Stranded beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) calf response and care: reports of two cases with different outcomes

Given the remote, rugged areas belugas typically inhabit and the low rehabilitation success rate with any cetacean, it is rare to have the opportunity to rescue a live-stranded beluga. The Alaska SeaLife Center cared for two stranded beluga calves with two different outcomes. In 2012, a neonatal male beluga calf (DL1202) stranded following intense storms in Bristol Bay. In 2017, a helicopter pilot discovered a stranded male beluga calf (DL1705) during a flight over Cook Inlet. The Alaska SeaLife Center transported both calves for rehabilitation and utilized supportive care plans based on those for other species of stranded cetaceans and care of neonatal belugas at zoological facilities. Diagnostics included complete blood counts, serum chemistries, microbial cultures, hearing tests, imaging and morphometric measurements to monitor systemic health. Treatments included in-pool flotation support; antimicrobials; gastrointestinal support; and close monitoring of respirations, urination, defecation and behaviour. After three weeks of supportive care, the Bristol Bay calf (DL1202) succumbed to sepsis secondary to a possible prematurity-related lack of passive transfer of antibodies. After seven weeks, the Cook Inlet calf (DL1705) recovered and all medications were discontinued. Unable to survive on his own, he was declared non-releasable and placed in long-term care at a zoological facility, to live with other belugas. Aspects and details from successful cases of cetacean critical care become important references especially vital for the survival of essential animals in small, endangered populations.

Alaska Beluga Whale Committee—a unique model of co-management

The Alaska Beluga Whale Committe (ABWC) was formed in 1988 to conserve beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) and manage beluga subsistence hunting in western and northern Alaska in cooperation with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). When the ABWC was formed, there was no consistently funded research or management programme for belugas in Alaska, and co-management was a new concept. The ABWC brought together representatives from beluga hunting communities; federal, state, tribal and local governments; and beluga researchers to develop and implement a programme to manage belugas. With funding from NMFS and others, the ABWC has collected data necessary for informed management decisions including the following: harvest data; aerial surveys of belugas in Bristol Bay and the eastern Bering and Chukchi seas; beluga tracking studies, including training hunters to attach transmitters; a pioneering genetics study of beluga stock identity that has facilitated collection of >2000 beluga skin samples; and a genetics-based mark–recapture study to estimate beluga abundance in Bristol Bay and validate aerial survey estimates. The ABWC is currently engaged in regional management planning in Kotzebue Sound and the eastern Bering Sea. It produces results that are scientifically valid, locally accepted and cost-effective and is an example of what can be achieved when Native hunters, scientists and managing agencies respect and listen to one another and work together. However, the current NMFS co-management funding process has fundamentally altered the relationship between NMFS and ABWC, with NMFS now acting more like a funding agency than a partner.

Successful Aging in the North: Lessons Learned, Lessons Shared, and Advice From Those Aging in a Good Way in Alaska

This presentation presents and builds upon the Alaska Native Successful Aging model. Elders’ conceptions of successful aging differ from the Western model, how rural and urban environments influence successful aging, and the lessons Elders pass down to ensure a healthy lifestyle are not common in the literature. 42 Alaska Native Elders from the Norton-Sound sub region of Alaska, 21 Alaska Native Elders from the Aleutian Pribilof Islands, 26 Elders from the Bristol Bay region, and 12 Elders residing in Anchorage, AK to provide an urban context of successful aging. A community-based, exploratory, qualitative research methodology was used to allow for co-learning between research team and tribal communities. 101 qualitative interviews were conducted, and team-based thematic analysis was used to establish codes and main themes to expand the Alaska Native Successful Aging model. We learned that emotional well-being, community engagement, spirituality, family and purposeful engagement, and physical health were instrumental in promoting successful aging within Norton Sound and Bristol Bay. These findings expanded Lewis’s model to include gerotranscendence and generativity; Elders intentional relationships and stronger connections to traditional cultural and spiritual activities gave life deeper meaning and value. These findings argue the importance of including and emphasizing social components, historical perspective, and the importance of place, as well as generativity and gerotranscendence in program and policy development.

Skin microbiome of beluga whales: spatial, temporal, and health-related dynamics

Background Host-specific microbiomes play an important role in individual health and ecology; in marine mammals, epidermal microbiomes may be a protective barrier between the host and its aqueous environment. Understanding these epidermal-associated microbial communities, and their ecological- or health-driven variability, is the first step toward developing health indices for rapid assessment of individual or population health. In Cook Inlet, Alaska, an endangered population of beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) numbers fewer than 300 animals and continues to decline, despite more than a decade of conservation effort. Characterizing the epidermal microbiome of this species could provide insight into the ecology and health of this endangered population and allow the development of minimally invasive health indicators based on tissue samples. Results We sequenced the hypervariable IV region of bacterial and archaeal SSU rRNA genes from epidermal tissue samples collected from endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales (n = 33) and the nearest neighboring population in Bristol Bay (n = 39) between 2012 and 2018. We examined the sequences using amplicon sequence variant (ASV)-based analyses, and no ASVs were associated with all individuals, indicating a greater degree of epidermal microbiome variability among beluga whales than in previously studied cetacean species and suggesting the absence of a species-specific core microbiome. Epidermal microbiome composition differed significantly between populations and across sampling years. Comparing the microbiomes of Bristol Bay individuals of known health status revealed 11 ASVs associated with potential pathogens that differed in abundance between healthy individuals and those with skin lesions or dermatitis. Molting and non-molting individuals also differed significantly in microbial diversity and the abundance of potential pathogen-associated ASVs, indicating the importance of molting in maintaining skin health. Conclusions We provide novel insights into the dynamics of Alaskan beluga whale epidermal microbial communities. A core epidermal microbiome was not identified across all animals. We characterize microbial dynamics related to population, sampling year and health state including level of skin molting. The results of this study provide a basis for future work to understand the role of the skin microbiome in beluga whale health and to develop health indices for management of the endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales, and cetaceans more broadly.

Contemporary diets of walruses in Bristol Bay, Alaska suggest temporal variability in benthic community structure

Background Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) are a conspicuous and important component of the Bristol Bay ecosystem and human social systems, but very little is known about walrus ecology in this region, principally their feeding ecology. The present work provides contemporary data on the diets of walruses at four haulout locations throughout Bristol Bay between 2014 and 2018. Methods We analyzed scat and gastrointestinal tract samples from these animals using quantitative polymerase chain reaction to amplify prey DNA, which allowed for diet estimates based on frequencies of prey item occurrence and on the relative importance of dietary items as determined from DNA threshold cycle scores. Results Diets were highly diverse at all locations, but with some variation in composition that may be related to the time of year that samples were collected (summer vs. autumn), or to spatial variability in the distribution of prey. Overall, polychaetes and tunicates had the highest frequencies of occurrence and relative abundances in 2014–15, but a major change in diet appears to have occurred by 2017–18. While some sample sizes were small, diets in these later years contrasted sharply, with a greater prevalence of sea cucumbers and mollusks, and reduced importance of decapods and fishes compared to the earlier years. Prey identified in scat samples from one collection site also contrasted sharply with those reported from the same location in 1981. The apparent temporal shifts in walrus prey may represent a changing benthic ecosystem due to warming waters in recent decades.

SUCCESSFUL AGING IN ALASKA NATIVE ELDERS ACROSS DIVERSE REGIONS

Existing conceptualizations of successful aging are mainly based on Western cultures, ignoring the inclusion or exploration of culturally-relevant knowledge within the experience of successful aging. Lewis (2011) drew on the experiences of Elders and identified four elements of Eldership (successfully aging elders) in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska: “a) emotional well-being, b) community engagement, c) spirituality, and d) physical health” (p. 544). Given the unique and distinct environmental locations of this study, this presentation builds upon Lewis previous research and will highlight similarities and differences of Alaska Native successful aging between three rural geographic areas of Alaska. 42 Alaska Native Elders were interviewed from the Norton-Sound subregion, 21 Alaska Native Elders from the Aleutian Pribilof Islands, and 26 Elders from the Bristol Bay region. A community-based, exploratory, qualitative research methodology was used to allow for the collaboration of researchers and communities as equal partners. Qualitative interviews explored the participant’s life, influences on aging well, and their aging process. Thematic analysis was used to establish codes and main themes based on the three different cultural regions of Alaska. Results argue for the expansion and emphasize on social components, historical perspectives, and the importance of place (cultural and geographic differences), as well as generativity and gerotranscendence. Findings will be used to develop community-specific health promotion and prevention programs to help Elders find meaningful activities that promote health and teach individuals to cope with aging-related changes.

A management strategy evaluation of the commercial sockeye salmon fishery in Bristol Bay, Alaska

Bristol Bay, Alaska, is home to the largest sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) fishery in the world, harvesting an average of 25 million fish with an ex-vessel value exceeding US$100 million annually. Daily fishing effort is adaptively managed to achieve stock-specific escapement goals. Traditional methods for defining these goals relied on stock–recruitment analysis; however, this approach often ignores three fundamental sources of uncertainty: estimation error, implementation uncertainty, and time-varying recruitment dynamics. To compare escapement goal alternatives, we conducted a management strategy evaluation that simulated time-varying recruitment across production regimes and replicated the daily in-season management process. Results indicate (i) implementation uncertainty can be reasonably approximated with simple rules reflecting fishery managers’ daily decision process; (ii) despite implementation uncertainty, escapement goals are likely to be realized or exceeded, on average; and (iii) management strategies targeting escapement levels estimated by traditional methods to produce maximum sustainable yield may result in lower catch and greater variability in fishing opportunity compared with a strategy with defining high and low escapement goals that are targeted depending on assessed run size, which may maximize future catch while reducing the frequency of extremely low harvests.

The Bristol Bay Salmon Fishery

The Bristol Bay Salmon Fishery. The Bristol Bay salmon fishery is widely regarded as one of the most sustainable in the world. Fish abundance and catch are at record levels, and the fishery provides employment for thousands of people and subsistence food for the local residents. Despite the industrial harvest, the freshwater ecosystems are largely unchanged. The keys to the sustainability are intact freshwater habitat, a management system that puts sustainability before other factors, and limiting the size of the fishing fleet. Both economic and social sustainability are under management that is less direct and, therefore, are more subject to outside influences.