1 Subsistence harvest of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) by Alaskan Eskimos during 2011

• Main Authors: Robert Suydam, John C. George, Brian Person, Cyd Hanns, Raphaela Stimmelmayr
• 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*; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.474.7568; http://www.arlis.org/docs/vol1/B/648772492/648772492-2011.pdf

In 2011, 51 bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) were struck during the Alaskan subsistence hunt resulting in 38 animals landed. Total landed and efficiency ( # landed / # struck) of the hunt (75%) for 2011 was similar to the past 10 years (2001-2010: mean of landed = 40.0; SD = 7.8: mean of efficiency = 76%; SD = 0.08%). Total mortality for 2011 was estimated at 49 animals after the estimated fate of the struck and lost whales was considered. Spring hunts are logistically more difficult than autumn hunts because of severe environmental conditions and sea ice dynamics. Typically, hunt efficiency during spring is lower than autumn. In 2011, the efficiency of the spring hunt (69%) was lower than the autumn hunt (82%). This was due in part to difficult environmental conditions during spring, unanticipated equipment failures, and that struck whales were lost under ice. Of the landed whales, 20 were females, 16 were males, and sex was not determined for two animals. Based on total length, eight of the 20 females were presumed mature (>13.4 m in length). Two of the seven mature females that were examined were pregnant. A 17.5 m female landed in the spring at Barrow was pregnant based on the presence of a large corpus luteum (~20 cm in diameter) although a fetus was not detected because it was not possible to examine the uterus. A 15.9 m female landed at Nuiqsut in the autumn was carrying a ~1.5m fetus (sex not determined).