ARCTIC Summer Distribution of Bowhead Whales, Balaena rnysticetus, Relative to Oil Industry Activities in the Canadian Beaufort Sea, 1980-84

ABSTRACT. Aerial surveys in 1980-84 showed that summer distribution of bowheads in the Beaufort Sea varied markedly between years. Distribution varied both outside and within the “main industrial area ” (MIA), the area of island construction, drilling and intensive ship and helicopter traffic. Numbe...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: W. John Richardson, Rolph A. Davis, C. Robert Evans, Donald K. Ljungblad, Pamela Nortons
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1986
Subjects:
Key words
bowhead whale
Balaena mysticerus
Beaufort Sea
oil exploration
seismic exploration
aerial surveys
Arctic
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.534.2185
http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/arctic40-2-93.pdf
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Summary:ABSTRACT. Aerial surveys in 1980-84 showed that summer distribution of bowheads in the Beaufort Sea varied markedly between years. Distribution varied both outside and within the “main industrial area ” (MIA), the area of island construction, drilling and intensive ship and helicopter traffic. Numbers of bowheads in the MIA were high in 1980, lower in 1981, near zero in 1982 and very low in 1983-84. The few whales in the MIA in 1983-84 were mainly near its edges, contrary to 1980-8 1. These data, plus limited evidence from 1976-79, indicate that bowheads were numerous in the centre of

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