SEASONAL HEMATOLOGY AND SERUM CHEMISTRY OF WILD BELUGA WHALES (DELPHINAPTERUS LEUCAS) IN BRISTOL BAY, ALASKA, USA

2012 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie A. Norman ◽  
Caroline E. C. Goertz ◽  
Kathy A. Burek ◽  
Lori T. Quakenbush ◽  
Leslie A. Cornick ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Delphinapterus Leucas ◽  
Serum Chemistry ◽  
Bristol Bay ◽  
Beluga Whales

Movements of beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in Bristol Bay, Alaska

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 1272-1298 ◽  
Author(s):  
John J. Citta ◽  
Lori T. Quakenbush ◽  
Kathryn J. Frost ◽  
Lloyd Lowry ◽  
Roderick C. Hobbs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Delphinapterus Leucas ◽  
Bristol Bay ◽  
Beluga Whales

scholarly journals Alaska Beluga Whale Committee—a unique model of co-management

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn J. Frost ◽  
Tom Gray ◽  
Willie Goodwin, Sr. ◽  
Roswell Schaeffer ◽  
Robert Suydam
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Aerial Survey ◽  
Beluga Whale ◽  
Delphinapterus Leucas ◽  
Funding Agency ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Bristol Bay ◽  
Subsistence Hunting ◽  
Beluga Whales

The Alaska Beluga Whale Committe (ABWC) was formed in 1988 to conserve beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) and manage beluga subsistence hunting in western and northern Alaska in cooperation with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). When the ABWC was formed, there was no consistently funded research or management programme for belugas in Alaska, and co-management was a new concept. The ABWC brought together representatives from beluga hunting communities; federal, state, tribal and local governments; and beluga researchers to develop and implement a programme to manage belugas. With funding from NMFS and others, the ABWC has collected data necessary for informed management decisions including the following: harvest data; aerial surveys of belugas in Bristol Bay and the eastern Bering and Chukchi seas; beluga tracking studies, including training hunters to attach transmitters; a pioneering genetics study of beluga stock identity that has facilitated collection of >2000 beluga skin samples; and a genetics-based mark–recapture study to estimate beluga abundance in Bristol Bay and validate aerial survey estimates. The ABWC is currently engaged in regional management planning in Kotzebue Sound and the eastern Bering Sea. It produces results that are scientifically valid, locally accepted and cost-effective and is an example of what can be achieved when Native hunters, scientists and managing agencies respect and listen to one another and work together. However, the current NMFS co-management funding process has fundamentally altered the relationship between NMFS and ABWC, with NMFS now acting more like a funding agency than a partner.

scholarly journals Comparing progesterone in blubber and serum to assess pregnancy in wild beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas)

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline E C Goertz ◽  
Kathy Burek-Huntington ◽  
Katie Royer ◽  
Lori Quakenbush ◽  
Tonya Clauss ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Delphinapterus Leucas ◽  
Bristol Bay ◽  
Beluga Whales ◽  
Pregnancy Status

Blood and blubber were sampled from live-captured beluga whales in Bristol Bay, Alaska. Progesterone levels were used to assess pregnancy status. For most cases, blubber progesterone levels correlated with serum, indicating that pregnancy can be assessed using a remote biopsy and thereby providing a valuable tool to better understand reproduction dynamics from populations that cannot be readily captured for examination.

scholarly journals Local acoustic habitat relative to hearing sensitivities in beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas)

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-1 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Aran Mooney ◽  
Manuel Castellote ◽  
Ian T. Jones ◽  
Lori Quakenbush ◽  
Roderick Hobbs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spectral Density ◽  
Ambient Noise ◽  
Delphinapterus Leucas ◽  
Noise Levels ◽  
Bristol Bay ◽  
Noise Spectral Density ◽  
Communication Signals ◽  
Beluga Whales ◽  
Hearing Sensitivity ◽  
Lower Amplitude

Background noise can have a substantial effect on communication signals, however far less is known about how natural soundscapes may influence hearing sensitivity. Here we compare the audiograms of 26 wild beluga whales measured in their natural environment to a series of ecoacoustic measurements within a primary portion of their Bristol Bay summer habitat, the Nushagak Estuary in Bristol Bay, AK, USA. Environmental acoustic measurements were made during 2012 and 2016 using two different methods: a moored recorder and drifter buoys. Environmental noise curves varied substantially. Drifter recordings from the middle of Nushgak Estuary had the highest spectrum levels during ebb tides with acoustic energy from sediment transport extending well into higher frequencies (ca. 60 kHz), likely due to rapidly moving tidal flow and shifting sediment in that location. Drifter recordings near the estuary mouth and shallow tidal flats were lower amplitude. Noise levels generally varied during drifts (in one case up to ca. 6 dB) reflecting acoustic cues available to the local belugas. The moored recorder showed a substantially different spectral profile, especially at lower frequencies, perhaps due to its attachment to a pier piling and subsequent pier noise. Hearing sensitivity varied by individual and thresholds often fell above 1/3 octave-band noise levels, but not overall noise spectral density. Audiograms of the most sensitive animals closely paralleled the lowest ambient noise power spectral density curves, suggesting that an animal’s auditory dynamic range may extend to include its habitat’s quietest conditions. These data suggest a cautious approach is necessary when estimating the sound-sensitivity of odontocetes found in quiet environments as they may have sensitive auditory abilities that allow for hearing within the lowest noise-level conditions. Further, lower level ambient noise conditions could provide a conservative estimate of the maximal sensitivity of some cetacean populations within specific environments.

scholarly journals Electrophysiological audiograms in seven beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) from the Okhotsk Sea population

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evgeniya V. Sysueva ◽  
Dmitry I. Nechaev ◽  
Vladimir V. Popov ◽  
Alexander Ya. Supin
Keyword(s):  
Delphinapterus Leucas ◽  
Okhotsk Sea ◽  
Beluga Whales

Teeth as biomonitors of selenium concentrations in tissues of beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas)

2008 ◽  
Vol 402 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
April Kinghorn ◽  
Murray M. Humphries ◽  
Peter Outridge ◽  
Hing Man Chan
Keyword(s):  
Delphinapterus Leucas ◽  
Beluga Whales
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