By the Journal

NOAA Fisheries Service scientists say this year's count of endangered western stock of Alaska's Steller sea lions was incomplete due to weather and mechanical problems that prevented researchers from flying over the western-most portions of the survey area.

The serial surveys normally cover an area from Cape Saint Elias to the Aleutian Islands.

Doug DeMaster, director of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center for NOAA Fisheries Service, said the overall picture indicates the Steller sea lion population west of Cape Saint Elias in 2007 was roughly the same size as it was three years ago.

Declines are more prominent in the western part of the survey area, with some gains appearing further eastward. The 2007 count in the Central Gulf of Alaska, from the central Kenai Peninsula through the Semidi Islands, is the first showing a population increase since the 1970s, when the time series began.

Researchers conduct aerial surveys for adult and juvenile Steller sea lions from mid-June through early July when the largest numbers come onshore to give birth and breed. This year, researchers hoped to survey all terrestrial rookery and haul-out sites from Cape Saint Elias to Attu Island. Research flights occurred between June 9 and July 6.