981 (95% CI 1293–8670) Kittlitz’s Murrelets Brachyramphus brevirostris resided in Glacier Bay during the month of June, together with 12 195 (5607–18 783) Marbled...

Northern sea otter (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) abundance has decreased dramatically over portions of southwest Alaska, USA, since the mid-1980s, and this stock is currently listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. In contrast, adjacent populations in south central Alaska, USA, and Russia have been stable to increasing during the same period. Sea otters bordering the area...

Sea otters in western Prince William Sound (WPWS) and elsewhere in the Gulf of Alaska suffered widespread mortality as a result of oiling following the 1989 T/V Exxon Valdez oil spill. Following the spill, extensive efforts have been directed toward identifying and understanding long-term consequences of the spill and the process of recovery. We conducted annual aerial surveys of sea...

A sea otter aerial survey was completed in Kenai Fjords National Park (KEFJ) during June of 2010. This was the third aerial survey completed since 2002 along the Kenai Peninsula, the second specifically conducted within KEFJ. Survey methodology followed the Bodkin and Udevitz (1999) method which accounts for imperfect detection. The survey took two days to complete. The estimated sea...

Over 20 years ago, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spilled 42 million L of crude oil into the waters of Prince William Sound, Alaska, USA. At the time of the spill, the sea otter (Enhydra lutris) population inhabiting the spill area suffered substantial acute injuries and loss. Subsequent research has resulted in one of the best-studied species responses to an oil spill in history. However...

Sea otters and the nearshore ecosystems they inhabit-from highly urbanized California to relatively pristine Alaska-are the focus of a new multidisciplinary study by scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and a suite of international, academic and government collaborators. The Coastal Ecosystem Responses to Influences from Land and Sea project will investigate the many...

Conservation and management of sea otters can benefit from managing the magnitude and sex composition of human related mortality, including harvesting within sustainable levels. Using age and sex-specific reproduction and survival rates from field studies, we created matrix population models representing sea otter populations with growth rates of 1.005, 1.072, and 1.145, corresponding to...

Exposure to contaminants other than petroleum hydrocarbons could confound interpretation of Exxon Valdez oil spill effects on biota at Prince William Sound, Alaska. Hence, we investigated polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in blood of sea otters and harlequin ducks sampled during 1998. PCB concentrations characterized by lower chlorinated congeners were highest in sea otters from the...

A description is presented of the nearshore benthic community of Kasatochi Island 10–12 months after a catastrophic volcanic eruption in 2008. The eruption extended the coastline of the island approximately 400 m offshore, mainly along the south, southeast, and southwest shores, to roughly the 20 m isobath. Existing canopy kelp of Eualaria (Alaria) fistulosa, as well as limited...

Recovery criteria for depleted species or populations normally are based on demographic measures, the goal being to maintain enough individuals over a sufficiently large area to assure a socially tolerable risk of future extinction. Such demographically based recovery criteria may be insufficient to restore the functional roles of strongly interacting species. We explored the idea of...

Aerial surveys of all known sea otter (Enhydra lutris) habitat in Southeast Alaska (SE AK) in 2002-2003 indicated a population size of 8,949 otters [Standard Error (SE) = 899] at an average density of 0.92 otters per square kilometer. These findings on sea otter distribution and abundance were compared to results from several previous surveys. Sea otters have expanded their range beyond...