The Smaller Cetacea of Eastern Canadian Waters

• Published in: Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada
• Main Authors: Sergeant, D. E., Fisher, H. D.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1957
• Subjects: General Medicine; Killer Whale; Labrador Sea; Lagenorhynchus albirostris; Mesoplodon bidens; Newfoundland; Orca; White-beaked dolphin; Killer whale
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f57-003; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f57-003

An account is given of the known records, distribution and migrations of the smaller Odontocete whales occurring in eastern Canadian waters, with measurements of specimens obtained of the rarer species. The distribution of the abundant pilot whale Globicephala melaena (Traill) has been studied in most detail. The species' summer range includes both the offshore waters of the Labrador Sea and the coastal waters around Newfoundland. The coastal population feeds only on the squid Illex illecebrosus (LeSueur) and its movements inshore in spring and offshore in autumn follow those of the squid over the southwest Grand Bank. In some years a failure of the squid to move shorewards results in a failure of the fisheries for both squid and pilot whales in Newfoundland. The species is known to winter in an oceanic area southeast of the Grand Bank.The white-sided dolphin Lagenorhynchus acutus Gray associates with the pilot whale and apparently inhabits the same climatic zone in these waters, while the white-beaked dolphin L. albirostris Gray is found in somewhat colder waters. The killer whale Grampus orca (L.) migrates northwards in spring along the Newfoundland and Labrador coasts, its migration coinciding with that of the rorquals.New records for the waters of eastern Canada, extending the known range of each, are given for Mesoplodon bidens, Tursiops truncatus, Lagenorhynchus albirostris and Lagenorhynchus acutus.