Reproductive Parameters for Female Beluga Whales ( Delphinapterus leucas) of Baffin Bay and Hudson Bay, Canada
Monitoring marine mammal populations and their habitats is crucial for assessing population status and defining realistic management and conservation goals. Environmental and anthropogenic changes in the Arctic have prompted the pursuit for improved understanding of female beluga whale (Delphinapter...
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crarcticinstna:10.14430/arctic71435 2024-06-23T07:48:13+00:00 Reproductive Parameters for Female Beluga Whales ( Delphinapterus leucas) of Baffin Bay and Hudson Bay, Canada Ferguson, Steven H. Willing, Cornelia Kelley, Trish C. Boguski, David A. Yurkowski, David J. Watt, Cortney A. 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic71435 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/download/71435/54585 unknown The Arctic Institute of North America http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ARCTIC volume 73, issue 4, page 405-420 ISSN 1923-1245 0004-0843 journal-article 2020 crarcticinstna https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic71435 2024-06-04T05:46:34Z Monitoring marine mammal populations and their habitats is crucial for assessing population status and defining realistic management and conservation goals. Environmental and anthropogenic changes in the Arctic have prompted the pursuit for improved understanding of female beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) spatial and temporal reproductive patterns. There are relatively few estimates for female reproductive parameters of beluga whale populations across the Arctic, and those few that are available are outdated. Here we summarize female reproductive data from samples collected through Inuit subsistence hunts of three eastern Canadian Arctic beluga populations: High Arctic/Baffin Bay (HA), Western Hudson Bay (HB), and Cumberland Sound (CS) from 1989 to 2014. We grouped the CS and HA populations into a Baffin Bay region (BB) population based on similar body growth patterns and genetic similarity. Asymptotic body length of BB beluga whales (370.9 cm) was greater than HB whales (354.4 cm) as established from Gompertz growth curves fitted for whales ranging in age from 1 – 89 y. We did not detect a significant difference in average number of pseudocervices (8.6) between regions. Differences in average age of sexual maturity (ASM) and length at sexual maturity (LSM) were identified, with evidence of BB females maturing earlier than females from HB (probability method BB = 9.9 y versus HB = 11.0 and logistic method ASM50% HB = 9.99 and BB unresolved). BB females were also longer than HB females at maturing age (logistic LSM50%: BB = 314.5 cm vs HB = 290.3). Total corpora counts were strongly correlated with age, although the number of corpora (≥ 10 mm) suggests reproductive senescence between 40 and 50 y. Improved understanding of female reproductive patterns and knowledge of changes in the spatial and temporal timing of reproductive processes are fundamental for effective conservation and sustainable management of beluga whale populations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Beluga Beluga whale Beluga* Cumberland Sound Delphinapterus leucas Hudson Bay inuit Arctic Institute of North America Arctic Baffin Bay Canada Cumberland Sound ENVELOPE(-66.014,-66.014,65.334,65.334) Hudson Hudson Bay ARCTIC 73 4 405 420 |
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Arctic Institute of North America |
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Monitoring marine mammal populations and their habitats is crucial for assessing population status and defining realistic management and conservation goals. Environmental and anthropogenic changes in the Arctic have prompted the pursuit for improved understanding of female beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) spatial and temporal reproductive patterns. There are relatively few estimates for female reproductive parameters of beluga whale populations across the Arctic, and those few that are available are outdated. Here we summarize female reproductive data from samples collected through Inuit subsistence hunts of three eastern Canadian Arctic beluga populations: High Arctic/Baffin Bay (HA), Western Hudson Bay (HB), and Cumberland Sound (CS) from 1989 to 2014. We grouped the CS and HA populations into a Baffin Bay region (BB) population based on similar body growth patterns and genetic similarity. Asymptotic body length of BB beluga whales (370.9 cm) was greater than HB whales (354.4 cm) as established from Gompertz growth curves fitted for whales ranging in age from 1 – 89 y. We did not detect a significant difference in average number of pseudocervices (8.6) between regions. Differences in average age of sexual maturity (ASM) and length at sexual maturity (LSM) were identified, with evidence of BB females maturing earlier than females from HB (probability method BB = 9.9 y versus HB = 11.0 and logistic method ASM50% HB = 9.99 and BB unresolved). BB females were also longer than HB females at maturing age (logistic LSM50%: BB = 314.5 cm vs HB = 290.3). Total corpora counts were strongly correlated with age, although the number of corpora (≥ 10 mm) suggests reproductive senescence between 40 and 50 y. Improved understanding of female reproductive patterns and knowledge of changes in the spatial and temporal timing of reproductive processes are fundamental for effective conservation and sustainable management of beluga whale populations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ferguson, Steven H. Willing, Cornelia Kelley, Trish C. Boguski, David A. Yurkowski, David J. Watt, Cortney A. |
spellingShingle |
Ferguson, Steven H. Willing, Cornelia Kelley, Trish C. Boguski, David A. Yurkowski, David J. Watt, Cortney A. Reproductive Parameters for Female Beluga Whales ( Delphinapterus leucas) of Baffin Bay and Hudson Bay, Canada |
author_facet |
Ferguson, Steven H. Willing, Cornelia Kelley, Trish C. Boguski, David A. Yurkowski, David J. Watt, Cortney A. |
author_sort |
Ferguson, Steven H. |
title |
Reproductive Parameters for Female Beluga Whales ( Delphinapterus leucas) of Baffin Bay and Hudson Bay, Canada |
title_short |
Reproductive Parameters for Female Beluga Whales ( Delphinapterus leucas) of Baffin Bay and Hudson Bay, Canada |
title_full |
Reproductive Parameters for Female Beluga Whales ( Delphinapterus leucas) of Baffin Bay and Hudson Bay, Canada |
title_fullStr |
Reproductive Parameters for Female Beluga Whales ( Delphinapterus leucas) of Baffin Bay and Hudson Bay, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Reproductive Parameters for Female Beluga Whales ( Delphinapterus leucas) of Baffin Bay and Hudson Bay, Canada |
title_sort |
reproductive parameters for female beluga whales ( delphinapterus leucas) of baffin bay and hudson bay, canada |
publisher |
The Arctic Institute of North America |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic71435 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/download/71435/54585 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-66.014,-66.014,65.334,65.334) |
geographic |
Arctic Baffin Bay Canada Cumberland Sound Hudson Hudson Bay |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Baffin Bay Canada Cumberland Sound Hudson Hudson Bay |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Beluga Beluga whale Beluga* Cumberland Sound Delphinapterus leucas Hudson Bay inuit |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Beluga Beluga whale Beluga* Cumberland Sound Delphinapterus leucas Hudson Bay inuit |
op_source |
ARCTIC volume 73, issue 4, page 405-420 ISSN 1923-1245 0004-0843 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic71435 |
container_title |
ARCTIC |
container_volume |
73 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
405 |
op_container_end_page |
420 |
_version_ |
1802638653784064000 |