Benthic Prey in a Bowhead Whale from the Northern Bering Sea

• Published in: ARCTIC
• Main Authors: Hazard, Katherine W., Lowry, Lloyd F.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Arctic Institute of North America 1984
• Subjects: Animal food; Benthos; Biological sampling; Bowhead whales; Internal organs; Necropsy; Predation; Bering Sea; St. Lawrence Island waters; Alaska; Baleine; Lawrence Island; Arctic; Balaena mysticetus; baleine boréale; bowhead whale; Mer de Béring; St Lawrence Island
• Online Access: https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65235

Stomach contents were examined from a bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus, killed at Gambell, Alaska, on 1 May 1982. It contained an estimated 20-40 litres of recently ingested prey, principally gammarid amphipods (91.7% of the volume of a 157-ml subsample) and cumaceans (7%). All identified prey were primarily epibenthic forms. The stomach of this whale was significant in several respects: (1) it contained the largest amount of food recorded in any whale taken and examined in spring; (2) it provided the first direct evidence of bowheads feeding in the Bering Sea; and (3) the contents indicated that benthic prey are sometimes intentionally fed upon.Key words: Balaena mysticetus, benthic prey, Bering Sea, bowhead whale, feeding, gammarid amphipods Mots clés: Balaena mysticetus, proie benthique, mer de Béring, baleine boréale, alimentation, amphipodes gammaridés