Objectives: Monitor Chenega Bay area for non-indigenous species, particularly for the European Green Crab (Carcinus meanus). Chenega Bay is only one of a network of sites established by PWSRCAC to detect the arrival and spread of green crabs in Alaskan waters.

Methodology: Monitoring traps are deployed for 24 hours during minus tide events throughout the summer. Traps are collected, species caught identified and recorded. Tunicate monitoring was added to this project's scope in 2011.  10 settlement plates were deployed at the Chenega Bay Small Boat harbor during the summer of 2011.  These plates will be switched out every 6 months and are recorded for the types and amounts of marine invertebrates on the settlement plates.  Invasive tunicate species have been found in Prince William Sound waters. No green crabs have been currently found.

European Green Crab

Hair Crabs

Photo 1: PWSRCAC Website    Photos  2 - 4: K. McLaughlin 

Chenega Bay Rufus Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) banding project
Ongoing project since 2007

Objectives:  Under the supervision of Master Bander Stacy J. Peterson (USFWS Permit # 23148) rufus hummingbirds are captured, marked and released in order to determine relative abundance and population dynamics.

Methodology:  Rufus hummingbirds are banded with US Fish and Wildlife Service unique identification bands, weighed and morphological data recorded and released unharmed.  

Photo1: K. McLaughlin   Photos 2 & 3: Stacy J. Peterson

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Humpback whale (Megaptera novaengliae) project
October 2006 - March 2010

Objectives:  From 4 select bays near Chenega Bay, Alaska, estimate the abundance and residency of winter humpback whale populations and identify humpback whale prey.

Methodology:  SPLASH network protocols for humpback whale observations, individual identification with digital camera photos and physical data collection.
Authorized under the National Marine Mammal Laboratory's cetacean permit #782-1719.

Photos: K. McLaughlin

Publications
Click here for:

• Environmental Education in Chenega Bay, Alaska
  This document is a sample of curriculum produced for Chenega Bay Environmental Program 2006.
• Alaska Marine Science Symposium 2008 Abstract:
  Humpback Whale Predation on Herring
• Bird Feeding - Alaskan Style, Appeared in Bird Watcher's Digest in 2008
• Clamming, Appears in Thoreau's Legacy: American Stories on Global Warming, 2009.
• Chenega Bay Rufous Hummingbird Banding Project
  2007 - 2011
• Chenega Bay Rufous Hummingbird Banding Project
  Total Banded by Age & Sex
  2007 - 2011