Gray whales and the structure of the Bering Sea benthos

Oecologia ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 59 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 224-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. K. Nerini ◽  
J. S. Oliver
Keyword(s):  
Bering Sea ◽  
Gray Whales ◽  
The Bering Sea

Migration and Feeding of the Gray Whale (Eschrichtius gibbosus)

1962 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 815-838 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon C. Pike
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Bering Sea ◽  
Chukchi Sea ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
Gulf Of Alaska ◽  
Bering Strait ◽  
Visual Contact ◽  
Gray Whales ◽  
Baleen Whales ◽  
The Bering Sea

Observations of gray whales from the coasts of British Columbia, Washington, and Alaska are compared with published accounts in order to re-assess knowledge of migration and feeding of the American herd. Source of material is mainly from lighthouses and lightships.The American herd of gray whales retains close contact with the shore during migration south of Alaska. Off Washington and British Columbia the northward migration begins in February, ends in May, and is at a peak during the first two weeks in April; the southward migration occurs in December and January, and is at a peak in late December. Northward migrants stop occasionally to rest or feed; southward migrants are travelling faster and appear not to stop to rest or feed during December and January. Gray whales seen off British Columbia, sometimes in inside protected waters, from June through October, probably remain in this area throughout the summer and fall months.Available evidence suggests that gray whales retain contact with the coast while circumscribing the Gulf of Alaska, enter the Bering Sea through eastern passages of the Aleutian chain, and approach St. Lawrence Island by way of the shallow eastern part of the Bering Sea. Arriving off the coast of St. Lawrence Island in May and June the herd splits with some parts dispersing along the Koryak coast and some parts continuing northward as the ice retreats through Bering Strait. Gray whales feed in the waters of the Chukchi Sea along the Siberian and Alaskan coasts in July, August and September. Advance of the ice through Bering Strait in October initiates the southern migration for most of the herd. In summering areas, in northern latitudes, gray whales feed in shallow waters on benthic and near-benthic organisms, mostly amphipods.There is no evidence to indicate that gray whales utilize ocean currents or follow the same routes as other baleen whales in their migrations. Visual contact with coastal landmarks appear to aid gray whales in successfully accomplishing the 5000-mile migration between summer feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi Seas and winter breeding grounds in Mexico.Reconstruction of the migration from all available data shows that most of the American herd breeds and calves in January and February, migrates northward in March, April and May, feeds from June through October, and migrates southward in November and December.

Gray whale feeding on dense ampeliscid amphipod communities near Bamfield, British Columbia

1984 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
John S. Oliver ◽  
Peter N. Slattery ◽  
Mark A. Silberstein ◽  
Edmund F. O'Connor
Keyword(s):  
Bering Sea ◽  
Benthic Communities ◽  
Gray Whale ◽  
Gray Whales ◽  
Northern Bering Sea ◽  
Amphipod Crustacean ◽  
Different Parts ◽  
Feeding Grounds ◽  
Made In ◽  
The Bering Sea

Gray whales fed on dense populations of ampeliscid amphipods while summering along the west coast of Vancouver Island. These amphipod crustacean communities are ecological analogs of the primary feeding grounds of gray whales in the northern Bering Sea. The same major genera of amphipods dominated the Alaskan and Canadian feeding grounds, including Ampelisca, Photis, Protomedeia, Anonyx, and Orchomene, and comprised 67 to 90% of the number of infaunal crustaceans at the two locations. This is the first documented report of gray whale feeding on benthic infauna south of the Bering Sea. Feeding gray whales observed in Pachena Bay produced an extensive record of feeding excavations in bottom sediments. Excavation patterns suggest that: (i) whales used suction to extract infaunal prey and sediments; (ii) a maximum of six excavations was made in one feeding dive; (iii) excavation size was related to whale size; (iv) small and large whales fed in different parts of the bay; and (v) whales effectively located and worked the densest patches of benthic prey. We estimate that a 6-m whale consumed 116 kg of infaunal prey per 12-h day, and that a 12-m whale consumed 552 kg per 12-h day. Scavenging lysianassid amphipods were attracted to feeding disturbances within seconds and preyed on injured and dislodged infauna. Individual feeding excavations were large, deep valleys in a tube-mat plateau. In addition to the lysianassids, many other infauna undoubtedly colonize these highly modified habitats, resulting in important effects on the structure of benthic communities.

Preliminary isopach map of the Bering Sea basin

1976 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan K. Cooper ◽  
K.A. Bailey ◽  
M. S. Marlow ◽  
D. W. Scholl ◽  
C.E. Carpenter
Keyword(s):  
Bering Sea ◽  
Isopach Map ◽  
The Bering Sea

Sonobuoy seismic data collected during 1982 in the Bering Sea

1982 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. K. Cooper ◽  
M. S. Marlow ◽  
Thomas O'Brien
Keyword(s):  
Bering Sea ◽  
Seismic Data ◽  
The Bering Sea

Aspidisca beringiana sp. nov. and Simbiodisca subgen. nov. (Ciliophora, Euplotida), a symbiont of terebellid polychaetes in the Bering Sea

2009 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-190
Author(s):  
A.W. Jankowski
Keyword(s):  
Bering Sea ◽  
Tidal Zone ◽  
Generic Rank ◽  
New Subgenus ◽  
Bering Island ◽  
The Bering Sea

Terebellids in tidal zone of the Bering Island bear three new symbionts - rhabdophryid suctorians, peritrichs with small rosette-like colonies and aspidiscid hypotrich with a long peristome parallel to left body margin. This is the main feature of a new subgenus of the genus Aspidisca, named Simbiodisca. It may deserve the full generic rank if the use of protargol silvering method will not reveal any upper left rudiment of the peristomal membranelles.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document