The effect of sea-ice loss on beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in West Greenland
An aerial survey was conducted to estimate the abundance of belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) on their wintering ground in West Greenland in March–April 2006 and 2008. The survey was conducted as a double platform aerial line transect survey, and sampled approximately 17% of the total survey area of c...
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Online Access: | https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/the-effect-of-seaice-loss-on-beluga-whales-delphinapterus-leucas-in-west-greenland(17f465a9-e0e5-4008-abdc-318e54daa87b).html https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-8369.2009.00142.x https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/1856/1/PolarResearch2010vol29_2BelugaWhales.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77955071242&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://www.polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/6061 |
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ftunstandrewcris:oai:research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk:publications/17f465a9-e0e5-4008-abdc-318e54daa87b 2024-06-23T07:50:45+00:00 The effect of sea-ice loss on beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in West Greenland Heide-Jørgensen, M. P. Laidre, K. L. Borchers, David Louis Marques, Tiago A. Stern, H. Simon, M. 2010 application/pdf https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/the-effect-of-seaice-loss-on-beluga-whales-delphinapterus-leucas-in-west-greenland(17f465a9-e0e5-4008-abdc-318e54daa87b).html https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-8369.2009.00142.x https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/1856/1/PolarResearch2010vol29_2BelugaWhales.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77955071242&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://www.polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/6061 eng eng https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/the-effect-of-seaice-loss-on-beluga-whales-delphinapterus-leucas-in-west-greenland(17f465a9-e0e5-4008-abdc-318e54daa87b).html info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Heide-Jørgensen , M P , Laidre , K L , Borchers , D L , Marques , T A , Stern , H & Simon , M 2010 , ' The effect of sea-ice loss on beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in West Greenland ' , Polar Research , vol. 29 , no. 2 , pp. 198-208 . https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-8369.2009.00142.x Beluga Climate change Line transect Sea ice West Greenland article 2010 ftunstandrewcris https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-8369.2009.00142.x 2024-06-13T00:28:13Z An aerial survey was conducted to estimate the abundance of belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) on their wintering ground in West Greenland in March–April 2006 and 2008. The survey was conducted as a double platform aerial line transect survey, and sampled approximately 17% of the total survey area of ca. 125 000 km2. The abundance of belugas was 10 595 (95% confidence interval 4904–24 650). The largest abundance was found at the northern part of Store Hellefiske Bank, at the eastern edge of the Baffin Bay pack ice, a pattern similar to that found in eight systematic surveys conducted since 1981. A clear relationship between decreasing sea-ice cover and increasing offshore distance of beluga sightings was established from all previous surveys, suggesting that belugas expand their distribution westward as new areas on the banks of West Greenland open up earlier in spring with reduced sea-ice coverage or early annual ice recession. This is in contrast to the relatively confined distribution of belugas near the coast in limited open areas in the early 1980s, when sea-ice cover was greater. However, the effects of the changes in coastal availability of belugas can also be observed with the correlation between catches from the local Inuit hunt and sea-ice cover, where the catches increased significantly with increasing sea-ice coverage during the period 1954–2006. These results, based on nearly 30 years of dedicated survey effort, are among the first available evidence showing a shift in distribution of an Arctic cetacean in response to changes in sea-ice coverage. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Beluga Beluga* Climate change Delphinapterus leucas Greenland inuit Polar Research Sea ice University of St Andrews: Research Portal Arctic Baffin Bay Greenland Store Hellefiske Bank ENVELOPE(-55.000,-55.000,67.500,67.500) Polar Research 29 2 198 208 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of St Andrews: Research Portal |
op_collection_id |
ftunstandrewcris |
language |
English |
topic |
Beluga Climate change Line transect Sea ice West Greenland |
spellingShingle |
Beluga Climate change Line transect Sea ice West Greenland Heide-Jørgensen, M. P. Laidre, K. L. Borchers, David Louis Marques, Tiago A. Stern, H. Simon, M. The effect of sea-ice loss on beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in West Greenland |
topic_facet |
Beluga Climate change Line transect Sea ice West Greenland |
description |
An aerial survey was conducted to estimate the abundance of belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) on their wintering ground in West Greenland in March–April 2006 and 2008. The survey was conducted as a double platform aerial line transect survey, and sampled approximately 17% of the total survey area of ca. 125 000 km2. The abundance of belugas was 10 595 (95% confidence interval 4904–24 650). The largest abundance was found at the northern part of Store Hellefiske Bank, at the eastern edge of the Baffin Bay pack ice, a pattern similar to that found in eight systematic surveys conducted since 1981. A clear relationship between decreasing sea-ice cover and increasing offshore distance of beluga sightings was established from all previous surveys, suggesting that belugas expand their distribution westward as new areas on the banks of West Greenland open up earlier in spring with reduced sea-ice coverage or early annual ice recession. This is in contrast to the relatively confined distribution of belugas near the coast in limited open areas in the early 1980s, when sea-ice cover was greater. However, the effects of the changes in coastal availability of belugas can also be observed with the correlation between catches from the local Inuit hunt and sea-ice cover, where the catches increased significantly with increasing sea-ice coverage during the period 1954–2006. These results, based on nearly 30 years of dedicated survey effort, are among the first available evidence showing a shift in distribution of an Arctic cetacean in response to changes in sea-ice coverage. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Heide-Jørgensen, M. P. Laidre, K. L. Borchers, David Louis Marques, Tiago A. Stern, H. Simon, M. |
author_facet |
Heide-Jørgensen, M. P. Laidre, K. L. Borchers, David Louis Marques, Tiago A. Stern, H. Simon, M. |
author_sort |
Heide-Jørgensen, M. P. |
title |
The effect of sea-ice loss on beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in West Greenland |
title_short |
The effect of sea-ice loss on beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in West Greenland |
title_full |
The effect of sea-ice loss on beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in West Greenland |
title_fullStr |
The effect of sea-ice loss on beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in West Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
The effect of sea-ice loss on beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in West Greenland |
title_sort |
effect of sea-ice loss on beluga whales (delphinapterus leucas) in west greenland |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/the-effect-of-seaice-loss-on-beluga-whales-delphinapterus-leucas-in-west-greenland(17f465a9-e0e5-4008-abdc-318e54daa87b).html https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-8369.2009.00142.x https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/1856/1/PolarResearch2010vol29_2BelugaWhales.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77955071242&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://www.polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/6061 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-55.000,-55.000,67.500,67.500) |
geographic |
Arctic Baffin Bay Greenland Store Hellefiske Bank |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Baffin Bay Greenland Store Hellefiske Bank |
genre |
Arctic Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Beluga Beluga* Climate change Delphinapterus leucas Greenland inuit Polar Research Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Beluga Beluga* Climate change Delphinapterus leucas Greenland inuit Polar Research Sea ice |
op_source |
Heide-Jørgensen , M P , Laidre , K L , Borchers , D L , Marques , T A , Stern , H & Simon , M 2010 , ' The effect of sea-ice loss on beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in West Greenland ' , Polar Research , vol. 29 , no. 2 , pp. 198-208 . https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-8369.2009.00142.x |
op_relation |
https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/the-effect-of-seaice-loss-on-beluga-whales-delphinapterus-leucas-in-west-greenland(17f465a9-e0e5-4008-abdc-318e54daa87b).html |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-8369.2009.00142.x |
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Polar Research |
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29 |
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