Diet and feeding observations from an unusual beluga harvest in 2014 near Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada
The Eastern Beaufort Sea (EBS) beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) population are an important traditional food for the Inuit of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Northwest Territories (NT) Canada. In 2014, over 30 beluga whales were harvested at Ulukhaktok, NT, the first occurrence of a large harvest in...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0046 https://doaj.org/article/d11e474925ab46b0a5d5e46de9a7628f |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:d11e474925ab46b0a5d5e46de9a7628f 2023-05-15T14:22:24+02:00 Diet and feeding observations from an unusual beluga harvest in 2014 near Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada Lisa L. Loseto Jasmine D. Brewster Sonja K. Ostertag Kathleen Snow Shannon A. MacPhee Darcy G. McNicholl Emily S. Choy Carolina Giraldo Claire A. Hornby 2018-09-01 https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0046 https://doaj.org/article/d11e474925ab46b0a5d5e46de9a7628f en fr eng fre Canadian Science Publishing doi:10.1139/as-2017-0046 2368-7460 https://doaj.org/article/d11e474925ab46b0a5d5e46de9a7628f undefined Arctic Science, Vol 4, Iss 3, Pp 421-431 (2018) beluga diet stomach contents traditional and local knowledge sandlance envir demo Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2018 fttriple https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0046 2023-01-22T19:30:47Z The Eastern Beaufort Sea (EBS) beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) population are an important traditional food for the Inuit of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Northwest Territories (NT) Canada. In 2014, over 30 beluga whales were harvested at Ulukhaktok, NT, the first occurrence of a large harvest in the area on record. Unlike observations from the established beluga harvest monitoring program in the Mackenzie Estuary, these belugas had numerous prey and prey items in their stomachs. Our study objectives were to combine traditional and local knowledge (TLK) from beluga hunters with the analysis of dissected stomachs to identify EBS beluga diet, feeding behaviour, as well as gain insights into potential drivers of the event. TLK holders witnessed foraging behaviors such as herding schools of fish. Stomach dissections revealed Sandlance (Ammodytes sp.) to be the predominant prey species, comprising 90% of identified otoliths, occurring in 92% of stomachs. The low presence of Arctic Cod (Boreogadus saida), a preferred prey types, raised questions about prey availability/accessibility and if alternative prey types can sustain beluga energetic needs. Based on interviews of TLK holders, avoidance of noise due to human activity, killer whale presence, and shifts in prey were factors that may have led to the increased beluga sightings near Ulukhaktok, NT. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic cod Arctic Beaufort Sea Beluga Beluga* Boreogadus saida Delphinapterus leucas inuit Inuvialuit Killer Whale Northwest Territories Ulukhaktok Killer whale Unknown Arctic Canada Northwest Territories Ulukhaktok ENVELOPE(-117.772,-117.772,70.736,70.736) Arctic Science 1 11 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Unknown |
op_collection_id |
fttriple |
language |
English French |
topic |
beluga diet stomach contents traditional and local knowledge sandlance envir demo |
spellingShingle |
beluga diet stomach contents traditional and local knowledge sandlance envir demo Lisa L. Loseto Jasmine D. Brewster Sonja K. Ostertag Kathleen Snow Shannon A. MacPhee Darcy G. McNicholl Emily S. Choy Carolina Giraldo Claire A. Hornby Diet and feeding observations from an unusual beluga harvest in 2014 near Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada |
topic_facet |
beluga diet stomach contents traditional and local knowledge sandlance envir demo |
description |
The Eastern Beaufort Sea (EBS) beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) population are an important traditional food for the Inuit of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Northwest Territories (NT) Canada. In 2014, over 30 beluga whales were harvested at Ulukhaktok, NT, the first occurrence of a large harvest in the area on record. Unlike observations from the established beluga harvest monitoring program in the Mackenzie Estuary, these belugas had numerous prey and prey items in their stomachs. Our study objectives were to combine traditional and local knowledge (TLK) from beluga hunters with the analysis of dissected stomachs to identify EBS beluga diet, feeding behaviour, as well as gain insights into potential drivers of the event. TLK holders witnessed foraging behaviors such as herding schools of fish. Stomach dissections revealed Sandlance (Ammodytes sp.) to be the predominant prey species, comprising 90% of identified otoliths, occurring in 92% of stomachs. The low presence of Arctic Cod (Boreogadus saida), a preferred prey types, raised questions about prey availability/accessibility and if alternative prey types can sustain beluga energetic needs. Based on interviews of TLK holders, avoidance of noise due to human activity, killer whale presence, and shifts in prey were factors that may have led to the increased beluga sightings near Ulukhaktok, NT. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lisa L. Loseto Jasmine D. Brewster Sonja K. Ostertag Kathleen Snow Shannon A. MacPhee Darcy G. McNicholl Emily S. Choy Carolina Giraldo Claire A. Hornby |
author_facet |
Lisa L. Loseto Jasmine D. Brewster Sonja K. Ostertag Kathleen Snow Shannon A. MacPhee Darcy G. McNicholl Emily S. Choy Carolina Giraldo Claire A. Hornby |
author_sort |
Lisa L. Loseto |
title |
Diet and feeding observations from an unusual beluga harvest in 2014 near Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada |
title_short |
Diet and feeding observations from an unusual beluga harvest in 2014 near Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada |
title_full |
Diet and feeding observations from an unusual beluga harvest in 2014 near Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada |
title_fullStr |
Diet and feeding observations from an unusual beluga harvest in 2014 near Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Diet and feeding observations from an unusual beluga harvest in 2014 near Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada |
title_sort |
diet and feeding observations from an unusual beluga harvest in 2014 near ulukhaktok, northwest territories, canada |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0046 https://doaj.org/article/d11e474925ab46b0a5d5e46de9a7628f |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-117.772,-117.772,70.736,70.736) |
geographic |
Arctic Canada Northwest Territories Ulukhaktok |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada Northwest Territories Ulukhaktok |
genre |
Arctic Arctic cod Arctic Beaufort Sea Beluga Beluga* Boreogadus saida Delphinapterus leucas inuit Inuvialuit Killer Whale Northwest Territories Ulukhaktok Killer whale |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic cod Arctic Beaufort Sea Beluga Beluga* Boreogadus saida Delphinapterus leucas inuit Inuvialuit Killer Whale Northwest Territories Ulukhaktok Killer whale |
op_source |
Arctic Science, Vol 4, Iss 3, Pp 421-431 (2018) |
op_relation |
doi:10.1139/as-2017-0046 2368-7460 https://doaj.org/article/d11e474925ab46b0a5d5e46de9a7628f |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0046 |
container_title |
Arctic Science |
container_start_page |
1 |
op_container_end_page |
11 |
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1766295001175687168 |