Summer and Autumn Movements of Belugas of the Eastern Beaufort Sea Stock

Water mass and bathymetric characteristics of polar cod habitat along the continental shelf and slope of the Beaufort and Chukchi seas

“…More recent studies monitoring movements of tagged belugas also showed them following the slope region (Richard et al 2001) where we detected Wsh near the bottom (200-350 m). Richard et al (2001) concluded that belugas spent much of their time oVshore of the Mackenzie Shelf and in other areas to the east-some in Amundsen Gulf/Franklin Bay area and some much further to the north, such as in Viscount Melville Sound where they stayed for about 2 weeks diving repeatedly into a 500-m trench (Richard et al 2001). We suggest they occupy these areas to prey on polar cod aggregations at depth.…”

“…Aerial surveys Xown in the western Arctic during September in the 1980s and 1990s yielded sightings of belugas on the outer portion of the Mackenzie Shelf and on (Clarke et al 1993;Moore et al 2000;Richard et al 2001). More recent studies monitoring movements of tagged belugas also showed them following the slope region (Richard et al 2001) where we detected Wsh near the bottom (200-350 m). Richard et al (2001) concluded that belugas spent much of their time oVshore of the Mackenzie Shelf and in other areas to the east-some in Amundsen Gulf/Franklin Bay area and some much further to the north, such as in Viscount Melville Sound where they stayed for about 2 weeks diving repeatedly into a 500-m trench (Richard et al 2001).…”

“…Because beluga feed primarily on polar cod (Bradstreet et al 1986), their feeding areas indicate the location of concentrations of the Wsh (Harwood and Smith 2002). Aerial surveys Xown in the western Arctic during September in the 1980s and 1990s yielded sightings of belugas on the outer portion of the Mackenzie Shelf and on (Clarke et al 1993;Moore et al 2000;Richard et al 2001). More recent studies monitoring movements of tagged belugas also showed them following the slope region (Richard et al 2001) where we detected Wsh near the bottom (200-350 m).…”

Diet of beluga whales, Delphinapterus leucas, in Alaska from stomach contents, March-November

“…Although it is not entirely clear whether belugas near Barrow in summer belong to the Beaufort Sea or eastern Chukchi Sea stock, movements from satellite telemetry data suggest they are more likely to be eastern Chukchi Sea belugas ( Fig. 1; Richard et al, 2001;Suydam et al, 2001). Sex was known for all 67 belugas; 36 were males and 31 were females (Table 4).…”

“…1). These stocks were tentatively identifi ed by their summer distributions (Frost and Lowry, 1990;Richard et al, 2001), and were later confi rmed genetically (O'Corry-Crowe et al, 1997, 2002. The distribution of beluga whales in Alaska is discontinuous from Yakutat Bay 1, 2 to Cook Inlet to Bristol Bay.…”