SC/58/BRG21 Subsistence harvest of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) by Alaskan Eskimos during 2005

• Main Authors: Robert S. Suydam, John C. George, Cyd Hanns, Gay Sheffield
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: ARCTIC; BALAENA MYSTICETUS; BOWHEAD WHALE; STATISTICS; WHALING-ABORIGINAL; Arctic; Balaena mysticetus; bowhead whale; eskimo*
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.464.4804; http://www.arlis.org/docs/vol1/B/648772492/648772492-2005.pdf

In 2005, 68 bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) were struck during the Alaskan subsistence hunt resulting in 55 animals landed. The efficiency ( # landed / # struck) of the hunt was 81%, which is similar to the average efficiency over the past 10 years (1995-2004: mean = 79%, standard deviation = 8%). Twenty-five of the landed whales were males, 28 were females and the sex of two animals was not determined. Of the females, eight were presumably mature (>13.4m in length). Four were pregnant; although only sex and length were recorded for three of the fetuses. The three fetuses were all females and their lengths were 273 cm, 277 cm, and 450 cm. A fifth female may also have been pregnant (based on the presence of a large corpus luteum on one of the ovaries), although we were not able to examine her uterus for confirmation. A hunting captain examined a sixth mature female that was not pregnant. The other two sexually mature females were not examined closely.