Diet and feeding observations from an unusual beluga harvest in 2014 in 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 for a large harvest i...
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NRC Research Press (a division of Canadian Science Publishing)
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ftunivtoronto:oai:localhost:1807/88141 2023-05-15T14:30:31+02:00 Diet and feeding observations from an unusual beluga harvest in 2014 in Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada Loseto, Lisa L. Brewster, Jasmine D Ostertag, Sonja K. Snow, Kathleen MacPhee, Shannon A. McNicholl, Darcy G. Choy, Emily S Giraldo, Carolina Hornby, Claire A. 2018-01-08 http://hdl.handle.net/1807/88141 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/AS-2017-0046 unknown NRC Research Press (a division of Canadian Science Publishing) N http://hdl.handle.net/1807/88141 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/AS-2017-0046 Communication 2018 ftunivtoronto 2020-06-17T12:17:40Z 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 for a large harvest in the area. Unlike observations from the established beluga harvest monitoring 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) otoliths, a preferred prey, raised questions about availability/accessibility and if alternative prey 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. The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author. Other/Unknown Material Arctic cod Arctic Beaufort Sea Beluga Beluga* Boreogadus saida Delphinapterus leucas inuit Inuvialuit Killer Whale Northwest Territories Ulukhaktok Killer whale University of Toronto: Research Repository T-Space Arctic Canada Northwest Territories Ulukhaktok ENVELOPE(-117.772,-117.772,70.736,70.736) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Toronto: Research Repository T-Space |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtoronto |
language |
unknown |
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 for a large harvest in the area. Unlike observations from the established beluga harvest monitoring 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) otoliths, a preferred prey, raised questions about availability/accessibility and if alternative prey 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. The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author. |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Loseto, Lisa L. Brewster, Jasmine D Ostertag, Sonja K. Snow, Kathleen MacPhee, Shannon A. McNicholl, Darcy G. Choy, Emily S Giraldo, Carolina Hornby, Claire A. |
spellingShingle |
Loseto, Lisa L. Brewster, Jasmine D Ostertag, Sonja K. Snow, Kathleen MacPhee, Shannon A. McNicholl, Darcy G. Choy, Emily S Giraldo, Carolina Hornby, Claire A. Diet and feeding observations from an unusual beluga harvest in 2014 in Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada |
author_facet |
Loseto, Lisa L. Brewster, Jasmine D Ostertag, Sonja K. Snow, Kathleen MacPhee, Shannon A. McNicholl, Darcy G. Choy, Emily S Giraldo, Carolina Hornby, Claire A. |
author_sort |
Loseto, Lisa L. |
title |
Diet and feeding observations from an unusual beluga harvest in 2014 in Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada |
title_short |
Diet and feeding observations from an unusual beluga harvest in 2014 in Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada |
title_full |
Diet and feeding observations from an unusual beluga harvest in 2014 in Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada |
title_fullStr |
Diet and feeding observations from an unusual beluga harvest in 2014 in Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Diet and feeding observations from an unusual beluga harvest in 2014 in Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada |
title_sort |
diet and feeding observations from an unusual beluga harvest in 2014 in ulukhaktok, northwest territories, canada |
publisher |
NRC Research Press (a division of Canadian Science Publishing) |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1807/88141 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/AS-2017-0046 |
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 cod Arctic Beaufort Sea Beluga Beluga* Boreogadus saida Delphinapterus leucas inuit Inuvialuit Killer Whale Northwest Territories Ulukhaktok Killer whale |
genre_facet |
Arctic cod Arctic Beaufort Sea Beluga Beluga* Boreogadus saida Delphinapterus leucas inuit Inuvialuit Killer Whale Northwest Territories Ulukhaktok Killer whale |
op_relation |
N http://hdl.handle.net/1807/88141 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/AS-2017-0046 |
_version_ |
1766304351225118720 |