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Alaska Killer Whale Count Preliminary Results for Summer 2002 Count
We would like to thank everyone who participated in the summer 2002 Count. Your contributions helped to make this first Alaska Killer Whale Count a success. We hope that you will participate in the next Alaska Killer Whale Count in March 2003.
What is the Alaska Killer Whale Count about?
Very little is known about killer whales in Alaskan waters. Thus, our research aims to tackle this issue. The first step is to find out where these whales are found. Modeled after the Christmas Bird Count, the first Alaska Killer Whale Count asked mariners to look for killer whales during one weekend in July. By asking for the help of local Alaskans, we were able to search for whales in more areas and get a "snapshot" view of the entire state. From this we hope to begin to better understand where killer whales spend time in Alaska and eventually discover how many of them there are.
How many people participated?
One hundred sixty survey forms were returned to us. However, it's not too late to send in your form if you have not!
	Who participated? (See graph at left)
	Recreational mariners made up the largest group of participants. In a close second were commercial fishermen and charter boat operators. Other notable participants included Alaska State Ferries, various government and independent researchers and the US Coast Guard.
Where were people looking?
Participation was fairly evenly distributed with 38.8% of the surveys collected from south-central Alaska, 34.1% from the Aleutians and 27.1% from southeastern Alaska.
How many people saw killer whales?
Of the 160 surveys we have collected so far, 40 reported seeing killer whales.
Where did people see killer whales?
The greatest number of killer whale sightings came from Southeast Alaska (46.5%), the second greatest number of sightings came from South Central Alaska (37.2%) with the fewest number of sightings reported from the Aleutians (16.3%).
How many killer whales did people see?
Eighty percent of people, who saw killer whales, saw them in groups of between 1 and 8 individuals, with an average group size of 4 individuals. Ten percent reported group sizes of 11-15 individuals and 10% reported group sizes of 30-40 individuals.
What did people see the killer whales doing?
Most people saw typical killer whale traveling behaviour, where the whales surface several times in quick succession and then go down on a longer dive. However we had a few reports of breaching, tail slapping, hunting, and even one report of sexual activity.
What did people see the killer whales eating?
Only 3 of the 40 killer whale sightings reported seeing the killer whales eat anything. Two of those reported seeing the killer whales dine on salmon and one reported a sea lion attack.