Purpose:
Although harbor porpoises, Phocoena phocoena, are known to occur
throughout Alaska waters (Fiscus et al. 1976; Leatherwood and Reeves 1978;
Lawry et al. 1982; Leatherwood et al. 1983), few estimates of abundance exist.
In 1991, the National Marine Mammal Laboratory initiated a 3-yr study on Alaska
harbor porpoises. The objectives of this program were to: 1) Obtain minimum
... population estimates in coastal waters using line transect methodology with a
coefficient of variation for density estimates of less than 30% for each survey
area. 2) Establish a baseline for detecting changes in abundance through time,
for analysis of trends.
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: During the present study, it was not fiscally
possible to survey all areas of the state in any one year. Accordingly, we
selected sections of the state to survey in consecutive years to maximize the
likelihood of including all of the animals for a particular area surveyed while
minimizing the likelihood of significant movement between areas among survey
years.
CURRENTNESS REFERENCE: ground condition
SPATIAL REFERENCE INFORMATION -
GEODETIC MODEL
Horizontal Datum Name: D_WGS_1984
Ellipsoid Name: WGS_1984
Semi-major Axis: 6378137.000000
Denominator of Flattening Ratio: 298.257224 
