Predation of Belugas and Narwhals by Polar Bears in Nearshore Areas of the Canadian High Arctic
On 18 August 1988 we found four narwhals and two dead belugas stranded on a low beach at Creswell Bay, Somerset Island. All of the narwhals and two of the belugas had been attacked and partially eaten by polar bears. At Cunningham Inlet, where belugas concentrate in large numbers, we have noted ten...
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1990
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ftunivcalgaryojs:oai:journalhosting.ucalgary.ca:article/64651 2023-05-15T14:19:13+02:00 Predation of Belugas and Narwhals by Polar Bears in Nearshore Areas of the Canadian High Arctic Smith, Thomas G. Sjare, Becky 1990-01-01 application/pdf https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64651 eng eng The Arctic Institute of North America https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64651/48565 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64651 ARCTIC; Vol. 43 No. 2 (1990): June: 99–200; 99-102 1923-1245 0004-0843 beluga narwhal polar bear predation arctic béluga narval our blanc prédation Arctique info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion research-article 1990 ftunivcalgaryojs 2022-03-22T21:21:48Z On 18 August 1988 we found four narwhals and two dead belugas stranded on a low beach at Creswell Bay, Somerset Island. All of the narwhals and two of the belugas had been attacked and partially eaten by polar bears. At Cunningham Inlet, where belugas concentrate in large numbers, we have noted ten strandings over the period 1980-88, without bear predation on these occasions. One bear, hunting from an ice floe in deep water at Cunningham Inlet, killed two sub-adult belugas in July 1985. Belugas seem to exhibit curiosity towards swimming polar bears that might serve to drive bears out of the area and reduce the risk of predation. The potential large summer food resource for bears represented by odontocete whales in the High Arctic Archipelago seems to be underutilized. The timing and location of beluga concentrations are known and dates of probable strandings are somewhat predictable, which might allow us to assess the extent of bear predation on whales in the future. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Archipelago Arctic Arctique* Beluga Beluga* Béluga* Creswell Bay narwhal* Somerset Island narval narval University of Calgary Journal Hosting Arctic Cunningham Inlet ENVELOPE(-93.834,-93.834,74.118,74.118) Somerset Island ENVELOPE(-93.500,-93.500,73.251,73.251) ARCTIC 43 2 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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University of Calgary Journal Hosting |
op_collection_id |
ftunivcalgaryojs |
language |
English |
topic |
beluga narwhal polar bear predation arctic béluga narval our blanc prédation Arctique |
spellingShingle |
beluga narwhal polar bear predation arctic béluga narval our blanc prédation Arctique Smith, Thomas G. Sjare, Becky Predation of Belugas and Narwhals by Polar Bears in Nearshore Areas of the Canadian High Arctic |
topic_facet |
beluga narwhal polar bear predation arctic béluga narval our blanc prédation Arctique |
description |
On 18 August 1988 we found four narwhals and two dead belugas stranded on a low beach at Creswell Bay, Somerset Island. All of the narwhals and two of the belugas had been attacked and partially eaten by polar bears. At Cunningham Inlet, where belugas concentrate in large numbers, we have noted ten strandings over the period 1980-88, without bear predation on these occasions. One bear, hunting from an ice floe in deep water at Cunningham Inlet, killed two sub-adult belugas in July 1985. Belugas seem to exhibit curiosity towards swimming polar bears that might serve to drive bears out of the area and reduce the risk of predation. The potential large summer food resource for bears represented by odontocete whales in the High Arctic Archipelago seems to be underutilized. The timing and location of beluga concentrations are known and dates of probable strandings are somewhat predictable, which might allow us to assess the extent of bear predation on whales in the future. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Smith, Thomas G. Sjare, Becky |
author_facet |
Smith, Thomas G. Sjare, Becky |
author_sort |
Smith, Thomas G. |
title |
Predation of Belugas and Narwhals by Polar Bears in Nearshore Areas of the Canadian High Arctic |
title_short |
Predation of Belugas and Narwhals by Polar Bears in Nearshore Areas of the Canadian High Arctic |
title_full |
Predation of Belugas and Narwhals by Polar Bears in Nearshore Areas of the Canadian High Arctic |
title_fullStr |
Predation of Belugas and Narwhals by Polar Bears in Nearshore Areas of the Canadian High Arctic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Predation of Belugas and Narwhals by Polar Bears in Nearshore Areas of the Canadian High Arctic |
title_sort |
predation of belugas and narwhals by polar bears in nearshore areas of the canadian high arctic |
publisher |
The Arctic Institute of North America |
publishDate |
1990 |
url |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64651 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-93.834,-93.834,74.118,74.118) ENVELOPE(-93.500,-93.500,73.251,73.251) |
geographic |
Arctic Cunningham Inlet Somerset Island |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Cunningham Inlet Somerset Island |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Archipelago Arctic Arctique* Beluga Beluga* Béluga* Creswell Bay narwhal* Somerset Island narval narval |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Archipelago Arctic Arctique* Beluga Beluga* Béluga* Creswell Bay narwhal* Somerset Island narval narval |
op_source |
ARCTIC; Vol. 43 No. 2 (1990): June: 99–200; 99-102 1923-1245 0004-0843 |
op_relation |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64651/48565 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64651 |
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