Distribution and abundance of Canadian High Arctic belugas, 1974-1979

We conducted >236,000 km of aerial surveys and some supplementary studies of belugas(Delphinapterus leucas) in the central and eastern Canadian High Arctic in 974-79. Belugas thatwintered in the “North Water” in Baffin Bay moved southwest into Lancaster Sound in April andearly May. The main westw...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:NAMMCO Scientific Publications
Main Authors: Koski, William R, Rolph A Davis, Finley, Kerwin J
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Septentrio Academic Publishing 2002
Subjects:
distribution
abundance
beluga
Canadian high arctic
Arctic
Baffin Bay
Devon Island
Ellesmere Island
Lancaster Sound
Somerset Island
Arctic Population
Baffin
Beluga
Beluga*
Boreogadus saida
Delphinapterus leucas
polar cod
Online Access:https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/2839
https://doi.org/10.7557/3.2839
Description
Summary:We conducted >236,000 km of aerial surveys and some supplementary studies of belugas(Delphinapterus leucas) in the central and eastern Canadian High Arctic in 974-79. Belugas thatwintered in the “North Water” in Baffin Bay moved southwest into Lancaster Sound in April andearly May. The main westward migration into Lancaster Sound occurred over a 2 to 3 week periodduring late June to late July. Estuaries along Somerset Island were occupied for <3 weeks frommid-July to mid-August. Little feeding occurred in estuaries. From mid-August until fall migrationbegan in mid-September belugas occupied estuaries and offshore waters in Peel Sound.Fall migration eastward through Lancaster Sound was exclusively along the south coast of DevonIsland, highly co-ordinated, and rapid; most of the population passed through the sound in <1 week.The whales then moved north along the east coast of Devon Island; some entered Jones Soundwhile others crossed directly to SE Ellesmere Island. Most calving occurred in July and earlyAugust; calving was not seen in estuaries and probably occurred offshore. Excluding calves, adultsand yearlings formed 77% and 8.4%, respectively, of the population. The proportion of calves duringmid-August was consistent with a triennial calving cycle. During late summer, belugas fed oncoastal concentrations of polar cod (Boreogadus saida), under pan ice offshore (probably on cod),and in deep offshore waters. The size of the Canadian High Arctic population in the late 1970s wasestimated to be at least 10,250 to 12,000 animals without allowing for animals that may havepassed between surveys or that were below the surface at the time of the counts.

Similar Items