NOAA Fisheries Alaska Regional Office Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Photo Identification Study Support Services

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration seeks support services for a Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Photo Identification Study, with quotations due July 1, 2026. The procurement is set-aside for woman-owned small business concerns and is a firm-fixed-price follow-on to contract 1305M321CNFFS0040.

Place of performance includes Cook Inlet, Alaska (boat and shore-based surveys) and the contractor's office location. The Principal Investigator must hold a graduate degree in marine mammalogy, wildlife biology, or similar field with demonstrated extensive experience leading long-term photographic identification studies of beluga whales. Personnel must be experienced in Cook Inlet beluga photo identification work. The contractor is responsible for all supplies and equipment; no government equipment or facilities will be provided.

The base period runs from September 30, 2026, through September 29, 2028 (two non-severable 12-month periods: Year 1 for field season data collection, Year 2 for documentation, data analysis, and report production), with three optional one-year extensions. The contractor must conduct at least 14 boat- and shore-based photo-identification surveys during the 2027 field season, incorporate new photographs and select government-provided imagery into the existing Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Photo-ID Project catalog using compatible methodology, and produce peer-review quality reports addressing survival, mortality, anthropogenic trauma, habitat use, distribution, movement patterns, reproductive characteristics, and demographic information.

Quotations are due electronically to Contracting Officer Hillary Whitehurst at hillary.whitehurst@noaa.gov. Questions are due June 16, 2026. Quotations must be submitted in three volumes: Business Volume, Technical Quote (corporate experience up to six pages, technical approach up to eight pages, past performance documentation), and Pricing Schedule in Excel format. Evaluation weighs non-price factors (Corporate Experience, Technical Approach, Past Performance) significantly more important than Price. The NAICS code is 541620, Environmental Consulting Services.