activities, but they may indicate communication (Rugh and 

 Cubbage 1980). 



During the autumn migration bowheads may travel in 

 larger groups than in spring. Groups of 2-30 animals have 

 been recorded in the Canadian Beaufort Sea (Sergeant and 

 Hoek 1974), and several groups up to 20 animals each were 

 seen in September of 1974 and 1976 east of Point Barrow. 

 Unfortunately, the composition of these groups or their 

 specific activities during the fall migration are not known. 



Occurrence of Bowheads in Outer 

 Continental Shelf Lease Areas 



Outer Bristol Bay-St. George Basin 



of St. Matthew Island. Bowheads were observed in highest 

 densities on the west side of St. Matthew, as well as farther 

 north of St. Matthew Island, and west and southwest of St. 

 Lawrence Island (Fig. 29). Weather prohibited extensive cov- 

 erage of the Navarin Basin. 



No bowheads were seen between St. Lawrence and St. Mat- 

 thew Islands in 1976 and 1977 but 109 animals were seen in 

 1979. During years of more extensive ice coverage bowheads 

 presumably occur farther south. Under these circumstances 

 they are likely to occur in and adjacent to the Navarin Basin in 

 greater numbers than we have seen. (Note: The Navarin Basin 

 was not surveyed in 1976 and 1977.) The frequency of occur- 

 rence and time spent by bowheads near Navarin, then, is prob- 

 ably related to ice conditions. 



Bowhead whales probably occur in the southeastern Bering 

 Sea only during the late winter and early spring months when 

 the seasonal pack ice front extends south of lat. 60 °N, and 

 then in low numbers. Only three sightings have been made in 

 this area between 1976 and 1980, with one of those in 1976 un- 

 doubtedly being a duplicate west of St. Paul Island (Fig. 29). 

 During the height of commercial whaling very few bowheads 

 were taken in the southeastern Bering Sea even at a time when 

 the population was at its apparent maximum size (Fig. 2, 

 Bockstoce and Botkin footnote 13). It seems unlikely that 

 animals would have been missed during commercial whaling 

 operations as many ships traveled there enroute to Alaskan 

 and Siberian ports to the north. The St. George Basin-Outer 

 Bristol Bay area is beyond the central range of the bowhead. 



Given our present state of knowledge, the Outer Bristol Bay- 

 St. George Basin OCS areas east of long. 170°W and south of 

 lat. 59 C N do not include important or traditional habitat for 

 the bowhead whale. If during those years when ice extends to 

 its maximum southern limit (similar to 1976) and if unusual ice 

 or storm conditions force the whales to move farther southeast 

 than normal, then some whales are likely to occur here. 



Navarin Basin 



Townsend's (1935) review of bowheads taken in the Bering 

 Sea clearly indicated that they formerly frequented the Navarin 

 Basin (St. Matthew Island to Cape Navarin along the conti- 

 nental shelf break) from April to July (Fig. 2). Under NOAA's 

 Platforms of Opportunity Project we have received a few 

 observations of bowheads throughout the Bering Sea and, 

 although some effort has been expended near the Navarin 

 Basin, we have received no bowhead sightings from the area. 

 Several U.S. and Soviet aerial surveys have been conducted 

 during the spring in or near the area but no bowheads were 

 reported (Fedoseev 1966; Kenyon 1972 1 '; G. Fedoseev and V. 

 Golt'sev 32 ). 



A recent icebreaker survey of bowhead winter distribution 

 (Braham et al. 1980c), indicated that bowheads spend the late 

 winter and early spring months in and adjacent to the Navarin 

 Basin. We made a systematic survey of the ice front in March 

 1979 from approximately 50 km east of Cape Navarin to south 



"Kenyon, K. 1972. Aerial surveys of marine mammals in the Bering Sea, 6-16 

 April 1972. Unpubl. rep., 79 p. Natl. Mar. Mammal Lab., Natl. Mar. Fish. 

 Serv., NOAA, 7600 Sand Point Way NE., Bldg. 32, Seattle, WA 981 15. 



"G. Fedoseev and V. Golt'sev, TINRO, Magadan, U.S.S.R., pers. commun. 

 12 September 1977. 



Norton Sound-Northern Bering Sea 



The Norton Sound-northern Bering Sea (NBS) OCS lease 

 area, as it is presently designated to include St. Lawrence Is- 

 land and the eastern half of the northern Bering Sea from the 

 USA-USSR 1867 Convention Line to the Bering Strait at Cape 

 Prince of Wales, includes both important habitat for bow- 

 heads and areas where they do not normally occur. Bowheads 

 have not, prior to spring 1980, been reported east of long. 

 166 °W into Norton Sound. West of long. 166 °W bowheads 

 occur seasonally (Table 3). 



The best available data indicate that the bowhead popula- 

 tion is found in the NBS during the spring, from late March 

 through May, and in the fall from November through Janu- 

 ary. They might be present in low numbers near the Bering 

 Strait from July to October, especially in September and Octo- 

 ber; however, Eskimo informants at Little Diomede and St. 

 Lawrence Islands have told us (Braham et al. 1980d) that bow- 

 heads are essentially absent iii the NBS during the summer 

 (late June-October). An adult with calf was seen in July several 

 years ago, and two adult bowheads were reported near Punuk 

 Island (southeast of Northeast Point, St. Lawrence Island) in 

 June or July 1978, however this is an unusual occurrence." 



The bowhead whale spring migration around St. Lawrence 

 Island may be more complex than reported by us earlier (foot- 

 note 2). Bowheads apparently converge on the island from the 

 south exhibiting three general patterns: Two routes around the 

 west end of the island and one around the east end. Many 

 Eskimos at Gambell and Savoonga report that whales that 

 reach the island near Southeast Cape move west along the 

 south coast and then north past the west end of the island near 

 Gambell. Whales that arrive at the island at Southwest Cape 

 are said to migrate west away from the island across the 

 Anadyr Strait to the Siberian coast at Cape Chukotskii (lat. 

 64°15'N, long. 173°W) and the village of Siriniki before con- 

 tinuing north on migration. This suggests that there are two 

 migration routes around the west end of St. Lawrence Island. 

 Data collected since 1976 on the occurrence and movements of 

 bowheads adjacent to St. Lawrence Island did not confirm this 

 hypothesis, primarily because few sightings were made. In 

 1979 bowheads were seen all across the Strait of Anadyr (Bra- 

 ham et al. 1980c); however, mild ice conditions may have 

 altered the migration pattern as described above. 



"R. Silook, Gambell, Alaska, pers. commun. from another, unidentified 

 Eskimo from Savoonga, 16 August 1979. 



23 



