EVIDENCE OF A FEEDING AGGREGATION OF HUMPBACK WHALES (MEGAPTERA NOVAEANGLIAE) AROUND KODIAK ISLAND, ALASKA

The known summer feeding range of the North Pacific humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) extends from California, along the coasts of Oregon, Washington, and Alaska, into the Bering Sea, along the Aleutian Islands, the Sea of Okhotsk, and to northern Japan. In feeding areas of the northeastern Pacific Ocean, humpback whale photoidentification research has been concentrated off California, southeastern Alaska, Prince William Sound in Alaska, the Oregon and Washington coasts, and British Columbia. Results of these photoidentification studies have documented that individual whales tend to return to the same general areas in subsequent years. Comparisons between these photographic data sets have found one match between California and southeastern Alaska (seen in California in the spring), six matches between southeastern Alaska and Prince William Sound, and 11 matches between.