RATE OF INCREASE, 1978–1988, OF BOWHEAD WHALES, BALAENA MYSTICETUS, ESTIMATED FROM ICE‐BASED CENSUS DATA

The number of bowhead whales, Balaena mysticetus, passing within viewing range of the ice-based census at Point Barrow, Alaska, during spring migrations from 1978 to 1988 is estimated from the visual census data. The trend in the annual numbers yields an estimated rate of increase of 3.1% per year with a 95% confidence interval ranging from 0.1% to 6.2% for the Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas bowhead stock during this period. Alternative treatments of the data suggest less precise or somewhat lower estimates, but all results indicate that the stock was increasing.