QL 626 Scientific Excellence • Resource Protection & Conservation • Benefits for Canadians U5313 no.59 DFO - Library I MPO - Bibliothèque 1988 ll\\l \l\\l c.2 12064786

Cetaceans of Canada 2 Underwater World

Introduction 2 INTRODUCTION What is a cetacean? 2 Canadian waters are defined here on a Dolphin, porpoise, or whale? 3 pure/y topographie or bathymetric basis. The Cetaceans of Canada Evolutionary origins of cetaceans 3 continental shelf is the area between shore Sensory systems 4 and the 200 m depth contour. At the shelf Diving 4 edge, the continental slope begins; it extends Randall R. Reeves and Edward Mitchell Temperature regulation 4 at least as far as the 2,000 m contour. For Arctic Biological Station Food and feeding 4 this article, Canadian waters are considered Department of Fisheries and Oceans Behavior at the surface 5 Io extend across the en tire shelf and slope. 555 St. Pierre Boulevard Thus, on the east coast our area of interest Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Québec History of whaling in Canada 5 reaches 600 km offshore in places, and on H9X 3R4 Early Commercial Whaling 5 th e west coast as muchas 100 km offshore. Arctic Whaling 5 Modern Commercial Whaling on the What is a Cetacean? Atlantic Coast 6 There are at least 75 to 80 living species Cover photograph: A pod of narwha/s Modern Commercial Whaling on the in the mammalian order Cetacea. They in Milne ln/et, Northwest Territories, Pacifie Coast 7 inhabit all oceans as well as many estuaries on 20 August 1985. lt appears that Regulation of Whaling 7 and a few large river systems. The cetaceans most members of the pod have large have made the most complete and successful tusks and thus are adult males. Only Species accounts 7 adaptation to an aquatic existence of any one of them, in the left foreground, Right Whale 7 group of mammals. Some of the smaller is darkly pigmented with a relative/y Bowhead 8 kinds of porpoise are Jess than 2 m long and short tusk, suggesting it may not be Gray Whale 9 weigh only a few tens of kg; the great whales fui/y mature. Photograph by Robert R. Blue Whale 10 can be up to 30 m long and weigh well over Campbell, Department of Fisheries Fin Whale 11 100 metric tons (t). and Oceans. Sei Whale 12 All cetaceans have a number of charac- Minke Whale 12 teristics in common. The body is elongate Humpback Whale 13 and superficia ll y shaped like that of a fish. Sperm Whales 14 However, unlike a fish's tail, the ce tacean's Beaked Whales 15 bi-lobed flukes are horizontal rather than Killer Whale 16 vertical (Figure 1). Neither the flukes nor the Long-finned Pilot Whale 17 dorsal fin (present in most species, lacking White Whale or Beluga 17 in a few) are supported by a bony skeleton. Figure 1. Water pours off the flukes of Narwhal 20 The two paddle-like front limbs, called a right wha/e as it dives near Dolphins 21 flippers or pectoral fins, are supported by the New Brunswick coast, Porpoises 22 short armbones and many "extra" finger- lower Bay of Fundy. Photo- bones. The external ear openings are pinholes graph by Porter Turnbull. Further Reading 24 on either side of the head. The nostrils are situated on top of the head instead of near the front as in most mammals. The genitalia, as we ll as two nipples in females, are con- cealed within the ventral outline of the body. Cetacean skin is smooth and somewhat rubbery to the touch. It is hairless except for a few brist les on parts of the head. There are two livi ng cetacean su borders: the Mysticeti, whales with baleen (whale- bone), and the Odontoceti, whales with teeth. All mysticetes have paired external, fleshy blowholes, whereas all odontocetes have a single blowhole. Mysticetes possess teeth during the fetal stage, but these are resorbed or lost before birth. They are replaced functionally by baleen, rooted in the palate, inside the "old " tooth row. The baleen consists of a series of blades or plates, formed from keratin , a material similar to human fin gernails. The fringed inner edges of these transversely oriented plates form a sieve or mat against which prey organisms become trapped as sea- water is expelled from the mouth (Figure 2). Thus, baleen whales, like certain birds (e.g. flamingos and some ducks) and fishes (e .g. Underwater World

the family Delphinidae, dolphins. By this view, porpoises have spade-shaped teeth and a greatly reduced beak, or a blunt snout (Figure 3). Dolphins have conical teeth and a beak which usually is set off from the melon (the bulbous part of the head in front of the nostrils, corresponding to the upper lip in other mammals) by a crease. How- ever, such definitions break down in man y instances and are violated by common usage. Fishermen, whalers and many scientists use the words dolphin and porpoise arbitrarily or interchangeably. In this article, we adhere to the termi- nology for species followed by the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission. Many references to whales, dolphins, or porpoises in the introductory sections that follow can be understood to mean cetaceans in general, rather than any specific taxonomie group.

Evolutionary Origins of Cetaceans The earliest ancestors of cetaceans have yet to be discovered. However, there is no doubt that they were terrestrial mammals. The fossil remains of a primitive cetacean, Pakicetus, were recently found in Pakistan. lt lived during the early Eocene, more than Figure 2. The mou th of a young blue whale at the Coal Harbour, B.C., whaling 55 million years ago. Like other early station, showing the mat comprised of the frayed ends of the darkly cetaceans, Pakicetus had a full battery of pigmented baleen in the upper jaws. Gordon C. Pike, standing in front of teeth which made it a formidable predator the whale, was a Canadian government scientist who studied the whales in the warm, shallow waters near which it caught off British Columbia during the 1950s and 1960s. Photograph from evolved. G.C. Pike collection. We can only speculate about what made the archaeocetes, or ancient whales (a long- basking sharks), are filter-feeders. cetaceans in an inconsistent manner, and extinct su border of Cetacea), venture into the Odontocetes, by contrast, do not have they cannot be rigorously defined. In North sea. Was it to escape intense predation on baleen during any stage of their develop- America, the terms dolphin and porpoise land, to avoid competition for food and ment. All odontocetes possess teeth are used for most species whose maximum livi ng space, or simply and more probably throughout life, although in a number of body length is less than about 5 m, and all to exploit an abundance of food found along species some or all the teeth remain the larger cetaceans (a few of the smaller the margins of rivers and seas? These early embedded and do not erupt through the ones as well) are called whales. Textbooks whales were all long and slender of body, gums. In the narwhal, one tooth of males often indicate that members of the family with a relatively small head. The nostrils becomes a highly modified tusk protruding Phocoenidae are porpoises; members of opened well in front of the eyes, for the outside the mouth. With few exceptions, cetacean coloration Figure 3. An adult harbor porpoise taken from a gillnet off Grand Manan, N.B. , in consists of some combination of black, the lower Bay of Fundy. Photograph copyright L. Murison, courtesy white, and shades of gray. Males and females D.E. Gaskin. of most species have a similar colour pattern, making it difficult for humans to tell the sexes apart. Pigmentation patterns have evolved to help meet the ecological and social needs of the animais. The complex pigmen- tation of many other odontocetes probably allows them to recognize one another and may also serve to confuse their prey. The black and white markings of Dall's porpoise could be a form of mimicry, making this small porpoise difficult to distinguish from its similarly pigmented predator, the killer whale.

Dolphin, Porpoise, or Whale? These non-scientific terms are applied to 4 Underwater World

pronounced "telescoping" or over-riding of developed to an extraordinary degree. A lipid-rich blubber also serves as a depot for the bones of the skull, characteristic of living trained porpoise in Hawaii proved capable storing large amounts of energy, which odontocetes and mysticetes, did not occur in of descending to nearly 600 meters; sperm sustain the whale during periods when an archaeocetes. These early whales probably whales can dive to even greater depths and adequate food supply is unavailable. had external hind limbs, although they may sometimes remain submerged for an hour or Efficient though it may be for conserving have been vestigial and greatly reduced in size more. But cetaceans do not suffer from the body heat, a cetacean's insulative blubber and utility. bends, a painful and sometimes fatal con- could cause overheating during bursts of Whether the living suborders Odontoceti dition in human divers in which dissolved physical activitiy or as sea temperatures rise. and Mysticeti both had evolutionary origins nitrogen forms tiny bubbles in the blood- Whales have no sweat glands, which in in the Archaeoceti is a question which has stream and limb joints. A porpoise's mus- humans permit evaporative cooling - long been debated. ln spire of major differ- cle tissue becomes supersaturated with dis- instead, they have the capability of con- ences in living species, earlier forms of the solved nitrogen during a long dive, but the trolling their blood Flow by means of a living suborders show substantial similarities mechanism enabling cetaceans to tolerate "counter current heat exchange" system in to some archaeocetes and were probably high levels of dissolved nitrogen while avoid- the flukes and flippers. They can either derived from them. Thus, the origin and evo- ing the bends remains a mystery. release excess heat by allowing a generous lutionary flowering of whales appears to Cetaceans have up to two or three rimes Flow of blood to these appendages, or retain show a pattern of continued and radical more blood per unit of body weight than it by restricting the blood supply to the flukes adaptation to exploit food resources at ail humans. ln addition, some cetaceans have and flippers. higher levels of the food chain in ever deeper enough myoglobin in their muscles to carry and more offshore marine waters. more than half again as much oxygen as the Food and Feeding haemoglobin in red blood cells alone can Cetaceans are at or near the top of the Sensory Systems carry. This substantial capacity for acquiring marine food chain. The baleen whales can Of the five familiar senses used by most and distributing oxygen within the body is be regarded as marine counterparts of terrestrial mammals to communicate and enhanced by a powerful heart, large sin uses terrestrial grazers. Their social structure, assess their environment - sight, smell, in the venous system, and large networks of foraging and feeding behavior, and long- taste, hearing, and rouch - hearing is the capillaries, called retia mirabilia or "won- distance migrations allow them to exploit most important to cetaceans. Olfaction, derful nets", that facilitate the "diving relatively diffuse aggregations of small the ability to detect airborne smells, is response". These relia are especially marine invertebrates and fishes. Certain diminished or absent. Vision, although well pronounced in odontocetes. While breathing broad parallels can be drawn between popu- developed in some species, is of use to a at the surface, the cetacean's heart rate lations of baleen whales and the large whale mainly in close-range activities. increases, th us adding to the rapid reloading migratory herds of ungulates on land. Whales are believed to have a well-developed of red blood cells with oxygen, then slows Zooplankton, a major food of baleen tactile sense. appreciably while diving. whales, are small swarming organisms which All cetaceans are acoustically active, and are carried some distance by currents; they although direct evidence concerning the Temperature Regulation are thus distinguished from swimming organ- importance of sound to some species is Among the most serious challenges facing isms, called nekton, which generally travel lacking, it is clear that their keen sense of a warm-blooded animal living an aquatic on their own power. The term krill is often hearing and highly specialized systems of existence is heat retention. The core body loosely applied to ail the planktonic crusta- sound production are essential qualities per- temperature of cetaceans is about 37 °C, a ceans eaten by baleen whales, although it mitting cetaceans to exploit a wide variety condition maintained even in the Arctic properly refers only to a group of relatively of habitats. where ambient water temperatures can be as large shrimp-like forms called euphausiids. low as - 2°C. This is made possible by a The ventral pleats of rorquals (Balaenop- Diving layer of blubber between the skin and muscle teridae) allow them to expand the throat and The diving capabilities of cetaceans are which serves as an efficient insulator. The accommodate a large volume of seawater in the gullet (Figure 4). As the water is expelled, prey organisms are filtered by the baleen and Figure 4. A fin wha/e ends its feeding run by surfacing on its right side, mouth open retained for ingestion, and the whale's throat and throat greatly expanded. The left flipper sticks up in the air, water returns to its normal slim profile. streams from the /eft corner of the wha/e 's mouth, and white water is pushed ahead of the rostrum in the foreground. Photograph in the Toothed whales prey mainly on fi sh, St. Lawrence River, near Tadoussac, by Fred Bruemmer. squid, and crustaceans. Sorne also eat worms, molluscs, and other benthic (bot- tom-dwelling) creatures. Usually, toothed whales chase and grasp or suction individual organisms and swallow them whole. With a few exceptions, the teeth of whales, dolphins, and porpoises are not useful for chewing. The toothed whales are thus hunters in the truest mammalian sense, searching, chasing, and capturing their prey on a one-to-one basis. Sorne, like killer whales, have been likened to wolves; hunting in packs (called "pods" in the case of whales), they manage to kil! and consume the largest potential prey in their domain. Others, like sperm whales, Underwater World 5

By the late l 7th century, the Basque whaling initiative in the New World had declined. However, French colonists in the St. Lawrence region began a fisheïy for white whales (belugas) during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Also, during the second half of the 18th century, pelagic whalers from New England began to visit the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador, and they entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence in pur- suit of right whales, humpbacks, and possibly bowheads. Occasional incursions by American whalers continued into the middle 1800s, but their activities were discouraged by Canadian authorities and ended soon thereafter. Meantime, several Loyalist families that settled on the Gaspé coast of southern Québec started their own whaling industry. As many as a dozen Gaspé schooners were active at times during the l 9th century. They cruised throughout much of the St. Lawrence and along the Labrador coast, taking right whales and possibly a few bowheads when they found them, but more often catching Figure 5. The sight of a humpback whale's long, flexible flipper waving in the air is humpbacks and some fin whales and blue common along parts of the Canadian east coast in summer. Photograph whales. This enterprise lasted until 1893. in the lower Bay of Fundy by Porter Turnbull. Arctic Whaling hunt alone in the darkness of abyssal depths, whales commercially in Canada. Recent Native people in Canada's arctic regions using strategies as yet unobserved by archivai and archaeological research has historically depended on bowheads, belugas, humans. revealed that large ships began visiting the and narwhals for subsistence. They hunted Strait of Belle Isle region to catch whales from skin boats and used hand-thrown Behavior at the Surface before 1567. The Spanish and French implements to capture these animais. Later, A number of terms, many of them coined Basques called this strait the Grand Bay, and they assisted the commercial whalers from by whalers, are used to describe the behavior in it they pursued the "Grand Bay whale" , Great Britain and the United States who of whales at the surface. As a whale surfaces which we take to mean the bowhead. Right came, beginning in the first half of the 19th after a dive, it exhales. This is called blowing, whales were also caught there. century, to hunt bowheads (Figure 6) and, and the visible column of vapor that results is called a blow. Usually the whale will make Figure 6. One of two bowhead whales kil/ed near Cape Fullerton, western Hudson shallow dives, or simply sink below the Bay, in 191 8 or1919. Photograph courtesy Public Archives Canada, RG 85, surface, between the blows in a series. At the Vol. 1045, File 540-3, Part 3. end of a series, however, the whale makes a sounding dive; when a whale sounded, the whalers did not expect to see it at the surface again for some time. The back and tail stock are usually arched high, and some whales begin a sounding dive by fluking-up. When a whale flukes-up, its tail flukes break the surface, sometimes rising vertically to show the undersides in full view. Lobtailing is when a whale uses its flukes to slap the surface of the water. Flippering is when it rolls onto its side and slaps the surface with a flipper, or simply causes a flipper to wave in the air (Figure 5) . Breaching (not "breeching" or "broaching") is when a whale jumps above the surface. The purpose of lobtailing, flippering, and breaching is not known.

HISTORY OF WHALING IN CANADA Early Commercial Whaling The Basques were the first people to hunt 6 Underwater World

Table 1. Wh ale catch at Canadian Blue Fin Hump Sei Sperm Minke Pilot Killer Bottlenose 1 Other2 shore stations sin ce World British Columbia War Il. Sources: International 1948 37 115 2 28 Whaling Statistics; Pike and 1949 2 105 76 3 69 MacAskie (1969); Mitchell (in 1950 4 150 95 24 40 Schevill [ed.], 1974); Mercer (in 1951 9 216 51 5 153 1G, 1 R Mitchell [ed.J, 1975). 1952 16 240 61 22 126 1953 8 181 47 14 275 4 10G 1954 11 150 106 134 226 3 1955 11 120 37 139 320 3 1956 14 168 28 37 127 1 1957 15 284 49 93 190 4 1958 8 573 40 39 112 2 1959 28 369 27 185 260 1962 27 157 16 340 172 1963 30 220 24 154 147 3 1964 12 140 10 613 105 Jess intensively, belugas, narwhals, and bot- 1965 9 83 18 604 151 tlenose whales. The activities of these corn- 1966 134 354 231 2 mercial whalers had a severe impact on the 1967 102 89 304 stocks of bowheads. In addition, the presence of the whalers profoundly affected Newfoundland-Labrador native settlement patterns, hunting tech- 1946 11 502 5 11 nology, and health. The Hudson's Bay 1947 14 413 6 4 18 Company took an early interest in whaling, 1948 57 669 15 4 14 215 49 too. This interest led to the establishment of 1949 30 425 11 23 53 intensive beluga fisheries near certain trading 1950 15 409 16 16 29 172 posts in Canada. 1951 24 483 29 39 12 55 3102 1952 1 1 17 3155 Modern Commercial Whaling on the 1953 1 20 3584 Atlantic Coast 1954 32 2298 13 Modern shore whaling began in New- 1955 2 13 6612 foundland in 1898 with the establishment by 1956 7 2 13 57 9794 14 37 7831 Norwegian interests of a station at Snooks 1957 23 5 4 7 42 789 Arm on Notre Dame Bay along the north- 1958 55 1959 14 5 1 18 1725 east coast. The whaling season was limited 11 1957 by ice conditions to the summer months, so 1960 1 1 1961 22 6262 within a year an additional plant was opened 45 150 by the same company on Hermitage Bay 1962 221 along the island's south coast. There whal- 1963 18 1964 1 1 35 2849 ing could be done year-round. 1965 6 2 29 1520 Although the whaling initiative was 28 887 appreciated by those local residents for 1966 164 2 436 7 25 739 whom it provided employment, it also 1967 1968 438 4 311 incurred hostility. Some Newfoundland fishermen believed whaling would lead to a 1969 376 5 3 5 50 123 1970 406 14 1 2 86 155 decrease in fish landings; these men thought 4 whales were responsible for driving baitfish 1971 301 16 73 1972 265 2 97 2 toward shore, so any reduction in whale numbers was expected to result in a comrnen- Nova Scotia surate decrease in the availability of bait. 1962 5 70 40 They also feared that whales would collide 1963 22 with and min nets while being chased. People 1964 56 4 19 2 14 living near rendering plants complained of 1965 135 12 6 the stench. Conservation officiais worried 1966 263 8 that the same pattern of overexploitation and 1967 309 55 2 15 5 depletion of whale stocks that had occurred 1968 262 100 in Norway would emerge in eastern Canada. 1969 157 2 149 Largely in response to these concerns, the 1970 170 1 93 25 Whaling Industry Act was implemented in 1971 117 4 235 37 Newfoundland in April 1902. It created a 1972 95 183 41 licensing system intended to limit entry into the whale "fishery" and set in place an 1 "Bottlenose" whales from British Columbia are Baird's beaked whales; those from inspection and reporting system to monitor east coast stations are northern bottlenose whales. whaling activities. 2 G = gray whale; R = right whale. Underwater World 7

whaling industry. Membership and partici- pation in the International Whaling Com- mission (IWC) from 1949 meant that species protection, minimum length limits, and (after 1967) catch quotas were applied to whale stocks exploited commercially in Canadian waters. The Minister of Fisheries declared a mora- torium on commercial whaling in Canada in 1972, after the whaling seasons at Williams- port, South Dildo, and Blandford had ended. This ban remains in effect. However, in 1981 Canada announced the withdrawal Figure 7. A 39-ft male humpback whale on the flensing deck at Coal Harbour, B.C., of its membership in the IWC. The Whaling 1950. Photograph by G.C. Pike. Convention Act was repealed in 1982, and in its place the Cetacean Protection Regu- The legislation did not slow the develop- stations were set up in 1911 on the Queen lations, issued under the Fisheries Act, came ment of the industry, however. During the Charlotte Islands: one at Rose Harbour in into force in J uly 1982. These regulations period December 1902 to November 1903, the extreme south of the islands; the other (which do not apply to belugas and narwhals) there were 25 new applications for whaling at Naden Harbour in the extreme north. require that anyone, other than lndians and licenses, most of which were granted. Thus, for several years (1911-1914) four Inuit, wishing to hunt cetaceans must obtain Fourteen new stations began operating in whaling stations were active on the shores of a license from the Minister of Fisheries Newfoundland in 1904; five more in 1905. British Columbia. before doing so. Indians and Inuit are ln addition, 13 whaling stations were active However, the Sechart station no longer allowed to hunt all cetaceans, except "right on the coast of Labrador from the Strait of operated after 1914, and the Kyuquot station whales" (balaenids), without a license if the Belle Isle north to Cartwright. Only five or closed permanently after the 1925 season. products are used for local consumption. six stations survived through the 1910 season. The stations in the Queen Charlotte Islands Separate federal regulations apply to By 1915, well over 7,000 whales, most of operated sporadically through the early years narwhals and belugas. them blue, fin, and humpback, had been of the Second World War, but their activi- landed in Newfoundland and Labrador. ties ceased after 1943. Although they SPECIES ACCOUNTS A station at Seven Islands (Sept-Iles) in the were backed by Canadian, American and Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis) St. Lawrence Estuary operated from 1905 to Norwegian capital, the crews on board the This whale was given its English vernacu- 1915, accounting for at least 659 whales of catcher boats of all four stations were almost lar name by whalers who considered it the three or more species. This was the only entirely Norwegian. preferred quarry. lt was the right whale modern whaling station ever established in After the war, a new whaling station was to hunt because of the relative ease with the St. Lawrence, other than a few on the built at Coal Harbour in Quatsino Sound on which it could be taken and its high yield of west coast of Newfoundland. the northwest coast of Vancouver Island. valuable products, notably oil and whale- After 1915, whaling was episodic in New- Whale meat, much of it exported to Japan, bone (baleen). Right whales formerly foundland and Labrador. The Rose-au-Ru'e quickly became the major product of the occurred worldwide between cold temperate station in Placentia Bay had the longest Coal Harbour facility. The station was active and subtropical latitudes. Overhunting period of continuous operation, from 1902 from 1948 through 1967 (Figure 7), the only caused them to disappear from some areas to 1946 (except 1908). After the Second break being for the years 1960-61 when and to become very rare in others. Today World War, whaling on the east coast product markets sagged and operations came there are only a few thousand right whales centered at four sites: Hawke Harbour, to a hait. Catch statistics for 1948-1967 are worldwide, most of them in the Southern Labrador (1947-1950, 1957-1958); Williams- given in Table 1. Hemisphere. No more than a few hundred port (1947-1951, 1967-1972) and South Dildo The apparent reason for Coal Harbour's survive in the western North Atlantic, and (1947-1972), Newfoundland; and Blandford, shutdown after 1967 was a sharp decline in the present population in the eastern North Nova Scotia (1964-1972). Catch statistics for the catch of fin and sei whales. Their meat Pacific is believed to number Jess than 100. 1946-1972 are given in Table 1. is more valuable than that of the sperm whale Right whales are robust animais, whose which, by 1967, had become the predomi- girth can be more than 4/ 5 the body length. Modern Commercial Whaling on the nant species brought in by the Coal Harbour Large females reach lengths of 18 m and Pacific Coast catcher boats. weights of 100 t or more; males are some- The first modern hore whaling station on In addition to modern shore whaling, a what smaller. The head comprises up to one- the Pacifie coast of North America was major non-Canadian pelagic whale fishery, third of the body length. There is no dorsal established in 1905 at Sechart, in Barclay based on the use of highly mechanized fin or ridge. The flippers are broad and up Sound on the west side of Vancouver Island. factory ships and their attendant fleets of to 1.7 m long. The flukes , up to 6 m wide, A second station began operations in 1907 catcher boats, existed in the eastern North tip to tip, have a deeply-notched rear margin. at Kyuquot, 160 km north of Sechart. Pacifie until as recently as 1979. The right whale's narrow, curved rostrum During the winter season of 1907, catcher (top of the head) is enfolded on either side boats from these two stations transferred to Regulation of Whaling by the massive lower lips (Figure 8), which Page's Lagoon, near Nanaimo on Georgia Canada signed the International Whaling are usually scalloped along their upper edges. Strait. Winter whaling in British Columbia Convention of 1946, and Canada's Whaling Patches of cornified skin, called callosities, proved unprofitable, however, and this Convention Act of 1951 provided a new occur on certain parts of the head. There is practice ceased after 1909. Two additional framework for domestic regulation of the always a relatively large callosity, or network 8 Underwater World

streams through this gap and passes out movement of animais between the summer through the fringes of baleen, leaving behind feeding grounds off southeastern Canada the small organisms trapped against the and a winter calving ground off Georgia and screen of baleen. Small crustaceans, prin- Florida in the southeast US. They probably cipally copepods and euphausiids, form the comprise a separate stock from the one on diet of right whales. There is no evidence that the European side of the North Atlantic, they eat fish. which is believed to be almost extinct. Right whales have a distinctly V-shaped There is little definite information about blow. They sometimes spend long periods the life history of right whales. Most calves lying motionless at the surface, with only the are born in winter or spring at lengths of broad back and blowholes exposed. At other 4.5-6.0 m. Lactation continues through the times, they lobtail or flipper. Right whales first summer and possibly into the second breach occasionally, propelling their entire year after birth . Judging by resightings of bodies clear of the water. These whales are known adult females in the South Atlantic slow swimmers. When chased, they can and others in the Northwest Atlantic, the achieve speeds of close to 20 km per hour for mean interval between births is at least short periods, but they seldom move faster 3 years. than about 5-10 km per hour. Right whales were formerly abundant in Bowhead (Balaena mysticetus) Canadian waters. However, their migrations The bowhead, or Greenland whale, is the are poorly understood. In the eastern North only baleen species which lives year-round Pacifie, right whales occur in winter as far in the Arctic. In historie times the bowhead's Figure 8. A c/ose-up, face-on view of south as Baja California and Hawaii; in distribution was nearly circumpolar, broken a right whale in the /ower summer, as far north as the Gulf of Alaska only by the land mass of Green land, the ice- Bay of Fundy. The cal/osities and Bering Sea. In other parts of the world, choked Northwest Passage in the central on the rostrum and chin are sheltered embayments serve as winter nur- Canadian Arctic, and a probable hiatus in evident, as is the smooth series for females with calves; but off the the vicinity of the Laptev Sea, north of back which /acks a dorsal west coast of North America, no such central Asia. Weil over 50,000 bowheads fin. Photograph by Porter nursery areas have been identified. A major existed before their discovery and exploi- Turnbul/. nineteenth century whaling ground, called tation by Europeans began in the sixteenth the Kodiak Ground, extended from Van- or seventeenth century. Today the world of callosities, on the rostrum. Callosities also couver Island across the Gulf of Alaska to population is probably no more than about occur on the chin, around the blowholes, and the Aleutian Islands. Right whales were 5,000 individuals. Northern Canadian waters above the eyes. Most callosities are colonized caught there mostly from May through J uly. provide seasonal habitat for most of the by large numbers of white, yellow, orange, In the western North Atlantic, the right remaining world population. or pinkish "whale lice" (cyamid crusta- whale's winter range is between Cape Cod Bowheads closely resemble right whales in ceans). Since each right whale has a dis- and Florida. At least a part of the population general body shape and size. Most are black tinctive arrangement of callosities, these migrates north in spring, reaching the Bay with varying amounts of white on the chin structures are carefully photographed by of Fundy and Scotian Shelf during summer and caudal peduncle (tail stock). The white researchers and used to identify and recog- and fall. Formerly, right whales were present zone on the peduncle and fluke region may nize individual whales. during summer east of the Grand Banks, incre'ase in extent as the animal grows older. Right whales are basically dark gray or in much of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Newborn bowheads are light gray. black, although piebald individuals are not Strait of Belle Isle, and along the outer coasts The baleen of the bowhead can be nearly unusual. White patches on the ventral sur- of Newfoundland and Labrador. twice as long as the right whale's. Lengths face are common and can cover the entire During recent years the lower Bay of of more than 4 m have been reliably throat region and much of the belly. Except Fundy bas become recognized as a feeding reported. The bowhead's dark baleen is for the callosities, the skin of right whales ground for right whales in summer and highly elastic, and the fringes are long and is relatively free of ectoparasites. Although autumn. The area of Browns Bank (60 km fine. Like the right whale, the bowhead has frequently described as being heavily infested south of Cape Sable, N.S.) and the vicinity a bushy, sometimes V-shaped blow, and it with barnacles, right whales in the Northern of Grand Manan Island (N.B.) are visited by often flukes-up as it dives. Hemisphere usually carry fewer barnacles a population of approximately 200 right The bowhead maintains a close association than do gray whales and humpbacks. whales. Females and calves tend to congre- with sea ice, although during summer and Right whales have considerably longer gate inshore, beginning in July. Throughout fall it can be found in completely open water. baleen (up to 2.7 m) than any other species the rest of summer and well into October, Bowheads are known to be capable of break- except the bowhead. There are about they can be observed in Head Harbour ing through new ice 22 cm thick. Their 230-250 dark gray, finely-fringed plates per Passage and Grand Manan Channel and ability to navigate and subsist in heavy ice side. Right whale baleen is supple, a quality along the edges of Grand Manan Basin. conditions offers several advantages. For which made it valuable in the manufacture Dramatic bouts of courtship, sometimes one, they can reach feeding areas generally of such things as skirt hoops, buggy whips, involving seven or eight males clustered inaccessible to other mysticetes. For another, and parasols - it was the "spring-steel" around a single female, occur here as well. it forestalls frequent contact with killer of its time. At least 600 kg of baleen could At the same time, right whales, generally whales, whose movements appear to be con- be extracted from a large right whale. unaccompanied by calves, are present on the siderably limited by ice. The bowhead There is a gap at the front of the mouth Scotian Shelf, especially in or near Roseway appears capable of longer submergences than between the two rows of baleen. As the whale Basin between Browns and Baccara banks. other mysticetes. How the whales manage to feeds with its mouth partially open, seawater Photodocumentation has demonstrated the detect and anticipate small patches of open Underwater World 9

water in huge expanses of ice is a mystery. aboriginal subsistence whale fishery when is provided by each additional whale that is There are few documented records of ice commercial whaling ended. Alaskan killed. The best available scientific opinion entrapment. Eskimos increased their hunting effort sub- is that bowheads breed mainly between Although they do not eat fish, bowheads stantially during the l 970s, and their March and August. Most calves are probably are fairly versatile in their food habits. They bowhead fishery, conducted mainly as the born during this period as well, at a mean skim-feed much like right whales at times, animais migrate along the north coast of length of 4.0-4.5 m. Females reach sexual taking copepods and euphausiids near the Alaska in spring and fall, was subjected to maturity at a length of 14 m or somewhat surface, but they also feed at or near the close international scrutiny. An annual catch Jess. The calving interval, natural mor- bottom on benthic crustaceans such as quota set by the IWC is now enforced by the tality rate, and other aspects of bowhead gammarid amphipods and cumaceans. Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, a population biology remain unknown. Bowheads are sometimes seen near the group of Alaskan whaling captains. surface with clouds of mud streaming from Native people in Canada's Arctic hunted Gray Whale (Eschrichtius robustus) the sides of the mouth. bowheads historically, but this activity The gray whale is one of the few mysticetes Roes Welcome Sound, Repulse Bay, and virtually ceased in the west once the com- whose present-day range is limited to a single Lyon Inlet were important whaling grounds mercial whalers stopped visiting the Beaufort ocean basin. A population inhabited the for bowheads during the nineteenth century. Sea in the early twentieth century. ln the North Atlantic until as recently as the seven- Sorne are still found in these and other parts eastern Canadian Arctic, desultory hunting teenth or eighteenth century, but it is now of Hudson Bay and Foxe Basin during of bowheads continued at some settlements extinct, possibly as a result of overhunting. summer. There is movement through into the 1970s. Today, there is no regular or There are two stocks in the North Pacific. Hudson Strait, but also some evidence of systematic hunt for bowheads in Canada, One, called the Korean stock, winters off wintering in Hudson Bay and western and the Inuit are not well equipped to catch Korea and southern Japan and summers in Hudson Strait. bowheads or accustomed to utilize bowhead the Sea of Okhotsk. This stock is close to Many of the bowheads that winter at the carcasses efficiently. Although hunters in extinction. The eastern Pacific stock, also mouth of Hudson Strait and along the ice several arctic communities have requested called the California stock, migrates along edge in southern Davis Strait migrate north licenses to hunt bowheads under the the west coast of North America, where in spring to the floe edge off Pond Inlet and Cetacean Protection Regulations, no licenses it is a major tourist attraction. Lancaster Sound. In summer, bowheads have been issued owing to concern about the Gray whales have no dorsal fin, but there occur in low numbers in Barrow Strait, bowhead's population status. is a pronounced hurnp followed by a series Prince Regent lnlet, Admiralty Inlet, and ln spite of the !arge numbers killed by of bumps along the back. The rostrum Navy Board Inlet as well as in Pond Inlet and commercial whalers, little was learned about and thus the mouthline is notably curved Lancaster Sound and along the east coast of the bowhead's basic biology during the com- (Figure 9), and there are two or more deep Baffin Island. Virtually ail the navigable mercial whaling era. As a consequence, the furrows on the throat. Upon Beaufort Sea and Amundsen Gulf during summer. Areas off Cape Bathurst and western Banks Island were especially productive whaling grounds. During the last years of the commercial fishery , the bottom fell out of the whalebone market, and the pursuit of the bowhead by pelagic whalers ended in all areas by about 1915. Severe damage was done by commercial whaling to all the bowhead stocks, but the Bering Sea stock, which migrates in summer into the western Canadian Arctic, was left with the largest remnant population. lt was also the only stock still supporting a major 10 Underwater World

whales are about 4.5 m long and weigh about and females at a length of 11-12 m. Most modate large amounts of zooplankton and 500 kg. conceptions occur during the southward seawater, giving the whale a tadpole-like Gray whales are mottled gray. Their skin migration in late fall or early winter, and appearance. The blue whale has a broad, fiat is infested with large numbers of barnacles, calves are born after 14 months of gestation, rostrum (Figure 10), sickle-shaped flippers, especially on the head, Jips, sides of the neck, in or near the Mexican lagoons. They are and a small dorsal fin set relatively far back flippers, and tail. Orange patches on the skin weaned on the summering grounds at an age on the body. As the animal surfaces to are caused by "whale lice" - small crus- of about 7 months. breathe, the head clears the water first, and taceans which colonize wounds and other Gray whales were traditionally hunted the explosive blow rises in a single vertical irregularities on the bodies of whales. by several Northwest Coast Indian tribes, column, perhaps 9 m high. The head dis- Gray whales have short, coarse, yellowish- including the Nootka, Makah, Quilleute, and appears, and all that remains visible is a white baleen. The anterior plates on the right Quinault. The whale hunt remained a part long expanse of back. This may then dis- side of the mouth are generally shorter than of the Nootka and Makah cultures until as appear as the animal rolls forward to dive, those on the left, presumably because the recently as the early twentieth century. and then the dorsal fin appears, followed by whales turn onto the right side more often American commercial whalers also killed the large flukes (up to 5 m, tip to tip). The than the left as they forage along the bottom, gray whales, although they preferred right sighting of the fin long after the back breaks causing the baleen to wear uneven ly. and sperm whales. An estimated 8,100 gray the surface is a feature that helps identify Most gray whales winter in or near three whales were killed between 1846 and 1874, this species in the field. Blue whales do lagoons on the outer coast of the Baja mainly for their oil. Although badly depleted not always fluke-up before Balaenoptera musculus) or more longitudinal grooves extending back along the coasts of California, Oregon, No known animal, living or extinct, equals along the belly at least to the umbilicus. The Washington, and British Columbia. Early the blue whale in body size. This whale is relatively coarse bristles of the blue whale's arrivais begin to appear along the west cosmopolitan, jnhabiting all areas from the baleen are efficient for filtering euphausiids, coasts of Vancouver Island and the Queen tropics to the polar regions. The largest blue its principal prey. The entire oral cavity - Charlotte Islands in February or March. whales live in the southern ocean and rely on tongue, palate, and baleen - is inky black. Peak numbers pass during the first two the vast swarms of krill available in the Except in areas where food is highly con- weeks of April, and the migration is essen- Antarctic during summer. One female killed centrated, blue whales are usually encoun- tially complete by late May or June. Most in the Antarctic was slightly less than 30 m tered alone or in small groups. Thus, they gray whales reach the Bering Sea by way of long; another 27 m female taken in the are not considered particularly social. Unimak Pass in the eastern Aleutian Islands; Antarctic weighed more than 150 tons. These However, they make high-intensity sounds their concentrated movement through this are ·the largest whales on record and were of very low frequency (20 Hz or Jess), some pass during fall has facilitated attempts to probably close to the maximum size for the so low that they are outside the hearing range census the population. Many remain in the species. Blue whales up to 23.5 m long have of most humans. Such calls may well be used Bering Sea for the summer to feed; others been caught off Newfoundland; 26.2 m, off for communication. Since it is known that proceed through Bering Strait into the British Columbia. these sounds can travel several hundred Chukchi Sea. A few enter the Beaufort Sea The body shape of blue whales and their kilometers underwater, blue whales may and feed in the Mackenzie Delta. On their close relatives has been widely misconstrued coordinate their activities over great distances way south, gray whales pass the Queen by artists whose observations were limited to even when individuals are not observed in Charlotte Islands and Vancouver Island, dead animais on a beach or flensing deck. close physical proximity. mainly during December and January. In life, these whales appear surprisingly long Sexual maturity is attained at an age of The gray whale's diet in the Bering and and slender, almost serpentine. Only while about IO years. Breeding occurs mainly at Chukchi seas consists mainly of small, feeding does the throat expand to accom- low latitudes during late fall and winter, and bottom-dwelling crustaceans called gamma- rid amphipods. One of the best ways of locating gray whales on their summer feeding Figure 10. Two blue wha/es surfacing near a whale-watching boat in the St. Lawrence grounds is to watch for mud plumes in the River near Tadoussac, September 1983. Note that the mouth of the lung- water, made as the whales feed on or near ing individual is closed. Photograph by P.F. Macfarlane. the sea floor. Of special interest to Canadians are the gray whales that do not participate in the entire 18,000 km round-trip migration. Gray whales are present year-round in the vicinity of Wickaninnish Bay, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and there are small, sum- mering concentrations elsewhere along the shores of Vancouver Island. The animais spend much of their time feeding, probably on mysid crustaceans and polychaete worms which are locally abundant. Sorne of the gray whale feeding areas are in Pacific Rim National Park. Sexual maturity is reached by both males Underwater World . 11

ended inconclusively, but the blue whale's fully protected in the North Atlantic and injuries were probably serious and may have Arctic. been enough to kil! it. There may have been more than 200,000 Many of the blue whales that visit waters blue whales in the world's oceans at the turn along the east coast of Canada probably of the century, of which some 6,000 would belong to a wide-ranging western North have inhabited the eastern North Pacific and Atlantic stock. An October stranding in New 1,100-1,500 the western North Atlantic. Jersey and a kill in January in the Panama Today, only a few thousand remain world- Canal are among the few pubished records wide. There could still be as many as 1,500 of blue whales south of Nova Scotia on the in the North Pacifie, but only hundreds are west side of the North Atlantic. In summer, believed to survive in the North Atlantic. some blue whales migrate into Davis Strait Continued protection will be necessary for and Denmark Strait. They have been caught many years if blue whales are to recover north of 80°N near the edge of pack ice in fully. the Northeast Atlantic in June, but they probably do not regularly move so far north Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus) as Baffin Bay in the west. The fin whale, second in size only to the Of special interest to Canadians are the blue whale, has a wider distribution and is blue whales that feed in summer along considerably more abundant than its larger the north shore of the River and Gulf of relative. Groups of fin whales, sometimes St. Lawrence, as far upstream as the mouth numbering up to 20 individuals, were histor- of the Saguenay River near Tadoussac. They ically common in coastal and inshore waters begin arriving in the Gulf in April or May, at temperate latitudes. Decades of intensive as soon as substantial open water becomes exploitation have greatly reduced most fin available. Where deep water cornes close to whale populations, but these large, fast- the coast, blue whales can easily be observed swimming animais are still a common sight from shore, particularly from headlands and in Canadian coastal waters. cliffs. The best time for seeing blue whales Fin whales range widely in the North in the St. Lawrence is August through Atlantic, from the Mediterranean Sea to September, when the density of whales in Norway in the east and from Florida to Davis upstream areas reaches a peak. Most blue Strait in the west. They are abundant around whales probably enter the Gulf through lceland and off the east and west coasts of Figure 11. A mother fin wha/e and her Cabot Strait in spring. Sorne remain in Greenland. In the North Pacifie, fin whales calf in the lower Bay of St. Lawrence waters until at least December, occur from the Chukchi Sea in the north, Fundy, viewed from the air and occasionally they become trapped by ice south to the Gulf of California in the east in August 1980. Note how along the southwest coast of Newfoundland and Japan in the west. They have also been the white on the right /ower in mid-winter (February or March). reported from the mid-Pacific. It is difficult for an inexperienced observer jaw sweeps onto the neck In British Columbia, blue whales rarely to distinguish between the fin whale and the behind the blowho/es to approach the coast, but they can be found sei whale. The fin whale's asymmetric head form part of the pigmenta- in small numbers well offshore. These whales coloration is its most reliable and least tion "chevron." Photograph may belong to an eastern North Pacific stock subtle field mark (Figure 11). The right lower by R.R. Reeves. that winters off Baja California and heads jaw and right front third of the baleen are north in May, reaching waters off Vancouver white; the rest of the head and baleen, Island in June. Many of the animals gestation lasts about a year. Thus, the blue darker. Behavioral differences can also help probably continue migrating north until whale's reproductive cycle is closely attuned in making an identification. The fin whale reaching the main summer feeding grounds to its migration schedule. Most adult females has a characteristic roll. The head usually in the Gulf of Alaska or south of the eastern probably bear a calf every second or third breaks the surface first, and the animal blows year. Aleutian Islands. By late August, they begin just before the dorsal fin appears. The fin returning south, and a second peak in Blue whales are about 7-8 m long and whale usually arches its back high out of the weigh 2-3 tons at birth. Seven months later, abundance occurs off Vancouver Island in water on the terminal dive of a series, but at weaning, they are 16 m long and weigh September. The whales begin to reappear in it almost never flukes-up . The sei whale 25 tons. This prodigious increase in size is Baja California waters in October. usually approaches the surface at a flatter made possible by the rich milk, 35-50 percent The blue whale became fully protected angle, and its prominent dorsal fin can some- fat, provided by the mother. It has been from commercial exploitation in the North times be seen while the whale is blowing. Sei estimated that she supplies about 250 litres Pacific after the 1965 season. The hunting whales usually do not arch the back high as of milk per day, and that the calf gains over of blue whales in the North Atlantic and they di ve. 90 kg of weight per day, or some 4 kg per Arctic was prohibited by the IWC from the Fin whales have a varied diet. In some hour. beginning of the 1955 season for a period of areas or at certain times of year, they feed Because of their size, power, and speed, five years. lceland and Denmark objected to heavily on pelagic crustaceans, mainly blue whales would seem immune to natural the ban and continued hunting blue whales euphausiids but also copepods occasionally. predation. However, in a well-documented through 1959. When the prohibition was In other areas or at other times, small school- event off southern Baja California, a pod of extended for a further five years beginning ing fishes such as capelin, herring, sand about 30 killer whales attacked and badly in I960, all member states agreed to adhere lance, and anchovies are the staple fare. Cod, mauled an 18 m blue whale. The attack to it, and since that time the species has been whiting, mackerel, and squid are sometimes eaten. 12 Underwater World

Tagging data and morphological differ- with long, silky fringes similar to the right bers off Vancouver Island in June, July, and ences suggest the existence of at least two whale's. It can filter very small organisms, August probably belong to a stock that separate populations of fin whales off such as copepods, amphipods, and juvenile migrates along the American west coast. A eastern Canada, one of which summers on euphausiids. The sei whale gulps as well as sei whale tagged off southern California in the Scotian Shelf and in the Gulf of skims its prey, and it eats schooling fishes November 1962 was killed off Vancouver St. Lawrence, and the other in the Labrador in addition to zooplankton. Island in August 1966. Sea. There may be a small degree of mixing It is not uncommon to find sei whales in between these two populations. Fin whales multispecies feeding aggregations, in the Minke Whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) share much of the same habitat with blue close company of other balaenopterids as The minke whale is the smallest of the whales in the St. Lawrence, arriving in large well as right whales. In some parts of the baleen whales inhabiting Canadian waters. numbers by July and feeding along the North world, sei whales are believed to have It is widely distributed on the continental Shore throughout summer and fall . They increased in numbers because of the removal shelf and usually encountered alone or in also are regularly seen in the lower Bay of or reduction of right whales, their apparent small groups, often amongst pods of fin Fundy, where they sometimes enter and competitors for copepods and other small whales. The blow is low and bushy, and thus damage inshore herring weirs. planktonic forms. difficult to spot in rough seas. Young minke In British Columbia, fin whales are usually Sei whales in the Northern Hemisphere whales sometimes approach stationary ves- found well offshore but are sometimes seen breed and give birth primarily during winter sels, swimming under and around them close in exposed coastal seas such as Hecate Strait months, in the southern half of their range. alongside. However, they are not easy to and Queen Charlotte Sound, and Jess often The mean length at birth is about 4.5 m; chase or follow due to their irregular sur- in protected waters such as Queen Charlotte calves are weaned at 5-9 months of age. Both facing pattern and frequent changes of Strait. Sorne fin whales, mainly young males and females reach sexual maturity at swimming direction. individuals, remain to feed throughout the lengths of 12.8-14 m, which probably cor- The basic color pattern is black on the summer. Others migrate past the British respond to ages of 5-10 years. Maximum dorsal surface and white on the ventral Columbia coast. length is about 18 m. The calving interval is surface, but like fin whales, most minke Because of their large size and ready avail- 2-3 years. whales have a complex array of subtler mark- ability, fin whales figured significantly in There are believed to be two stocks of sei ings on the sides and back (Figure 13). These the catches of all modern Canadian shore whales in the western North Atlantic with take the form mainly of light gray patches whaling stations. Beginning with the 1967 non-overlapping distributions, one on the and swirls. The most distinctive marking is season, a Canadian national quota was set Scotian Shelf, the other in the Labrador a bold white patch on the otherwise-dark on fin whales hunted from the east coast Sea. The Nova Scotia stock migrates north flippers (Figure 14). Newborn minkes are whaling stations. As additional information along the continental slope from wintering about 2.8 m long, and maximum adult became available on stock identity and popu- grounds off the eastern U .S., consistently length is about 10 m. lation size, this quota was steadily lowered. reaching waters off Nova Scotia by June and Minke whales engage in aerial displays Canada's east coast fin whale population has July. Sei whales largely disappear from this much more often than their Ba/aenoptera been unexploited since 1972. area for a period during late summer, then cousins. They make clean, arcuate leaps as reappear in substantial numbers during a well as twisting breaches after circling rapidly Sei Whale (Balaenoptera borealis) regular southward fall migration from mid- and tightly around a school of prey. They The sei whale (Norwegian, pronounced September to mid-November. The Labrador use their short, mainly white baleen to cap- say) is an oceanic species rarely encountered Sea stock is present in the Labrador Sea by ture a wide variety of organisms, including in protected, inshore waters or near the early June. Animais from this stock appar- fish, zooplankton, and squid. During sum- coast. The vernacular name was given to the ently cross Davis Strait to the west coast of mer months, dense concentrations of spawn- species because its arrivai off Finnmark Greenland during summer, and their range ing capelin attract minke whales into bays (Norway) used to coïncide with that of the may extend east to Denmark Strait and along the east coast of Newfoundland. They seje or coalfish (Pollachius virens) . Obser- Iceland. are present there as early as May, and most vations by whalers, particularly in the North The sei whales which appear in large num- have left by early August. Atlantic, led them to suggest that sei whales follow a Jess consistent migration schedule than do most other rorquals. Their appear- Figure 12. The ta//, scythe-shaped dorsal fin characteristic of a sei whale is clearly ance on a local whaling ground, such as off seen in this photograph taken du ring a whale tagging cruise in the North Iceland, can be "unpredictable" from one Atlantic sponsored by the Canadian government. Photograph by E. year to the next. Mitchell. The difficulty of identifying sei whales at sea often makes it hard to evaluate reports of sightings. Under the best of circum- stances, the symmetrical pigmentation of the sei whale's head and the single ridge along the midline of the slightly arched, pointed rostrum can be seen clearly. Like right whales, sei whales are usually classified as "skim" feeders. When feeding near the sur- face, their blows are evenly spaced over long intervals. Their head breaks the surface at a shallow angle, and the dorsal fin and back are exposed for a comparatively long time (Figure 12). The sei whale's baleen is grayish, Underwater World 13

In all parts of their range, humpbacks migrate between high-latitude summer feed- ing grounds and subtropical wintcr breed- ing grounds. Most of the humpbacks that feed in summer off eastern Canada spend the winter in the West Indies, principally on Silver and Navidad banks north of Hispaniola. Sorne visit Bermuda on their way north in spring. Although much of the Northwest Atlantic humpback population appears to mix on the breeding grounds, groups of individuals seem to congregate on separate feeding grounds year after year. One of these feeding " substocks" apparently does not go much farther north than the Gulf of Maine and Scotian Shelf, but another large " substock" occurs along the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador. Severa! hundred humpbacks go to Davis Strait in Figure 13. A minke whale surfacing off Cap Gaspé in Forillon National Park, August summer, and another group (which may be 1981. Note how the dark back shades into light gray blazes on the sides. related to the Davis Strait "substock") Variation in this trunk pigmentation has been used to identify individual occurs in Denmark Strait between Greenland whales off the west coast. Photograph by Diane Attendu. and lceland. In the eastern and central North Pacifie there are two major wintering areas. One Female minke whales reach sexual matu- Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is along the coast of Baja California rity at 7.3 m, males at 6.7-7.0 m. Breeding Humpback whales are cosmopolitan and around the Revillagigedo Islands off in the Northern Hemisphere occurs mainly animais. They were abundant in all oceans Mexico. The other is in Hawaii, where most during winter and spring. Gestation is until whaling drave some populations to dan- of the underwater photography of hump- assumed to last 10-101/ 2 months, and calves gerously low levels . Today, the Northwest backs has taken place. lndividual whales are probably weaned before reaching 6 Atlantic and Northeast Pacifie are among the are known to use either of these grounds months of age. A high proportion (80% or few areas where sizeable humpback popula- in a given winter. One known individual more) of adult females taken in some whale tions remain. traveled from Hawaii to the coast of Van- fisheries have been found to be pregnant; so Humpbacks are well known to the pub- couver Island, and another found in British the calving interval is probably one year in lic. Photographs of breaching individuals or Columbia waters one summer was seen off many instances. of mothers and calves underwater often Minke whales are common during summer appear on posters and magazine covers. Figure 14. The distinctive white flipper in Ungava Bay, along the en tire Atlantic Humpbacks grow to a maximum length of patch and the sharply coasts of Labrador and Newfoundland, and about 16 m, and they are 4.5-5.0 m long at pointed snout of the minke in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Bay of birth. The humpback's head is marked by whale are seen as this Fundy. Winter sightings in the Caribbean rows of fleshy knobs, and there is a lumpy animal surfaces in the lower Sea suggest that some minke whales migrate protuberance at the front of the lower jaw. Bay of Fundy. The white flip- to lower latitudes at that season. Stranded The flippers, which have a scalloped lead- per appears to be part of a minke whales are reported with some ing edge, are very long; they can be almost disruptive pigmentation pat- regularity along much of the eastern sea- a third as long as the animal's entire body. tern on this, the smal/est of board. They are accidentally trapped from The flukes are distinctively shaped, with a the balaenopterine group. time to time in herring weirs in the Bay of serrated rear margin divided by a deep notch. Photograph by Porter Fundy, and pieces of netting have been The dorsal fin is what gives the humpback Turnbull. found entangled in the baleen of some its vernacular name. Although the fin can stranded specimens. vary greatly in shape, it sits on a hummock In 1947 a fishery for small whales was or "hump" (Figure 15). begun in eastern Newfoundland. Sorne of the The humpback's skin is colonized by large meat of minke whales was saved for human "acorn" barnacles (Coronula), especially on consumption, but after l 954 most of it was the flukes, flippers, and chin. The general used to feed ranch mink. This fishery ended body color is black. Many humpbacks in 1972. Between 1969 and 1972 Norwegian have all-white or mainly white flippers. pelagic whaling vessels hunted minke whales Humpbacks often fluke-up as they dive, so in coastal waters off Labrador and it is possible to get photographs of the Newfoundland. undersides of the flukes. The variable black- The distribution of minke whales along the and-white pigmentation pattern on the flukes west coast of Canada is notas well known, is distinctive for every individual and, espe- but they are present in most nearshore and cially when augmented by scars and deformi- inshore areas during summer. Here, too, ties, provides a reliable means of individual they occasionally blunder into fishing gear, recognition. such as salmon traps. 14 Underwater World

terns or scenes by nineteenth-century whale- men, a traditional American art form known as scrimshaw. There is a substantial difference in size between male and female sperm whales. Males grow to lengths of 18 m or more, while females are rarely more than 12 m long. Old bulls can weigb in excess of 50 tons. Length at birth is about 3.5-5.0 m; weight, 750-1,000 kg. Sperm whales are basically brownish gray to black. Calves are lightly pigmented but soon darken to the adult color. Most sperm whales have a white zone around the mouth, as well as a light gray or whitish region on Figure 15. The "hump" comprising the base of the small dorsal fin on the hump- the ventrum. Adult males are heavily scarred back wha/e is c/early evident in this photograph taken in the North Pacifie. on the head, evidence of aggressive encoun- Photograph by G.C. Pike. ters with one another and with large squid. Sperm whales subsist on squid, octopuses, deepsea fishes, and a variety of other fishes. southeast Alaska the next. The humpback's Calves are suckled for about 10 months and Only adult bulls are likely to attack the giant North Pacific summering grounds extend thus are fully weaned before the breeding squid (Architeuthis sp.) which lives at great from British Columbia to much of the season following their birth. Du ring the first depths. Yankee sperm whalers sometimes coastal Gulf of Alaska, the Bering Sea, and few weeks of life, humpback calves are rarely confirmed that they had arrived on the whal- the southern Chukchi Sea. Formerly, hump- separated from their mothers by a distance ing grounds by noting pieces of squid float- backs were abundant along the west coast of of more than 10 m. ing on the sea surface. Vancouver Island as well as in protected The International Whaling Commission The basic social unit of sperm whales is waters, including the Strait of Georgia. has given humpback whales in the North the mixed school, which contains up to 50 In general, humpbacks are denizens of the Atlantic full protection from commercial or more individuals. Adult females accom- continental shelf and offshore banks. They whaling since 1955, and in the North Pacific panied by their offspring, including young take advantage of concentrations of spawn- sin ce 1965. Toda y, there are at least 2,000 whales of both sexes, are found in such ing fish such as capelin, herring, anchovies, humpbacks in the Northeast Pacifie, with schools. Bachelor schools formed by matur- and sand lance, but they also prey heavily about 1,000 wintering in Hawaii each year. ing males remain apart from the mixed on euphausiids and occasionally squid. In the Northwest Atlantic, there are at least schools, and adult males travel atone or in At times, they repeatedly lunge at the sur- 3,000, perhaps many more, humpbacks small, loosely associated bands. Large males face, exposing the front third of the body as today. This population appears to be associate with mixed schools during part of they capture their prey. Frequently, hump- recovering. the year, presumably for breeding purposes. backs create clouds or "nets" of bubbles Usually only one of these "schoolmasters" underwater to corral their prey; such maneu- Sperm Whale (Physeter catodon) or "harem masters" is present in the mixed vers often end with the whale's mouth wide If there is an archetypal whale, it is the school at a given time. open above the surface, the coarse black sperm whale, the largest of the odontocetes This segregated social structure allows baleen and pink palate plainly showing. and the most widely distributed, most abun- sperm whales to partition the food resources Small fish jump in many directions, to be dant of the great whales. Moby Dick, the on which they depend. Females and juveniles snatched up by attending seabirds. legendary antagonist of Herman Melville's rarely venture north of about 50°N latitude Humpbacks are unrivaled among the classic nove!, was a bull sperm whale. Sperm except in areas influenced by warm currents. mysticetes as aerial acrobats. Bouts of whales are generally found in deep water, so Bulls, on the other band, migrate during breaching, lobtailing, and. flippering are they are most likely to be found along the summer into subarctic and even arctic common on both the breeding grounds and edge of the continental shelf or over canyons regions, where their foraging efforts are not feeding grounds. On the breeding grounds, and deep basins between banks, as well as in direct competition with those of the adult males sometimes interact aggressively, on the high seas. females and young. beating one another with the flukes, even The sperm whale is the only living whale Length at sexual maturity is about 9 m for slamming and scraping against each other so whose nostrils are not situated in a position females and 12 m for males. The latter, boisterously that the dorsal fins and fleshy well behind the snout. Its single blowhole, however, probably are not socially mature knobs on the head become ragged and an S-shaped slit, is at the front of the snout, (i.e. successful in reproduction) until some bloody. distinctly left of center. The position of the time well after the attainment of sexual Both sexes attain sexual maturity at a blowhole causes the bushy blow to angle for- maturity. Breeding can occur any time length of about 11-12 m. Studies of living ward and to the left, which makes it possible between la te winter and late summer, but humpbacks, using photo-identification tech- to identify sperm whales even at a distance generally peaks during late spring or sum- niques, have shown that calves are sometimes of some miles. The body is dominated by the mer. The gestation period is 14-16 months, born to adult females in successive years. The huge head, which is squarish in profile. and lactation lasts for 1-2 years. Adult average calving interval is more likely two Functional teeth are present only in the nar- females give birth at 3 to 5-year intervals. years, however. Most births in the Northern row, underslung lower jaw (Figure 16). These Sperm whales are long-lived and may reach Hemisphere occur in winter (January- massive chunks of ivory were smoothed, ages of 45-60 years. March), after about one year of gestation. engraved, and decorated with intricate pat- Sperm whales are common off both coasts Underwater World 15

of Canada during summer and fall. ln the Atlantic, some bulls migrate along the continental slope at least as far north as Hudson Strait, where local concentrations can be found off Resolution Island. This migration consists almost entirely of large males. Sperm whales seem not to enter the Gulf of St. Lawrence in large numbers. Long-distance movements across the North Atlantic, between southern Nova Scotia and the coast of Spain and between lceland and the Azores, have been documented. Off British Columbia, mixed and bachelor schools occur seasonally on the old whaling grounds as far north as 50°N, apparently tied to the 15 °C surface isotherm. Mixed aggre- gations of 50-150 sperm whales have been seen there du ring April, May, and early June. Females with near-term fetuses some- times re-appear in August and early Septem- ber. Bulls are present year-round in deep waters off the British Columbia coast. Small numbers of sperm whales enter Hecate Figure 16. A 16.85 m sperm whale landed at the South Di/do, Newfoundland, Strait, Dixon Entrance, Queen Charlotte wha/ing station, 18 June 1972. Note the sockets for /ower teeth in the Sound, and some of the broad waterways of tooth/ess upper jaw. The few throat creases are typica/ of sperm whales. the Inside Passage. The scarring on the head may be from baffles with other large males. The sperm whale is of great commercial Photograph by James G. Mead. interest. lts oil differs from baleen whale oil in that it consists chiefly of waxes rather presence in Canada. Their occurrence along Baird's beaked whale, measuring nearly than fats . Sperm oil 's viscosity is less affected the Canadian coast is known mainly from 13 m in length, is the largest of the beaked by temperature variations than are those of strandings. A dead pygmy sperm whale was whales. It lives only in the North Pacific, fatty oils, so it is valuable as a lubricant. found under the ice in Halifax harbour in where it is known from as far south as north- Spermaceti, a waxy liquid found in the head, January 1920, and another decayed carcass ern Baja California, Mexico, to as far north has been widely used in the manufacture of was found on Sable Island in January 1969. as the central Bering Sea. Shore-based certain cosmetics and wax candies. As much A female dwarf sperm whale stranded alive whalers frequently encountered groups of as 150 barrels of spermaceti and sperm oil on the coast of Pachena Bay, Vancouver 10-20 Baird's beaked whales, mainly adult has been rendered from a very large bull. Island, in September 1981. males, on the whaling grounds west of Ambergris, a substance produced in the Vancouver Island. The whales were seen dur- alimentary tract of some sperm whales and Beaked Whales (Ziphiidae) ing all months from May to September, but occasionally discovered as a waxy lump This diverse family of whales is repre- most regularly in August. floating on the sea surface or washed up sented in Canadian waters by four genera: The only other beaked whale that has been on beaches, is used as a fixative in making Berardius, Hyperoodon, Ziphius, and of any commercial significance in Canada is long-lasting perfumes. Mesop/odon . Ziphiids, or beaked whales, are the northern bottlenose whale (Hyperoodon An intensive hunt for sperm whales began typically pelagic in distribution and rarely ampullatus). It is endemic in the North from sailing vessels out of New England sighted on the continental shelf. Most appear Atlantic, where it is widely distributed in cold ports during the early eighteenth century, to be deep divers, and squid or deep-sea fish temperate and subarctic regions. Off North and by the middle of the nineteenth century comprise the bulk of their diet. America, the two best-known areas of con- it had spread throughout the southern ocean All beaked whales in the Northern centration are at the mouth of Hudson Strait and the North Pacifie. This worldwide chase, Hemisphere have a pair of deep grooves on and in a deep canyon east of Sable Island, which eventually came to include a fleet of the throat, which partially converge to form called The Gully. lt is in the latter area that large modern factory ships, has all but ended a forward-pointing V. Their flukes are not 67 bottlenose whales were caught during the now. Only a few shore stations continue to normally separated from each other by a 1960s by whalers out of Blandford, Nova catch significant numbers of sperm whales. well-formed notch. The beak, which can be Scotia. Bottlenose whales were also hunted There are two species of small cetacean, short and ill-defined as in Cuvier's beaked in Davis Strait by British arctic whalers dur- closely related to the sperm whale, which whale (Ziphius cavirostris) or long and cylin- ing the nineteenth century, and 818 of them should be mentioned here brie fi y. Neither drical as in Baird's beaked whale (Berardius were taken off Labrador during 1969-1971 grows longer than about 4 m; both resem- bairdii), is equipped with usually 2 but no by Norwegian pelagic whalers. Bottlenose ble the sperm whale in that they have a short more than 4 functional teeth, situated toward whales dive for longer periods than most underslung lower jaw and a squarish or the front of the lower jaw. ln Mesoplodon, other whales; timed dives lasting 90 minutes bulbous head. The pygmy sperm whale only adult males have erupted teeth, and in or more have been reported. (Kogia breviceps) and the dwarf sperm whale some of these the teeth protrude outside the The other beaked whales that occur in (K. simus) live rnainly in the temperate and closed mouth, serving as formidable tusks Canadian waters have not been hunted here, tropical regions of the world oceans, and that are probably used during fights between and they are rarely seen alive at sea. Most there is little evidence of their frequent males. of what is known about their distribution in 16 Underwater World

Canada cornes from the few stranded speci- least 12 years; females, 4.9 m and at least whale accidentally caught in a gi llnet at mens which have corne to the attention of 6. 7 years. Adult males are easily distin- Namu, British Columbia, was towed to scientists. Cuvier's beaked whale and Blain- guished from juveniles and adult females by Seattle, Washington, where it was kept in a ville's beaked whale (Mesoplodon densiros- the height and shape of the dorsal fin floating pen. During his year in confinement, tris) are cosmopolitan in temperate and (Figure 17). By the time males reach sexual "Namu" proved docile and trainable. Soon tropical seas, and they can be expected to maturity, the fin is slightly over 1 m high; most major marine aquariums in North occur irregularly on both the Atlantic and the fin of adult females is usually only America and Europe had at least one killer Pacifie coasts of southern Canada. In addi- 0.5-0.75 m high. The female's fin remains whale on display. Killer whales live peaca- tion, Sowerby's beaked whale (M. bidens) hooked, or curved, throughout life, but the bly in tanks with bottlenose dolphins and and Gervais' beaked whale (M. mirus) are adult male's !oses its curved aspect and other animais on which they prey in the wild. known from the east coast; Hubbs' beaked becomes triangular with straightened edges. A population of about 260 killer whales whale (M. carlhubbsi) and Stejneger's The flippers of killer whales are shaped frequents coastal waters surrounding Van- beaked whale (M. stejnegeri), from the like broad, rounded paddles. They are often couver Island. About 23 percent are mature west coast. visible as the whale breaches and Falls onto males, 34 percent mature females, 39 percent its side with a loud smack. The killer whale's juveniles, and the rest (4 percent) calves. This Killer Whale (Orcinus orca) conical head is dominated by the large local population has a complex social struc- The killer whale is a familiar sight to mouth, lined with piercing teeth used for ture. There are 30 pods, or sets of related mariners in British Columbia, where the spe- gripping and tearing prey, but not for chew- individuals, which remain together on a cies has been studied more closely than in any ing. Like most other cetaceans, killer whales long-term basis. Pods can be as large as other part of the world. ln 1973, Canadian swallow their prey whole or in large pieces. 50 animais, but usually number from 5 to 20. scientists began compiling photographs of Gestation in killer whales lasts about Severa! pods may travel together for a few killer whales in the protected waters of 15 months, and females nurse their young days or weeks, but there is no permanent southwest British Columbia and northwest for at least a year. Killer whales in British exchange of individuals. The British Colum- Washington. Using naturally-occurring Columbia have a calving interval of 3 years bia population is made up of three distinct nicks, scars, and growth patterns on the or more. The population was judged in 1980 communities. A southern community con- dorsal fin, and the configuration of the to be increasing at a rate of about 2.5 per- sists of three pods, code named J , K, and L, lightly-pigmented "saddle patch" behind the cent a year. totalling about 80 animais. Their year-round dorsal fin, it proved possible to identify The public attitude toward killer whales range is limited to the inshore waters south individuals, track their movements, and changed dramatically during the l 960s . of Discovery Passage and some offshore monitor associations among the whales. Before then, they were feared by many areas west of southern Vancouver Island. Killer whales are about 2.4 m long at birth. boaters and resented by fishermen who J-pod's range extends southward into Puget Males can grow to lengths of 9 m and noticed the whales' appetite for herring and Sound. A northern community, consisting of weights of almost 5 tons, while females salmon. In 1964, the Vancouver Public 12 pods or about 135 animais, occurs mainly generally do not grow longer than 8 m or Aquarium brought a young female into inshore north of Discovery Passage. The weigh more than 3 tons. Sexual maturity is captivity that lived long enough to demon- third community is comprised of 15 small generally reached in British Columbia males strate the feasibility of maintaining killer transient, or non-resident, pods. These pods at a body length of 5.8 m and an age of at whales in captivity. The next year another seem to have a less well-defined range than the resident pods. Since the members of a pod are often Figure 17. Part of a pod of killer whales ( J-pod) in Puget Sound, September 1978. dispersed while foraging for food, com- Note the high, erect dorsal fin of the adult male in the foreground. munication is apparently maintained largely Photograph by Randi Olsen. through acoustic exchange. The three basic sound-types produced by killer whales are: (1) short, high-frequency pulses or clicks used mainly for echolocation; (2) somewhat lower-frequency "whistles"; and (3) pulsed "screams" which sound harsh and metallic to the human ear. The latter two groups of sounds are thought to play a role in commu- nication. At least in British Columbia, each killer whale pod has a slightly different acoustic repertoire, or dialect, which prob- ably facilitates pod integrity when the ranges of two or more pods overlap. Killer whales are skilled predators. Their diet includes nearly anything that swims. Turtles, ducks, and many kinds of fish and squid are eaten, as are seals, sea lions, porpoises, and whales. The preferences of a given pod seem to depend on where it lives. For example, some of the resident pods in British Columbia and Washington subsist largely on salmon and herring. ln the Antarc- tic, some killer whales regularly prey upon minke whales and seals. Although killer Underwater World 17

whales in some areas attack the larger whales, such attacks do not always result in a kill. Like wolves, killer whales rely on coor- dinated movement and cooperative hunting techniques to kil! their larger prey. Although present on the Canadian east coast and in the Arctic, killer whales are seen less frequently and less predictably there than in British Columbia's inshore waters.

Long-finned Pilot Whale (Globicephala melaena) This medium-size toothed whale, known locally as the pothead in Newfoundland and the blackfish in some other areas, is espe- cially abundant along the Atlantic coast of Canada. A closely related species, the short- finned pilot whale (G. macrorhynchus), is present in the more tropical waters of the Atlantic. ln the Pacifie, it is present in trop- Figure 18. Long-finned pilot whales stranded at River John, Nova Scotia, August 1918. ical waters and occasionally reaches the Photograph by E. Clay Blair/Public Archives Canada, copyright (Coll.) shores of British Columbia and Alaska, 1966-94, PA 30300. associating with warm currents. The most distinctive external features of The phenomenon of mass stranding has capturing pilot whales in Newfoundland was the pilot whale are a high, rounded forehead always puzzled those who study the habits driving. Beginning in late July, the whalers (thus the vernacular name pothead) and a of whales . This tendency to corne ashore and would look for herds of pilot whales follow- thick, broad-based dorsal fin which is die in groups is displayed mainly by the ing the squid inshore. ln small vessels, they unmistakable in profile. The short beak is highly social odontocetes. On the east coast would intercept the herds of whales and drive overhung in large adults by the bulbous of Canada, nearly ail mass strandings in volve them slowly toward shore. After driving melon. Males are considerably larger than herds of pilot whales (Figure 18). There is them into shallow water, the whalers killed females; maximum lengths are 6.2 m and no evidence that the whales involved in such the animais with lances, then towed them 5.4 m, respectively. Very large males may mass strandings are diseased or afflicted by ashore where the meat and oil could be weigh close to 3 tons. At birth, most pilot exceptionally heavy parasite burdens. It has processed. In these drives, entire herds, whales are 1.65-1.9 m long. been suggested that since strandings most usually containing individuals of both Although at first glance adult pilot whales often occur along gently shelving coasts, sexes and various ages, were dispatched. appear uniformly blackish-gray or blackish- bottom topography plays a major role, The fishery for minke whales and other brown, they do have certain consistent, if perhaps reducing the effectiveness of the medium-size cetaceans established in eastern rather subtle markings. There is a wedge of whales' biosonar navigation system . Newfoundland in 1947 soon came to depend speckled dark gray on the back behind the Strangely enough, however, attempts by mainly on pilot whales, the meat being sold dorsal fin, often referred to as a saddle- well-meaning onlookers to refloat the to mink ranches. mark. A dark gray streak, shaped like an animais by towing them clear of the beach During the period of organized and inten- elongate teardrop, is often present behind are generally unsuccessful. More often than sive catching at Newfoundland, 1947-1971, each eye. The ventral surface is marked by not, the whales simply return directly to approximately 54,000 pilot whales were cap- a gray-to-white patch along the midline shore. This may mean that social or psycho- tured. The highest catch in a single season which widens to form an anchor-shaped che- logical factors, such as response to stress calls was nearly 10,000 in 1956. A fairly consis- vron design on the throat. Calves are light by animais still beached, are what trigger and tent decline in the annual catch after 1956 gray, their markings muted. maintain this strangely self-destructive has been interpreted as evidence that the Pilot whales are among the most gregari- behaviour. In addition to eastern Newfound- local stock was depleted. An estimated ous of cetaceans. They often travel in herds land, mass strandings of pilot whales have 14,000 pilot whales were present off eastern of several hundred, closely coordinating their occurred on Sable and Cape Breton islands, Newfoundland within 150 km of shore in activities and movements. Squid, specifically Nova Scotia, and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence 1980, based on results of an aerial survey. short-finned squid (Illex illecebrosus) off and Bay of Fundy. Newfoundland, are the principal prey of Life-history parameters have been esti- White Whale or Beluga (Delphinapterus pilot whales. The whales' distribution is mated from a large sample of pilot whales leu cas) thus governed largely by the squid migra- killed in Trinity Bay during the l 950s. White whales, or belugas as they are often tions. Pilot whales li ve throughout the year Females reach sexual maturity at about 6 called, are among Canada's best-known in deep water, and are especially abundant years of age and a mean length of 3.65 m; whales. They are endemic to the Northern on the continental slope. Their appearance males at about 12 years and 4.9 m. The Hemisphere, where they occur in many dis- on the shelf and in shallow coastal waters, breeding season is prolonged, with most crete stocks throughout the Arctic and particulary along the east coast of New- births occurring sometime between May Subarctic regions. There are at least five foundland in Trinity, Bonavista, Concep- and November after a gestation period of stocks in Canada: the Mackenzie Delta tion, and Notre Dame bays during summer, 15½-16 months. Although calves may begin stock, the Lancaster Sound stock, the is explained by the arriva! there of dense taking solid food at 6 months, they may not Cumberland Sound stock, the Hudson Bay/ swarms of squid. be fully weaned until nearly 2 years of age. Hudson Strait/ Ungava Bay stock or stocks, The most popular and effective method of and the St. Lawrence stock. The present 18 Underwater World

world population consists of at least several Table 2. Major stocks of white whales in Canada. tens of thousands, although some stocks have been severely reduced by overhar- CENTER OF DISTRIBUTION vesting. Initial Current Population The distribution and abundance of white Win ter Summer Population (Year) whales in Canada are summarized in Bering Sea Mackenzie Delta, ? 7,000 (1979) Table 2. The occurrence of belugas along the Beaufort Sea, coast of British Columbia would be very Amundsen Gulf exceptional. The nearest population is cen- West Greenland Lancaster Sound, ? 6,300-18,600 (1981) tered in Cook lnlet, south-central Alaska. Prince Regent There are a few isolated records of individual ln let belugas reaching coastal waters of Washing- Davis Strait & Cumberland Sound 5,000 + 600 (1979) ton, and a herd of 21 was seen several years Mouth of ago du ring late May in Yakutat Bay, south- Hudson Strait? east Alaska. Presumably such animais are Hudson Strait Ungava Bay 1,000 + Low hundreds (1981) emigrants from the Cook lnlet stock, which Hudson Strait Eastern Hudson Bay 5,000 350 or less* (1981) numbers only a few hundred. Occasionally, + Hudson Strait Western Hudson Bay ? 5,000-10,000 (1965) solitary belugas or very small groups are St. Lawrence River St. Lawrence River 5,000 360-715 (1983) reported along the coasts of Newfoundland, + and Gulf and Gulf Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and south along the U.S. coast as far as Long Island, * Applies only to a portion of stock's summer distribution. New York. Many of these "strays" are prob- ably from the St. Lawrence stock, although Newfoundland records may involve "strays" 1.5 m long newborns are generally gray or body. The flippers are broad and, in adult from stocks along the Labrador coast or brownish. Juveniles are gray to bluish. After males, curl up at the tip. The flukes of adults farther north. the attainment of sexual maturity, the body have a convex rear margin. There is no dor- Male white whales, which are somewhat color changes to all white except for the edges sal fin, but a low, serrated ridge is present larger than females, can grow to lengths of of the flippers and flukes, which retain dark along the midline where a fin occurs on other 5 m and weigh more than 2,000 kg. pigment. species. White whales can radically change However, the average adult size is smaller, Well-fed belugas have a lumpy appear- the shape of their bulbous melon (Figure 19). perhaps 0.5-1.5 tons and 3.0-4.5 m. The ance, with folds of fat along the sides of the The short, broad beak is cleft slightly in the center. There are 40-44 .simple conical teeth Figure 19. A white whale surfacing in a crack during break-up in Lancaster Sound, evenly distributed in the jaws. Sharp initially, Ju/y 1983. Photograph copyright Gregory Si/ber. these teeth eventually become badly worn, and many are lost by injury or infection. The sailors' term "sea canary" is appropriately applied to the beluga, as an underwater chorus of chirps and creaks is invariably heard in the presence of a pod. Experiments have shown them to be adept at echolocation, and judging by the variety of sounds they make, they are also highly communicative. Their sociable nature is manifest in the large size of herds, includ- ing up to several thousand individuals, that congregate in river mouths during summer. Most belugas migrate, but the distance covered varies greatly among stocks. For example, the Mackenzie Delta stock, esti- mated to number about 7 ,000, leaves its win- tering grounds in the Bering Sea during late April to mid-June, heading north through Bering Strait and east along the north coast of Alaska. Some animais travel in leads through the pack ice far offshore. The first arrivais reach the Mackenzie Delta by mid- May. Numbers in the estuary build up through July, then decrease in August and September as the whales begin returning westward. ln contrast, the St. Lawrence belugas are relatively stationary. At least some of them overwinter at the Saguenay River confluence; others find refuge in patches of open water and broken pack ice elsewhere in the estuary and gulf. The limits Underwater World 19

of their summer distribution are from Île- aux-Coudres in the west to Natashquan and Baie des Chaleurs in the east. There is no evi- dence for a seasonal migration out of the Gulf through either Cabot Strait or the Strait of Belle Isle. lce caver appears to be the decisive factor in the distribution of most white whale stocks. At the floe edge in Lancaster Sound during late spring, belugas (along with nar- whals, bowheads, and various pinnipeds) arrive with an apparent sense of urgency. Figure 20. About 80-90 white whales stranded at low tide after a whale drive in Clear- They quickly penetrate the cracks and leads water Fiord, Cumberland Sound, early 1920s. Photograph courtesy formed in the rotting ice. Belugas can break Hudson 's Bay Company Archives, D.FTR/19, fo. 432A, top. through thin ice to breathe, and they often rest in ice "domes" which form around their Bay . There, too, the white whale stocks ally every post situated near a concentration bodies while at the surface. Occasionally they were greatly overtaxed by commercial drive of white whales. If possible, the whales were miscalculate and are eut off from open fisheries earlier in the present century driven into shallow water where they could water. Such entrapment can be fatal. If polar (Figure 20). be netted, shot, or harpooned. bears or native hunters do not find and kil! Belugas have always been an important Many white whales were also caught by the the whales, they are likely to starve or suffo- subsistence resource for the Inuit and forcer- crews of Scottish and American commercial cate. However, sometimes a shift in the wind tain northern Indian tribes. Kittigaruit (also whaling vessels in Davis Strait and the Lan- direction or an early break-up allows the spelled Kittegazuit on modern maps), located caster Sound region. More than 20,000 were whales to escape. at the mouth of East Channel, was appar- killed there during the period 1868-1911. Polar bears certainly hunt white whales, ently the largest Inuit village in the Macken- Most of these were taken in drives conducted and sometimes kil! them. Their success zie River area, and probably in ail of Arctic in Cumberland Sound or at Elwin Bay in undoubtedly depends upon how confined the Canada during the mid-nineteenth century. Prince Regent lnlet. White whale hides and belugas are in a crack or pool of open water. It had a summer population of 800 to l ,000 oil initially supplemented the bowhead oil Killer whales are probably a more serious people, the Kittegaryumiut. The backbone and baleen which attracted the whalers to the and regular threat to belugas, but few eye- of their economy and culture was the annual Arctic in the first place. But as bowheads witness accounts of attacks have been pub- communal beluga hunt which took place became more scarce, belugas and other lished. Their close association with ice may from mid-July to early September. In the smaller game increased in importance. give belugas some degree of protection summer of 1848 the Arctic explorer Sir John Beluga hides can be tanned to produce a fine because killer whales are unlikely to follow Richardson was met by no less than 200 and durable leather. It was used to make them far into the hazardous ice fields. kayaks from Kittigaruit. This remarkably bootlaces, carriage covers, and mailbags. Belugas prey upon many kinds of fish, as large fleet was used to drive herds of belugas The oil was used mainly for illumination and well as squids, octopuses, marine worms, onto sandbars where they could be slaugh- lubrication. crustaceans, and mollusks. In a study of tered. After being killed, the whales were A plant erected at Churchill in 1949 food habits in the St. Lawrence, at least butchered on the beach, their meat smoked processed white whales during the 6-week 50 different species were identified in or air-dried, and their blubber rendered summer hunting season. Local Inuit, Cree, stomach contents. Belugas are known to prey to oil by cooking over driftwood fires . and Métis, as well as other residents, could on commercially valuable fishes such as Although the settlement site at Kittigaruit has purchase licenses to hunt; they were paid by salmon, cod, and herring, but contrary to been abandoned for many years, the present- the foot for whales delivered to the factory. the views expressed by local fishermen, day residents of the Mackenzie Delta still The main product initially was minced, St. Lawrence belugas are not a major pre- hunt white whales and process the meat in frozen pieces of carcasses shipped by rail dator of cod or salmon. In the St. Lawrence much the same way. to mink ranches in the Prairie Provinces. A they eat mainly capelin early in the summer, A unique method of catching white whales native-run commercial netting operation was then switch to sand lance in August and was developed by early French colonists begun at Whale Cove, northwest Hudson September. along the shores of the St. Lawrence River. Bay, in 1961 to produce canned or frozen The St. Lawrence stock of white whales The pêche aux marsouins (beluga fishery) meat and muktuk (whale skin with a thin evidently was depleted as a result of over- was conducted using specially designed traps layer of adhering blubber), most of which hunting and today numbers only about 500 or weirs, strategically placed to intercept was sold to Inuit settlements. In 1970, animais, compared to at least 5,000 in the groups of whales as they moved close to unacceptably high levels of mercury were late nineteenth century. The degree to which shore. Rows of evenly spaced poles "guided" discovered in the white whale meat, and the environmental factors such as the damming the whales into a cul de sac, where the fisher- fishery was ordered to close. of important tributary rivers along the North men could easily dispatch them with lances Since 1962, white whale hunting in Canada Shore, pollution, or vesse! traffic are affect- at low tide. Several hundred animais were has been controll ed by Beluga Protection ing St. Lawrence belugas is unclear. sometimes taken in a single tide. Regulations issued under the Fisheries Act. Several other Canadian stocks are in need The Hudson's Bay Company maintained Only resident lndians and Inuit are allowed of special protection. The Cumberland a lively interest in beluga fishing almost from to hunt without a license. The killing of Sound stock, which contained at least 5,000 the establishment of their first trading post calves, and females accompanied by calves, animais in the early l 920s, has been reduced in Canada during the seventeenth century. is forbidden . Trade or barter of white whale to no more than about 500-700 individuals A shipment of 28 casks of beluga oil was products is allowed within the Northwest today. Other areas of concern are Ungava made from Churchill to England in 1689. Territories, but such products cannot be Bay, Hudson Strait, and eastern Hudson Thereafter, whaling was attempted at virtu- exported. Belugas are fully protected from 20 Underwater World

Table 3. Reported Janded catch of white whales in Canada, 1974-1984. and below the surface has been observed. ln overall body size and shape, narwhals resemble belugas. ln the Canadian Arctic, males reach physical maturity at a length Western Eastern Central Western of about 4.7 m when they weigh about Hudson Bay No. Qué. 1 Total Year Arc tic Arctic Arctic 1,600 kg; females at 4.15 m and 1,000 kg. 2 1974 165 239 668 1,072 Narwhals are about 1.6 m long and weigh 1975 184 140 101 471 896 just over 80 kg at birth. The body color 1976 154 239 146 546 1,085 changes with age, from evenly light gray at 1977 148 286 191 682 1,307 birth to dark gray or almost black in juvenile 1978 127 161 118 297 703 stages and mottled at maturity (Figure 22). 1979 144 200 105 435 884 Adults, especially males, become white ven- 1980 85 133 124 432 774 trally and laterally but retain dark pigment 3 3 1981 218 232/252 28 211 297 986/1006 on the back, head, neck, and edges of the 1982 126 191 158 344 819 flippers and flukes. Very old bulls can be 1983 85 116 15 268 294 778 mostly white. 1984 134 98 423 286 941 The narwhal's summer distribution in 1 Estimates of catch; Rep. int. Whal. Commn 31:531-538; Taqralik July-August 1985; Canada is centered in Lancaster Sound and note that catches by Povungnituk and lvujivik for 1974-1980 and by Povungnituk for its adjacent waters, including Prince Regent 1981-1984 are not included in the estimates. lnlet, Barrow Strait, and Peel Sound, and 2 Exclusive of the catch in western Hudson Bay. in Jones Sound. Especially large numbers 3 Reported catch for lgloolik was 60-80. occur in Admiralty lnlet and the Pond lnlet- Eclipse Sound-Navy Board lnlet-Milne lnlet all forms of hunting in the Gulf of St. tend to occupy deep bays and fiords; complex, where narwhals have long been Lawrence and in the St. Lawrence River and whereas, white whales congregate in shallow, hunted by the Inuit. During fall the Lan- its tributaries. The St. Lawrence stock relatively warm estuaries. The best-known caster Sound animais migrate south in Baffin presently helps to sustain the whalewatching and probably largest narwhal population in Bay, and they overwinter in the broken pack tourist industry in the estuary. the world inhabits the deep inlets, so unds, ice or along the edges of fast ice as far sou th White whales were among the first ceta- and channels of the eastern Canadian Arctic as Disko Bay on the east and Hudson Strait cean species to be maintained in captivity. and northwest Greenland. on the west. Narwhals are also found dur- A number were exported alive during the The narwhal's highly modified dentition ing summer in deep waters of northern Hud- second half of the nineteenth century. They is its most distinctive attribute. Two adult son Bay, Hudson Strait, and Foxe Basin; it came from the weir fisheries in the St. teeth are rooted in the upper jaw. ln females, is not known whether the animais overwinter Lawrence, and most of them were destined both usually remain embedded, leaving the in these areas and thus comprise a separate for makeshift aquariums in Boston, New animal functionally toothless. In males, the resident stock. Rarely, narwhals wander as York, or London. Although survival was left tooth erupts through the gum at the front far south as the coast of Newfoundland. poor initially, it has improved greatly in of the jaw and grows into a straight, tapered, There is some fossil evidence that narwhals recent years. Today, most specimens brought spiraled tusk up to 3 m long (Figure 21). were present in the Gulf of St. Lawrence a into captivity are from Churchill, Manitoba. Occasionally, females develop one or two few thousand years ago. Very few narwhals Native hunters there have developed a tech- external tusks, and a small percentage of have been recorded in the western Canadian nique for isolating an individual from its males become " double-tuskers". The func- Arctic. pod, driving it into shallow water, and tion of the male narwhal's formidable tusk Narwhals are gregarious. Pods of three to lassoing it by hand. Whales caught in this has long been debated. It is now generally four or sometimes as many as 20 individuals manner are cradled in a canvas stretcher and agreed that the tusk serves a role in aggres- congregate in close proximity and in this way transported to shore alongside an outboard- sive interaction among adult males, although form herds of several hundred or even thou- powered freight canoe. They are then placed details of the behavior involved in its use are sands of animais. Pods sometimes consist of in a holding tank before being airlifted to the unknown. Tusk-crossing or "fencing" above individuals of the same sex and age, but USA, Europe, or Japan. The Vancouver Public Aquarium is the ony facility in Figure 21. The long tusks of three narwhals silhouetted against the water and sky Canada with live belugas presently on in Lancaster Sound, July 1983. Photograph copyright Gregory Si/ber. display. The reported landed catch of white whales in Canada from 1974 to 1984 is shown in Table 3.

Narwhal (Monodon monoceros) Like the white whale, its closest relative, the narwhal is confined to the northern extremes of the Northern Hemisphere. The narwhal's habitat requirements seem to be more specific than the beluga's, and thus its range is more restricted. Because both species prey on many of the same types of .. organisms, they are potential competitors. However, during summer at least, narwhals . Underwater World 21

There are three types of hunt conducted by the narwhal hunters of Pond Inlet: the floe-edge hunt from mid-June to mid-July, the ice-crack hunt from late July to early August, and the open-water hunt in August and September. During the floe-edge and ice- crack hunts, the animais are shot by hunters standing on the ice. Carcasses that do not sink are retrieved with the aid of a boat or a harpoon and line . During the open-water hunt, narwhals are chased in outboard- powered boats and canoes. Once driven into shallow water, they are shot. Harpoons are sometimes attached to wounded animais to facilitate retrieval. The Canadian government introduced interim Narwhal Protection Regulations under the Fisheries Act in 1971. These made hunting by anyone except the Inuit illegal and set a maximum catch limit of five narwhals per year for each subsistence hunter. In 1976 and 1978 the regulations were made more explicit. Now calves and females accompa- nied by calves cannot be killed legally, and any part of a narwhal carcass suitable for food is to be utilized fully. Hunters are now required to affix a tag to the carcass or tusk of any narwhal that is killed. The tags are issued to settlements on a quota basis and Figure 22. Close view of a young narwhal with a short tusk at the floe edge in are intended to limit the harvest. It is illegal Lancaster Sound, July 1983. The more extensive white mottling on two to possess or sella tusk that is not accompa- whales nearby suggests that they are larger, aider individuals. Photograph nied by a tag. Because the narwhal is listed copyright Gregory Silber. on Appendix II of the Convention on Inter- national Trade in Endangered Species of mixed groups are also seen. During their The life history of narwhals and belugas Wild Fauna and Flora, tusks exported from westward spring migration in Pond Inlet and appears to be similar in some respects . In the or imported into Canada must be covered by Lancaster Sound, groups of adult males head absence of direct evidence, some scientists an export or import permit or a re-export the procession, followed by females and have estimated the narwhal's vital para- certificate. young. Later in the summer, narwhals are meters by inference from the beluga's, since The total narwhal quota has remained at segregated into groups of immature males, the latter has been more extensively studied. 542 since 1981; Pond Inlet and Arctic Bay groups of mature females and calves, and Narwhals breed mainly in mid-April, and are allowed 100 narwhals each, and all other groups of tusk-bearing adult males. There is most calves are born in mid-July. Lactation settlements have quotas of 50 or Jess. The some evidence that the bulls remain farther probably lasts for well over a year, and the reported landed catch of narwhals in Canada offshore, while females with calves penetrate average calving interval is probably three for the period 1975-1984 is given in Table 4. far inside embayments where waters are years. relatively cairn. Several unsuccessful attempts were made Dolphins The size of the narwhal population in in 1969-1970 to bring live narwhals into cap- One diverse group of dolphins, the genus Canadian waters during summer has been tivity. A small ophaned calf from Grise Fiord Lagenorhynchus, has representative species estimated as over 13,000. There is currently was airlifted to the New York Aquarium but on both coasts of Canada. When a large no way of knowing how the present popula- died after a month of confinement. The Van- school of dolphins is sighted in inshore or tion size compares to that of earlier times. couver Public Aquarium captured six nar- nearshore waters of British Columbia and In spring (June-July) at the Pond Inlet floe whals in 1970 and transported them across the Maritimes (including Newfoundland and edge, narwhals dive under the fast ice in pur- the continent. All died within a few months, Labrador), it is likely that they belong to one suit of arctic cod, a staple item in their diet. mainly from bacterial or viral infections. of these species or to the species Delphinus Later, as they move through the inlet toward Narwhals have been hunted by the Inuit de/phis, the common dolphin. All indulge in their main summering grounds, they prey on for many centuries, mainly for meat, muk- breaching, somersaulting, and other aerial halibut, shrimp, and squid. Narwhals are tuk, and sinew used as thread. During the acrobaties. At times, they will approach the deep divers, and the pursuit of squid and eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the bow of a vesse! under power and swim there halibut probably takes them to depths well arrivai of European and American whalers for long periods in its pressure wave. Such below 400 m. and merchants made narwhal tusk ivory behavior is called bow-riding. Narwhals face many of the same ecologi- valuable as a trade commodity. The commer- In the temperate and subarctic regions of cal problems as belugas. Killer whales, polar cial whalers killed some narwhals themselves, the North Atlantic there are two species of bears, and rarely even walruses attack them. but large amounts of ivory were also bartered Lagenorhynchus: the whitebeaked dolphin Ice entrapment makes them vulnerable to from the natives, especially during the first (L. albirostris) and the Atlantic white-sided predation, starvation, or suffocation. quarter of the twentieth century on north dolphin (L. acutus). They are similar in size Baffin Island. 22 Underwater World

Table 4. Reported /anded catch of narwhals in Canada, 1975-1984. 1 Quotas are shown during summer and fall on the Scotian Shelf in parentheses for the years when they were first imposed or changed. and on the continental slope southeast of Newfoundland. A few strays have been observed inshore along the coast of New- Year foundland . On the west coast, a stranding 10 Year at Victoria demonstrated that common dol- Community 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 Average phins do occur there, at least sporadically. Arctic Bay 167 115 40(100) 65 33 100 100 80 100 93 89 The striped dolphin (Stene/la coeru/eoa/ba) Broughton Island 5 6 10(15) 26 0 49(50) 50 50 20 36 25 is similar in size and appearance to the com- Cape Dorset 0 0 0(10) 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 Chesterfield lnlet 0 0 0 0 0 0 0(5) 0 0 0 0 mon dolphin, and it is also found in large Clyde River 15 15 35(15) 4 9 35(50) 37 19 46 49 26 herds, usually well offshore. A number of Coral Harbour 0 0 0(15) 0 0 0(10) 6 0 0 0 1 striped dolphins have been found freshly Creswell Bay 0 15 0(12) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 stranded on Sable Island, and skulls of Frobisher Bay 0 0 0(10) 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 Gjoa Haven 0 0 0(10) 0 0 0 0 0 22 0 2 several have been reported from Vancouver Grise Fiord 0 11 0(20) 0 12 0 0 28 3 2 6 Island. However, striped dolphins appear to Hall Beach 0 0 13(10) 0 2 11 173 7 1 0 5 be quite scarce inshore, except possibly in lgloolik 0 0 0(10) 0 1202 14 36(25)' 25 18 0 21 association with incursions onto the con- Lake Harbour 0 0 0(10) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Pangnirtung 0 10 1(15) 2 28 19 44(40) 49 2 32 19 tinental shelf and slope by warm oceanic Pelly Bay 7 0 0(10) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 currents (Figure 24) . Pond Inlet 77 125 99(100) 150 94 96 82 100 104 45 97 Rankin Inlet 0 0 0 0 0 0 5(10) 0 2 2 1 Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus), some- Repulse Bay 0 8 8(10) 4 30(25) 25 29 21 11 25 16 times known as the gray grampus, is a rare Resofute Bay 0 0 2(20) 14 2 0 0 2 11 0 3 visitor to Canadian waters. It is a large dol- Spence Bay 0 0 0(10) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 phin, reaching lengths up to 4 m. Because Whale Cove 0 0 0 0 0 0 0(5) 1 0 0 1 ------of the light gray, almost white appearance TOTALS 271 305 208 267 331 350 406 383 341 285 313 of adults, Risso's dolphins are sometimes Quotas nia nia (402) (402) (417) (482) (542) (542) (542) (542) confused with belugas (white whales). How- ever, their tall dorsal fin is in sharp contrast 1 Official DFO harvest statistics, from D. Goodman, DFO, Ottawa, persona! communication. 2 lncludes 108 animais taken from a savssat in Agu Bay. to the complete lack of such an appendage 3lncludes 1 taken from a savssat in Quilliam Bay. on belugas. Risso's dolphins are abundant 4 lncludes 7 taken from a savssat in Quilliam Bay. in temperate and tropical waters of both the Atlantic and Pacifie. They are only encoun- (maximum length of 2.7-3 m; maximum uals, the Pacifie white-sided dolphin often tered occasionally off the British Columbia, weight of over 230 kg) and overall appear- associates with other small cetaceans. Large Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland coasts. ance (short, thick beak; tall dorsal fin at schools of Pacifie white-sided dolphins, The gregarious northern right whale mid-back). At sea, they can be distinguished numbering 200-250 animais, are observed in dolphin (Lissode/phis borea/is) is endemic to by differences in pigmentation. As their inshore waters of British Columbia from the temperate North Pacifie. lt is a long, name implies, most whitebeaked dolphins October through January. During other slender dolphin with no dorsal fin; the lack have a white, or at least light gray, beak. months, smaller groups are more common of such a fin gave it the vernacular name, They also have zones of white to light gray inshore. for the right whale also has a smooth back on the sides, sweeping onto the upper sur- None of the Lagenorhynchus dolphins has with no dorsal fin. Although not as com- face of the tail. Atlantic white-sided dolphins been exploited on a large scale in Canada. monly seen off British Columbia as in some have a vivid white patch on either side and In the past, when herds of pilot whales were areas to the south, northern right whale dol- a broad tan or yellow stripe along either driven ashore at Newfoundland (and on the phins range ail the way from southern flank (Figure 23). Both species eat squid, as beaches of Cape Cod in the United States), California to Alaska. They often associate well as many kinds of fish. a few of these dolphins were sometimes with Pacifie white-sided dolphins and thus Although the ranges of the two species mixed in the catch. On rare occasions, a should be looked for whenever a herd of the clearly overlap, the whitebeaked dolphin hundred or more dolphins were captured in latter is encountered. occurs in somewhat higher latitudes than the this way. Indian porpoise hunters in the Bay The bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops trunca- Atlantic white-sided dolphin. In Newfound- of Fundy have occasionally shot whitebeaked tus) is familiar to most Canadians because land, whitebeaked dolphins sometimes and Atlantic white-sided dolphins, but their of its appearance in captive animal shows become trapped against the coast by wind- principal quarry was and still is the harbor and marine aquariums. However, most driven ice. There have been a number of porpoise (see below). individuals in such displays have been caught mass strandings of Atlantic whüe-sided dol- A few whitebeaked dolphins and Atlantic along the southeast coast of the United States phins on the eastern seaboard in recent years. white-sided dolphins that have been ice- or in the Gulf of Mexico. There is only one The Pacifie white-sided dolphin (L. obli- entrapped or that stranded alive have been confirmed published record of this species quidens) is somewhat smaller than its North held for short periods in aquariums. in the wild in Canada - a female that Atlantic relatives. Like them, it has a promi- However, of the three Canadian species, only strayed into the Petitcodiac River of southern nent dorsal fin and a short beak, as well as the Pacifie white-sided dolphin has been suc- New Brunswick in September 1950. a complex pigmentation pattern. A long cessfully captured and maintained for long white or light gray stripe sweeps along the periods in captivity. Porpoises back on either side of the dorsal fin, a fea- Common dolphins are widely distributed Canada's smallest cetaceans are the har- ture most evident to a shipboard observer as on the high seas in herds of hundreds or even bor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) and the animal is bow-riding. In addition to several thousand. These handsomely Dall's porpoise (Phocoenoides da/li). forming herds of several hundred individ- marked, acrobatie dolphins are abundant Although related to each other and of simi- . Underwater World 23

metabolic rate, which would mean they are extremely active and require relatively large amounts of food at frequent intervals. Several European institutions have success- fully maintained, and even trained, harbor porpoises in captivity, but in North America attempts to do so have been unsuccessful. The few Dall's porpoises brought into cap- tivity in California have proven to be high- strung and difficult to keep alive. Because of their nearshore distribution, both harbor porpoises and Dall's porpoises were traditional targets of lndian hunters, who relished porpoise meat. During the nineteenth century the Micmac lndians of western Nova Scotia carried on a commer- cial porpoise fishery in the Bay of Fundy. Harbor porpoises were shot with shotguns and retrieved with long-handled hooks. Their blubber was rendered down, then sold in bar- rels at Halifax and Saint John for the soap- Figure 23. An Atlantic white-sided dolphin caught in mid-air off Cap-des-Rosiers, making industry. Local fishermen in the Gulf Gaspé Peninsula, August 1978. The subequal flank panels of white and of St. Lawrence and in parts of Newfound- ye/low-ochre distinguish this species from ail others. Photograph by land and Labrador still hunt harbor por- Maxime St-Amour. poises for domestic consumption, and some hunting for meat is still done in the Bay of Fundy by the Passamaquoddy tribe li ving Jar body length (maximum of 2.0-2.2 m), the for more than 10 years. in Maine on the shores of Passamaquoddy two species differ in many important re- Boaters in British Columbia sometimes Bay. At one time, harbor porpoises were spects. Dall's porpoise is a chunkier, heav- report sightings of " baby killer whales" hunted in the vicinity of Deer Island, New ier animal than the harbor porpoise; its well which prove, on closer examination, to have Brunswick , to supply food for ranch mink. defined, black-and-white markings are in been Dall's porpoises. The killer whale is cer- Harbor porpoises and Dall's porpoises, as sharp contrast to the drabber pigmentation tainly found in the same areas as the simi- well as other related species of phocoenids of the harbor porpoise. Moreover, Dall's larly marked Dall's porpoise and the harbor worldwide, face another threat in addition porpoise is a high-speed swimmer, known to porpoise, and it is known to attack both of to natural predators and human hunters: dart back and forth across the bow of fast- them . In the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of many die in fishing gear intended to catch moving vessels and to make distinctive Maine on the east coast, harbor porpoises fish rather than porpoises. Each year, a splashes of seawater as it charges along the are also preyed upon frequently by large number of harbor porpoises become trapped surface to breathe. The harbor porpoise sharks, including the great white shark in herring weirs along the coasts of New usually behaves more cryptically. It does not (Carcharodon carcharias). Brunswick and Nova Scotia (Figure 25) . In bow-ride and usually surfaces with little Both these porpoises may have a high the Gulf of St. Lawrence and along the coast splash; th us, in all but the calmest of seas, the harbor porpoise can be hard to detect. Figure 24. A striped dolphin on a wharf at Chester, Nova Scotia, 1926. Photograph The distribution of the two species also courtesy J.C. Medcof. differs. Dall's porpoise is found only in the temperate to subarctic North Pacifie. lt is a deepwater animal and usually cornes close to the coast only in areas where canyons or deep channels provide suitable inshore habitat. Sightings are especially common in Hecate Strait, Queen Charlotte Strait, Juan de Fuca Strait, and exposed seaways like Queen Charlotte Sound, Dixon Entrance, and Fitz- hugh Sound. Dall's porpoises eat squid, crustaceans, and many kinds of fish. The harbor porpoise inhabits both the North Pacifie and North Atlantic, where it ranges regularly into bays and estuaries and over offshore banks. lt eats mainly squid, herring, mackerel, and other schooling, nonspiny fishes. Harbor porpoises are especially abun- dant in the lower Bay of Fundy, where a team of researchers from the University of Guelph (Ontario) has been studying details of their behavior, ecology, and physiology 24 Underwater World

Hoyt, E. 1984. The Whale Watcher's Hand- book. Madison Press Books, Toronto, Ontario. 208 p. International Whaling Commission. Annual Reports 1-35, 1950-1985; Special Issues 1-6, 1977-1984. Cambridge, England. International Whaling Statistics. Ed. by Committee for Whaling Statistics, Oslo, Norway. Nos. 1 (1930) to 94 (1984) cur- rently available. Jones, M.L., S.L. Swartz, and S. Leather- wood (eds.). 1984. The Gray Wha/e Eschrichtius robustus. Academic Press, Orlando, Florida. xxiv + 600 p. Kanwisher, J.W. and S.H. Ridgway. 1983 . "The Physiological Ecology of Whales and Porpoises." Scientific American, 248(6): 110-120. Leatherwood, S. and R.R. Reeves. 1983. The Sierra Club Handbook of Whales and Dolphins. Sierra Club Books, San Fran- cisco. xviii + 302 p. Lubbeek, B. 1937. The Arctic Whalers. Figure 25. A harbor porpoise trapped in a herring weir in the lower Bay of Fundy, Brown, Son & Ferguson, Glasgow. xi + July 1973. Photograph by D.E. Gaskin. 483 p. Mitchell, E.D. 1973 . "The Status of the World's Whales." Nature Canada, 2(4): of Newfoundland and various parts of the Further Reading 9-25. North American west coast, gillnets, cod and Allen, K.R. 1980. Conservation and Mitchell, E. 1975. Porpoise, Dolphin and salmon traps, mackerel nets, trawls, and Management of Whales. A Washington Small Whale Fisheries of the World. purse seines take their toll of harbor por- Sea Grant Publication, distributed by Status and Problems. International Union poises. The Japanese high-seas gillnet fish- Univ. of Washington Press, Seattle; for Conservation of Nature and Natural ery for salmon in the North Pacifie kills Butterworths, London. ix + 107 p. Resources, Morges, Switzerland. IUCN several thousand Dall's porpoises annually, Brodie, P.F. 1975. "Cetacean Energetics, an Monograph No. 3. 129 p. as they become fatally entangled alongside Overview of Intraspecific Size Variation." Mitchell, E. (ed.). 1975. "Review of Biology sea lions, fur seals, seabirds, salmon, and Ecology, 56(1): 152-161. and Fisheries for Smaller Cetaceans." J. many other marine organisms, in walls of Chapman, J .A. and G.A. Feldhamer (eds .). Fish. Res. Board Can., 32(7): 889-983. netting several km long and about 6 m deep. 1982. Wi/d Mammals of North America: Payne, R. (ed.). 1983. Communication and A crude estimate of the number of harbor Biology, Management, and Economies. Behavior of Whales. AAAS Selected Sym- porpoises present during summer in the The Johns Hopkins University Press, posium 76. Westview Press, Boulder, approaches to the Bay of Fundy is 4,000, Baltimore and London. xiii + 1147 p. Colorado. xii + 643 p. with a further 2,000 distributed in coastal Davis, R.A., K.J. Finley and W.J. Richard- Pike, G.C. and I.B. MacAskie. 1969. Marine waters of the Scotian Shelf. These porpoises son . 1980. The Present Status and Future Mamma/s of British Columbia. Fish. are probably part of a stock whose winter Management of Arctic Marine Mammals Res. Board. Can., Bulletin 171. range extends south along the U.S. coast to in Canada. Prepared for: Science Advisory ix + 54 p. North Carolina and offshore to Georges Board of the Nortbwest Territories, Yel- Reeves, R.R. and E. Mitchell. 1984. "Catch Bank. There are no population estimates for lowknife, N.W.T. Published by: Depart- History and Initial Population of White harbor porpoises on the west coast. The ment of Information, Government of the Whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in the aggregate population of Dall's porpoise Northwest Territories, Yellowknife, River and Gulf of St. Lawrence." in the North Pacifie is probably close to Northwest Territories XIA 2L9. i-viii + Naturaliste can. (Rev. Ecol. Syst.), a million . However, the degree. to which 93 p. 111 :63-121. coastal stocks intermingle with pelagic stocks Gaskin, D.E. 1982. The Ecology of Whales Reeves, R., E. Mitchell, A. Mansfield and is unknown. and Dolphins. Heinemann, London and M. McLaugblin. 1983. "Distribution and Exeter, New Hampshire. xii + 459 p. Migration of the Bowhead Whale, Balaena Haley, D. (ed.). 1978. Marine Mammals of mysticetus, in the Eastern North Ameri- eastern North Pacifie and Arctic Waters. can Arctic." Arctic, 36(1): 5-64. Pacific Search Press, Seattle, Washington. Rice, D.W. and A.A. Wolman. 1971. The 256 p. Life History and Ecology of the Gray Herman, L.M. (ed.). 1980. Cetacean Whale (Eschrichtius robustus). Amer. Soc. Behavior: Mechanisms and Functions. Mammal. Spec. Publ. 3. viii + 142 p. John Wiley & Sons, New York, Ross, W.G. 1975 . Whaling and Eskimos: Chichester, Brisbane, Toronto. xiii + Hudson Bay 1860-1915. National 463 p. Museums of Canada, Publications m Hoyt, E. 1981. The Whale Called Killer. Ethnology, No. JO . 164 p. E.P. Dutton, New York. xx + 226 p. Underwate r Wo rld 25

Schev ill , W .E. (ed. ). 1974. The Whale Tomilin, A.G. 1967. Mammals of the Problem: A Status Report. Harvard U.S.S.R. and Adj acent Countries. Uni versity Press, Cambridge, Massa- Cetacea, Vo l. 9. Trans!. fro m Russ ian by chusetts. x + 41 9 p. Israel Program for Scientific Translations, Sergeant, D.E. 1962. The Biology of the pilot Jerusalem. xxi i + 717 p. [Ori g. pub!. in or pothead whale Globicepha/a melaena 1957] (Trai l/) in Newfo undland waters. Fish. Tonnessen, J .N. and A.O. Johnsen. 1982. Res. Board Can., Bulletin 132. vi i + 84 p. The History of Modern Whaling. Trans- Sergeant, D.E., A. W. Mansfield and B. la ted from Norwegian by R .I. Beck. 1970. " Inshore records of Cetacea Christophersen. C. Hurst & Co., London; fo r Eastern Canada, 1949-68." J. Fish. Australian National Univ. P ress , Res. Board Can ., 27(11) : 1903- 1915. Canberra. xx + 798 p. Slijper, E. J . 1979. Wh ales. 2nd Engli sh edi- Winn, H .E. and B.L. Olla (eds.) . 1979. tion. Hutchinson of London. 511 p. [Orig. Behavior of Marine A nimais. Current pub!. in Dutch, 1958] Perspectives in Research. Vol. 3: Ceta- ceans. Plenum Press, New York and London. xix + 438 p.

Appendix. Scientific and vernacular names of cetaceans of Canada. The preferred French-language usage is indicated by an asterisk ( *).

North American Scientific English1 European French2 French 3 Proposed Name Eubalaena glacialis Right whale Baleine de Biscaye* Baleine franche ou ou Baleine des Baleine noire Basques Balaena mysticetus Bowhead whale Baleine du Baleine boréale ou Groenland * Baleine franche du Groenland Eschrichtius robustus Gray whale Baleine grise de Baleine grise* Cal ifornie Ba/aenoptera mùscu/us Blue whale Rorqual bleu * Rorqual bleu * ou Baleine bleue Balaenoptera physalus Fin whale Rorqual commun * Rorqual commun * Balaenoptera borealis Se i whale Rorqual de Rudolphi * Rorqual boréal Balaenoptera Minke Whale Rorqual à museau Petit rorqual *, acutorostrata pointu ou Petit Gibard, ou Rorqual rorqual * nain Megaptera novaeang/iae Humpback whale Mégaptère ou Rorqual à bosse ou Jubarte Baleine à bosse * Physeter catodon Sperm whale Cachalot* Cachalot macrocéphale Kogia breviceps Pygmy sperm whale Cachalot pygmée* Cachalot pygmée * Kogia simus Dwarf sperm whale Cachalot nain * Ziphius cavirostris Cuvier's beaked whale Ziphius Baleine à bec de Cuvier* Berardius bairdii Baird 's beaked whale Grande baleine à bec Baleine à bec de Baird* Hyperoôdon ampullatus Northern bottlenose Hyperoodon boréal * Baleine à bec whale commune Mesoplodon Blainville's beaked Mésoplodon de Baleine à bec de densirostris whale Blainville Blainville* Mesoplodon bidens Sowerby's beaked Mésoplodon de Baleine à bec de whale Sowerby Sowerby* Mesoplodon mirus True's beaked whale Mésoplodon de True Baleine à bec de True * Mesoplodon car/hubbsi Hubbs' beaked whale Mésoplodon de Baleine à bec de Baleine à bec de Hubbs Moore Hubbs* Mesoplodon stejnegeri Stejneger's beaked Mésoplodon de Baleine à bec de whale Stejneger Stejneger* 26 Underwater World

Appendix (continued).

North American Scientific English1 European French2 French 3 Proposed Name

Orcinus orca Killer whale Orque ou Épaulard* Épaulard* ou Orque Globicepha/a me/aena Long-finned pilot whale Globicéphale noir Globicéphale noir; Globicéphale à Globicéphale noir de nageoires longues* l'Atlantique G/obicepha/a Short-finned pilot Globicéphale Globicéphale du macrorhynchus whale tropical * Pacifique Delphinapterus leucas White whale or Beluga Bélouga Béluga* ou Marsouin Baleine blanche* blanc Monodon monoceros Narwhal Narval* Narval * Delphinus de/phis Common dolphin Dauphin commun * Dauphin commun * Lagenorhynchus White-beaked dolphin Lagénorhynque à bec Dauphin à nez albirostris blanc blanc*, "Sauteur," ou "Cochon de mer" Lagenorhynchus acutus Atlantic white-sided Lagénorhynque à Dauphin à flancs Dauphin à flancs dolph in flancs blancs blancs, " Sauteur" ou blancs de " Cochon de mer" l'Atlantique* Lagenorhynchus Pacifie white-sided Dauphin à flancs obliquidens dolph in blancs du Pacifique* Stenella coeruleoa/ba Striped dolphin Dauphin bleu et Dauphin bleu Dauphin rayé* blanc Grampus griseus Risso's dolphin or Grampus ou Dauphin Dauphin gris Gram pus de Risso* Lissodelphis borea/is Northern right whale Dauphin à dos lisse Dauphin à dos lisse dolph in boréal* Tursiops truncatus Bottlenose dolphin Grand dauphin ou Dauphin à gros nez Tursion* Souffleur Phocoena phocoena Harbor porpoise Marsouin Marsouin commun * ou Pourcil Phocoenoides dalli Dall 's porpoise Marsouin de Dall *

1 Following standard usage adopted by the International Whaling Commission and other agencies. 2 Following R. Duguy and D. Robineau. 1982. Guide des Mammifères marins d'Europe. Delachaux & Niestle, Eds, Neuchatel (Switzerland)-Paris. 200 pp. 3 Following J . Prescott and P. Richard. 1982. Mammifères du Québec et de l'est du Canada. Éditions France-Amérique, Montréal. Vol. 2: XIII + 201-429; E. Mitchell. 1973. Les baleines dans le monde. Nature Canada 2(4) ; A.W.F. Banfield. 1977. Les Mammifères du Canada. Deuxième éd . Publié pour le Musée national des Sciences naturelles Musées nationaux du Canada par Les Presses de l'Université Laval. xxv + 406 pp. + 46 planches-couleur. Underwater World 27

Underwater World factsheets are brief Others in this series: illustrated accounts of fisheries resources and marine phenomena prepared for pub- AJewife Lumpfish lic information and education. They American Eel Marine Fish Eggs and Larvae describe the life history, geographic dis- American Oyster Narwhal tribution, utilization and population status American Plaice Northem Shrimp American Shad Pacific Salmon of fish, shellfish and other living marine American Smelt Pollock resources, and/or the nature, origin and Arctic Char Red Hake impact of marine processes and Arctic Cod Red Sea Urchin phenomena. Atlantic Cod Red Tides Atlantic Groundfish Redfisb (Ocean Perch) Atlantic Fishing Methods Rockfish Atlantic Halibut Roundnose Grenadier Atlantic Herring Sand Lance Atlantic Mackerel Sea Cucumber Atlantic Pelagic and Diadromous Fish Sealing - A Canadian Perspective Atlantic Salmon Sea Scallop Atlantic Shellfish Selected Freshwater Fish Atlantic Snow Crab Selected Shrimps of British Columbia Beluga Soft-Shell Clam Bluefin Tuna Spiny Dogfish Capelin Squid Crabs of the Atlantic Coast of Canada Thorny and Smooth Skates Dungeness Crab Trout in Canada's Atlantic Provinces Grey Sea! Turbot (Greenland Halibut) Haddock Walleye Irish Moss White Hake Lake Trout Winter Flounder Lingcod Witch Flounder Yel!owtail Flounder

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Communications Directorate Department of Fisheries and Oceans Ottawa, Ontario KlA 0E6

DF0/4114 UW/59

©Minister of Supply and Services Canada 1988 Cat. No. Fs 41-33/59-1988E ISBN 0-662-16501-2 Reprinted 1991

Printed on recycled paper Disponible en français