Summer distribution and habitat preference of beluga whale social groups in the Eastern Beaufort Sea
In social animals, group composition can cause variations in individual needs that can influence responses to habitat trade-offs, such as predator exposure or foraging opportunities. The Eastern Beaufort Sea beluga whales ( Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas, 1776)) form different group types and cover m...
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2023
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/as-2022-0035 2024-06-23T07:45:24+00:00 Summer distribution and habitat preference of beluga whale social groups in the Eastern Beaufort Sea Mayette, Alexandra Marcoux, Marianne Iacozza, John Ferguson, Megan Brower, Amelia Loseto, Lisa 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/as-2022-0035 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/as-2022-0035 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/as-2022-0035 en eng Canadian Science Publishing https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en_GB Arctic Science ISSN 2368-7460 journal-article 2023 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2022-0035 2024-05-30T08:13:50Z In social animals, group composition can cause variations in individual needs that can influence responses to habitat trade-offs, such as predator exposure or foraging opportunities. The Eastern Beaufort Sea beluga whales ( Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas, 1776)) form different group types and cover multiple habitat types in summer. This study compares the habitat preference of three beluga social group types: (1) individual belugas, (2) groups of adults, and (3) groups with at least one calf. Observations were collected during aerial surveys in July and August 2019. For each month, beluga distribution was analyzed with hierarchical generalized additive models, as a function of group type and four covariates: sea surface temperature, bathymetry, slope, and distance to the coastline. Group type, water temperature, and bathymetric features best explained beluga distribution. In July, groups of adults preferred the continental shelf, whereas individual belugas and groups with calves preferred the continental slope. In August, groups of adults and groups with calves were found in Amundsen Gulf at similar depths. For both months, individual belugas associated more with deeper and colder areas. The preferences often corresponded to previously published distributions of the beluga's main prey species, suggesting that foraging opportunities and size-related energy requirements strongly influence habitat use. Article in Journal/Newspaper Amundsen Gulf Arctic Beaufort Sea Beluga Beluga whale Beluga* Delphinapterus leucas Canadian Science Publishing Arctic Science |
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Open Polar |
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Canadian Science Publishing |
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crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
In social animals, group composition can cause variations in individual needs that can influence responses to habitat trade-offs, such as predator exposure or foraging opportunities. The Eastern Beaufort Sea beluga whales ( Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas, 1776)) form different group types and cover multiple habitat types in summer. This study compares the habitat preference of three beluga social group types: (1) individual belugas, (2) groups of adults, and (3) groups with at least one calf. Observations were collected during aerial surveys in July and August 2019. For each month, beluga distribution was analyzed with hierarchical generalized additive models, as a function of group type and four covariates: sea surface temperature, bathymetry, slope, and distance to the coastline. Group type, water temperature, and bathymetric features best explained beluga distribution. In July, groups of adults preferred the continental shelf, whereas individual belugas and groups with calves preferred the continental slope. In August, groups of adults and groups with calves were found in Amundsen Gulf at similar depths. For both months, individual belugas associated more with deeper and colder areas. The preferences often corresponded to previously published distributions of the beluga's main prey species, suggesting that foraging opportunities and size-related energy requirements strongly influence habitat use. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mayette, Alexandra Marcoux, Marianne Iacozza, John Ferguson, Megan Brower, Amelia Loseto, Lisa |
spellingShingle |
Mayette, Alexandra Marcoux, Marianne Iacozza, John Ferguson, Megan Brower, Amelia Loseto, Lisa Summer distribution and habitat preference of beluga whale social groups in the Eastern Beaufort Sea |
author_facet |
Mayette, Alexandra Marcoux, Marianne Iacozza, John Ferguson, Megan Brower, Amelia Loseto, Lisa |
author_sort |
Mayette, Alexandra |
title |
Summer distribution and habitat preference of beluga whale social groups in the Eastern Beaufort Sea |
title_short |
Summer distribution and habitat preference of beluga whale social groups in the Eastern Beaufort Sea |
title_full |
Summer distribution and habitat preference of beluga whale social groups in the Eastern Beaufort Sea |
title_fullStr |
Summer distribution and habitat preference of beluga whale social groups in the Eastern Beaufort Sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Summer distribution and habitat preference of beluga whale social groups in the Eastern Beaufort Sea |
title_sort |
summer distribution and habitat preference of beluga whale social groups in the eastern beaufort sea |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/as-2022-0035 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/as-2022-0035 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/as-2022-0035 |
genre |
Amundsen Gulf Arctic Beaufort Sea Beluga Beluga whale Beluga* Delphinapterus leucas |
genre_facet |
Amundsen Gulf Arctic Beaufort Sea Beluga Beluga whale Beluga* Delphinapterus leucas |
op_source |
Arctic Science ISSN 2368-7460 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en_GB |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2022-0035 |
container_title |
Arctic Science |
_version_ |
1802639567586590720 |