James L Bodkin (Former Employee)

Sea otters possess physical characteristics and life history attributes that provide both opportunity and constraint to their study. Because of their relatively limited diving ability they occur in nearshore marine habitats that are usually viewable from shore, allowing direct observation of most behaviors. Because sea otters live nearshore and forage on benthic invertebrates, foraging...

The fundamental force behind population change is the balance between age-specific survival and reproductive rates. Thus, understanding population demographics is crucial when trying to interpret trends in population change over time. For many species, demographic rates change as the population’s status (i.e., relative to prey resources) varies. Indices of body condition indicative of...

We visually observed 1,251 dives, of 14 sea otters instrumented with TDRs in southeast Alaska, and used attribute values from observed dives to classify 180,848 recorded dives as foraging (0.64), or traveling (0.36). Foraging dives were significantly deeper, with longer durations, bottom times, and postdive surface intervals, and greater descent and ascent rates, compared to traveling...

We estimated survival of sea otters (Enhydra lutris) for 1 year post weaning during 1992-1993 in Prince William Sound (PWS), location of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. We sampled 38 pups in eastern PWS (EPWS), an unoiled area occupied by sea otters for 25 years. We compared survival between areas, sexes, and condition groups. We

Since 1995, the number of sea otters in Glacier Bay proper has increased from around 5 to more than 1200. Sea otter distribution is mostly limited to the Lower Bay, south of Sandy Cove, and is not continuous within that area. Concentrations occur in the vicinity of Sita Reef and Boulder Island and between Pt. Carolus and Rush Pt. on the west side of the Bay, although there have been...

Over the past several years, a conceptual framework for the GEM nearshore monitoring program has been developed through a series of workshops. However, details of the proposed monitoring program, e.g. what to sample, where to sample, when to sample and at how many sites, have yet to be determined. In FY 03 we were funded under Project 03687 to outline a process whereby specific...

The ecosystem response to the 1989 spill of oil from the Exxon Valdez into Prince William Sound, Alaska, shows that current practices for assessing ecological risks of oil in the oceans and, by extension, other toxic sources should be changed. Previously, it was assumed that impacts to populations derive almost exclusively from acute mortality. However, in the Alaskan coastal ecosystem...

Sea otters and harlequin ducks have not fully recovered from the oil spill. This project will explore links between oil exposure and the lack of population recovery, with the intent of understanding constraints to recovery of these species and the nearshore environment. In FY 02, sea otter work will include aerial surveys of distribution and abundance and estimates of age-specific...

No abstract available.

We estimated survival of sea otters (Enhydra lutris) for 1 year post weaning during 1992-1993 in Prince William Sound (PWS), location of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. We sampled 38 pups in eastern PWS (EPWS), an unoiled area occupied by sea otters for 25 years. We compared survival between areas, sexes, and condition groups. We also examined the relation of blood parameters to...

Seven species of pigeons and doves were cultured for yeasts in the upper digestive tract. The following list gives the isolation rate for each columbid species and the yeasts cultured from them: feral pigeon Columba Livia (Gmelin) 95% -Candida albicans (Robin) Berkhout, C. tropicalis (Castellani) Berkhout, C. krusei (Cast.) Berkhout, C. guilliermondii (Cast.) Langeron et Guerra...

We studied oceanography (including primary production), secondary production, small schooling fish (SSF), and marine bird and mammal predators in Glacier Bay during 1999 and 2000. Results from these field efforts were combined with a review of current literature relating to the Glacier Bay environment. Since the conceptual model developed by Hale and Wright (1979) ‘changes and cycles’...