Distribution and Movements of Belugas, Delphinapterus leucas, in the Canadian High Arctic

Thomas G. Smith Department sf Fisheries and Oceans, Biological Sciences Branch., Pacific Biological Station, Manaimo, BC V9R 5K6, Canada and A.R. Martin Sea Mammal Research Unit, c/o British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 OET, UK

Smith, P.G., and A.R. Martin. 1994. Distribution and movements of belugas, Delpkinapterws lewcas, in the Canadian High Arctic. Can. ). Fish. Aquat. Sci. 51: 1653-1663. Belugas, Delphinapterus Beucas, move into the coastal waters of Somerset Island as soon as the annual Iand- fast ice breaks asp in late June - early july. Six bays or inlets which receive the outflow of rivers are the major areas of summer aggregation. Belugas captured and equipped with satellite-lin ked UHF transmitters in Cunningham Inlet (Barrow Strait), Elwin Bay (Prince Regent Inlet), and Creswell Bay moved west into Peel Sound where they frequented two other estuaries. Rapid and directed movement out of Peel Sound occurred in late August. All of the animals which transmitted locations into September or October moved to eastern Devon lsland and Jones Sound. The longest period of transmission was 75 d, lasting until mid- October. Belugas tagged in three different locations around Somerset island in the summers of 1988-93 showed a we1 1-defined and consistent pattern of behaviour. Aerial surveys done during this period confirm that the vast majority of belugas in this region are involved in these seasonal movements. hes belugas, PBeBphinapterus leucas, entrent dans les eaux littorales de l'ile Somerset des la d6b2cle annuelle de la banqasise c6ti+re, entre la fin de juin et le debut de juillet. Six baies ou bras de mer dans lesquels se deversent les cours d'eau constituent les principales nones de regroupement estival. bes belu- gas captures et equip& d'emetteurs UHF a liaison satellitaire dans I'inlet Cunningham (detroit de Barrow), la baie Elwin (inlet Prince Regent) et la baie-Creswell, se sont deplaces vers I'ouest jusqu'au detroit de Peel, oG ils ont frequent6 deux autres estuaires. A la fin du msis d'aoirt, on a observe un mouvement rapide et dirige de sortie du detroit de Peel. Pous Bes animaux dont la localisation a et6 faite par [eur emetteur en septembre ou octobre se sont deplaces vers B'est jusqu'a I'ile Devon et fe detroit de Jones, La periode d'6mission la plus longue a kt6 de 7%jours et a dure jusqu'a la mi-octobre. bes belugas marques a trois different5 endrsits autour de I'iie Somerset au cours des ktes 1988 2 1993 ont montre un profil de com-

For personal use only. portement bien defi~i.bes lev& aeriens effectues durant cette pkriode confirment que la vaste majorit6 des belugas dans cette region participe a ce mouvement saisonnier.

Received luly 73, 1993 Accepted February jr 4,p 7 994 (JC006)

ost belugas, Delphinapteru,~leucas, occupying the The little evidence to date points to a shared common eastern Canadian High Arctic during the ice-free stock of belugas between the eastern Canadian High Arctic months of July and August are found in the coastal and Greenland. The continuing high annual harvests in west shelf habitats around Somerset Island, N.W.T. This region, Greenland and small harvests in Canadian waters impose including Barrow Strait and parts of Lancaster Sound, is an annual estimated removal of 1200 animals per year (IWC usually covered by land-fast annual sea ice from October 1991). This population has been estimated to comprise to late June. Aerial surveys of belugas in autumn (Finley between $300 and 18 600 animals, uncorrected for those and Johnson 1977) have shown a movement out of Barrow below the water surface when the survey aircraft passed Strait and eastward through Lancaster Sound. Belugas have overhead (Smith et al. 198%).Even if the upper bound of been reported to overwinter in the large North Water polynya the estimate is inflated by a factor of 1.42 to compensate

Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Depository Services Program on 08/31/13 of Baffin Bay (Finley and Wenaud 1980), but it is believed for these missed whales (Martin and Smith 1992), the total that most of the High Arctic stock spends the winter in the harvest probably far exceeds the sustainable yield for any pack ice off the west coast of Greenland between Disks odontocete whale population (Sergeant 1981; Burns and Bay and approximately 63"N (Vibe 1950; Kapel 1977). Seaman 1988; Doidge 1990). Added to the harvest are the Recent surveys in west Greenland (Heide-Jorgensen 1992) frequent ice entrapments of belugas which, combined with indicate that the area south of 65"N is no longer important opportunistic hunts at these "sassat9' (Porsild 191 8; Freeman as winter habitat for belugas, possibly because of excessively 1968; Kapel 1977; Heide-Jorgensen B994), result in signif- high catches there in drive-net fisheries between 1917 and icant added mortality. As recently as February 1990, a 1938. The main wintering concentrations are presently found "sassat" occurred in Disko Bay where an estimated 580 bel- between 67"N and 69"N, and not more than $0 km from ugas were killed by Inuit hunters. Comparisons of relative the west Greenland coast. abundance of belugas counted in Greenland waters during the

Can. 9. Fish. Aquat. Sci., Vol. 51, 1994 1653 TABLEI. Details of' transmitter pack deployment on belugas at three sites on Somerset Island, N.W.T., Canada. Whales were captured atad released at the freshwater outlets of Cunningham Inlet (CI) (74"05'N, 93"49'W), Elwin Bay (EB) (73"33'N, 90"57'W), and Creswell Bay (CB) (72"43'N, 93'20'W) between 1988 and 1993.

Details of animal Release Transmitter Tag longevity date Local time Place Fag No. tY Pe Length (m) Sex Age (d) 22 July 1988 13:58 Location Adult 27 July 1989 17:33 Location Adult 30 July 18:37 Location Subadult 17 July 1990 1207 Location and depth Subadult 17 July 17:22 Location Adult 17 July 17:22 Location Subadult 18 July 15136 Location and depth Adult 23 July l3:00 Location and depth Adult 21 July 1991 1224 Location and depth Adult 27 ~uay 21145 Location and depth Adult 28 July 21:25 Location and depth Subadult 31 July I6:00 Location and depth Adult 1 Aug. 12:50 Location and depth Adult 26 July 1992 1%:06 Location and depth Adult 23 July 15:0B% Location and depth Adult 23 July 14: I0 Location and depth Adult 25 July 20:40 Location and depth Adult 21 July H 3:30 Location and depth Adult 13 Aug. 1993 0245 Location and depth Adult 14 Aug. 14:OO Location and depth Adult 15 Aug. 18:15 Location and depth Adult 15 Aug. 15:30 Location and depth Subadult 14 Aug. 12150 Location and depth Adult For personal use only. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Depository Services Program on 08/31/13

FIG, I. Map of Somerset Island and adjacent open-water areas occupied by belugas, with the five (8-5) main areas of estuarine aggregation.

winters of 1981 and 1982 with surveys in 1990 and I991 In light of the need for a reassessment sf the size and seem to indicate a significant decline in numbers consistent status of this stock, we review QW knowledge sf the seasonal withtheexpectedeffectof thehighccsntinamingannual dis~butisnandnaamkrssfbelugasfoundi~ntheirsumme~ng harvests (Heide-Ssrgensen et al. 1992). areas in Canadian waters and present direct evidence on

1654 Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci., Vob. 51? 1994 For personal use only.

FIG.2. (a) Extent of land-fast ice during a typical winter in Barrow Strait and Eancaster Sound. (b) Initial ice breakup from June to early July. Arrows indicate direction of travel of belugas in early summer. (c) Further clearing of ice in Bate July in Barrow Strait and Prince Regent Inlet. Arrows indicate direction of travel by belugas in late July - August. (d) Late August - September distribution and movement (arrows) sf belugas from Peel Sound.

seasonal movements and migration routes from our studies the Creswell Bay area (Table I; Fig. I). The transmitter of belugas equipped with satellite-linked UHF transmitters. specifications, package design, and attachment procedures have been described in Martin and Smith (1992) and Martin et al. (1993). Details of service Argos, hhe satellite data reception system used, and estimates of data accuracy are The coastal areas of Somerset Island including Barrow given in Fancy et A. (1988) and CLSIService Argos (1989). Strait, Prince Regent Inlet south to Creswell Bay, and Peel Each of our transmitters was identified by a unique number Sound south to Bellot Strait were surveyed opportunistically and transmitted up to 256 data bits derived from onboard by Bell 206 helicopter or Twin Otter aircraft during July sensors. The early packages transmitted signals used to

Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Depository Services Program on 08/31/13 and early August from 1980 to 1992. Flight levels of 340 determine location only whereas the most recent also relayed and 170 rn as1 were selected, the lower level when taking both detailed and summary data on dive profiles and swim- vertical photographs through a hole in the chin bubble sf ming velocity (Table 1). the Bell 206B helicopter using a Hasselblad 70-mm-format Average speeds of travel were only estimated between camera equipped with an $0-rnm lens. pairs of Argos-derived high-quality locations (location of From 1988 to 1993, 23 belugas, 16 adult and five subadult quality = 2 or 3). To further reduce error, we restricted our females and two adult males, were captured by driving them data set to locations separated by time intervals of 25 h. into the shallows and then restraining them using hoop nets, Data were analysed using the Proc. Sort procedures of fitted with satellite-linked UHF transmitters and immediately SAS (%ASInstitute Inc. 19858). Grid location analysis was released (Martin and Smith 1992) (Table 1). Thirteen were done by assigning numbers to geographic grid squares of captured at Cunningham Inlet, five at Elwin Bay, and five in 289atitude by lo longitude to cover the entire study area.

Can. J. Fish. Aquar. Sci., V01. 51, 1994 1655 Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Depository Services Program on 08/31/13 For personal use only. Unless otherwise stated, the following results derive from a Belugas in the Barrow Strait area initially concentrate in combination of aerial survey, radio-tracking, and ground- Cunningham Inlet, where numbers build rapidly from mid- based observational data. July to the end sf the month. During that period, numbers sf belugas frequenting Eiwin Bay and Batty Bay, in Prince Results Regent Inlet. also increase. Our general impression from those surveys was that belugas in Prince Regent Inlet moved Beluga Movements in Relation to Ice Conditions and down to Creswell Bay where numbers peak in the early part Pattern of Breakup of August; some 4000+ belugas are found in the shallow bays receiving the outflow of freshwater from the different Access by whales to their summering areas around arms of the Creswell River. Somerset Island is limited by the land-fast ice which forms By the end of the first week of August, there is a major during the winter and spring months in Lancaster Sound, shift in the distribution of the belugas centred around Prince Regent Inlet, Barrow Strait, and Peel Sound. The Cunningham Inlet in Barrow Strait. The ice in Peel Sound timing of breakup depends heavily on the winter location begins to break up rapidly and the whales from Barrow of the fast-ice edge which can vary greatly from year to Strait push southward into the shore Beads and fractured ice. year (Marko 1982; Gorman 1988). In an average year the Often the floe edge establishes itself briefly in an east-west ice edge forms across Barrow Strait from Prince Leopold direction across Peel Sound from Somerset Island side near Hsland to Maxwell Bay on Devon Island (Fig. 2a). Wadworth Island - Birmingham Bay to Back Bay on Prince In June, as shore leads develop, both southward into of Wales Island. There, thousands of belugas aggregate, Prince Regent Inlet along the east coast of Somerset Island with as many narwhals, kf~nsdr~nmonocerss, and numerous and westward into Barrow Strait along the north coast, harp seals, Phsccd groenlandicw. Belugas push into the mouth whales begin moving to their areas of summer aggregation of an unnamed river (73"30fN, 95"42W) north of Wadworth (Fig. 2b). A consistent feature of this breakup pattern is a Island where they exhibit the same rubbing behaviour (Smith series of large leads, apparently caused by coastal upwelling, et al. 1992) as seen earlier in Cunningham Inlet. When the running parallel to the northern Somerset Island coastline ice finally permits passage, belugas push further south into from Prince Leopold Hsland (Prisenberg and Bennett 1987). Franklin Strait and usually remain in the area of Coningham By late July the fast-ice edge has usually receded to Eowther Bay with its freshwater outflow and the adjacent deep marine Island, but ice cover in Barrow Strait is quite variable as trench. Rarely, belugas push still further south, where they broken ice shifts position and ice empties out of adjoining are occasionally hunted by the Inuit from Spence Bay channels. (69"30fN). In Cunningham Inlet, a main area of beluga concentration We know less of the dispersion of the large concentration in July (Smith et al. 1992), fast ice begins to melt near the of belugas found in Creswell Bay during August. During delta as a result of river outflow in the latter part of June. this study, belugas were sighted south of Creswell Bay as fa Tidal currents are believed to initiate breakup at the northern as Bellot Strait, but while significant numbers of narwhals entrance to the inlet, followed by melting along the western were seen swimming west against the strong currents of For personal use only. shore. The last ice to remain in the inlet is usually found Bellot Strait, we have never documented belugas using this in the northeast and southeast portions of the bay. These route to reach the large aggregation of this species in the areas are normally ice free by mid-July. Coningham Bay area. Significant numbers of belugas were, During the same period, Prince Regent Inlet has cleared of however, seen in mid-August along the southern coast sf ice, allowing whales access to Elwin Bay, Batty Bay, and Devsn Island, often in Gascoyne Inlet and Radstock Bay. eventually Creswell Bay, all areas of fresh warm water Belugas are possibly attracted to these areas because of the influx where the nearshore ice has melted (Fig. 2c). occasional nearshore presence of large schools of Arctic Peel Sound on the west coast of Somerset Island retains its cod, Boreogradus saida (Welch et al. 1992). ice into August. A shore lead develops along the Somerset coast, allowing belugas to penetrate southwards into Peel Effects of Capture on Belugas in Estuaries Sound, where they concentrate along the floe edge and in leads as the ice breaks up. Belugas concentrate at the entrance We tagged belugas at three sites, Cunningham Inlet, Elwin to a small river north of Wadworth Island. Later, when the Bay, and Creswell Bay, which were very different from each ice has broken up completely in Peel Sound, large numbers other with respect to the disturbance which was imposed of belugas concentrate in the freshwater outflow of on the whales during the capture process. Cunningham Inlet Coningham Bay, situated on the coast of Prince of Wales and Elwin Bay were both defined and enclosed bays whereas Island in Franklin Strait (Fig. 2d). the captures at Creswell were spread out along an area of coastline. The larger of the two bays, Cunningham Inlet,

Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Depository Services Program on 08/31/13 allowed us to isolate our capture effort and minimize dis- Number of Belugas in Areas Adjacent to Somerset Island turbance to other whales. This was achieved by keeping our From coastal aerial surveys in areas adjacent to Somerset activities behind an acoustic barrier, a sandspit on the south- Island and land-based counts made mainly at Cunningham west side of the Bay. At Elwin Bay, it was necessary to Inlet (Smith et al. 1992), we have compiled a general picture move our boat across the whole Bay to capture the whales of the summer distribution and autumnal dispersion of in the river channels. Because of the large area in which belugas (Table 2). When coastal surveys were flown from late we operated in Creswell Bay, we could not measure the July into August (e.g., 1988 and 1992) including the main effect of our captures on the whales in the area. areas of aggregation such as Cunningham Inlet, Creswell At Cunningham, we caused the Inlet to be vacated com- Bay, and Peel Sound, the numbers of belugas and timing pletely after 13 of 21 capture attempts (62%) whereas at and pattern of dispersion were quite similar between years. Elwin, four of four attempts emptied the Bay completely.

Can. 9. Fish. Aquat. Sci., VoE. 51, 1994 1657 TABLE3. Number sf attempted captures. frequency of complete disturbance to the estuary (all whales departed), and minimum, maximum, and average time for the first belugas to return to Cunningham Inlet and Elwin Bay.

Time to return (h) No. of No. of times capture attempts Inlet vacated Min. Max. Avg. Cunningham Inlet 1988 5 4 (80%) 11 21 17.6 1989 6 6 (100%) 6 27 15 1990 3 0 (0%) 5 21 12 199 1 7 3 (43%) 11.5 29 17 Elwin Bay 1992

TABLE4, Number of tagged belugas which remained in the capture areas after release or which left and later returned.

Time to first return (h) Total tags deployed No. of belugas staying No. of belugas and functional or returning to estuary which did not leave Miaa. Maw. Avg. Cunningham Inlet 1988 4" 1989 I 1990 5 1991 4 Elwin Bay 1992 4 4 0 7 143 41.5 'Three conventional VHF and one PTT. 'stayed together while travelling; possible mother with older juvenile offspring. In both areas, belugas returned to the Bay within 12-17 h 95"42'W) and eventually penetrated south to Coningham Bay. (Table 3). Of 17 tagged belugas, 11 (65%) returned to the Of the three functional tags applied in 1993 at Creswell estuary after capture and three belugas did not leave the Bay, only one whale ventured into Peel Sound and Franklin estuary (Cunningham Inlet) for a period of hours or days Strait. None of the three spent much time in estuaries, prob- For personal use only. after capture. Of those whales which left immediately after ably because of the late date of their captures. The only capture and returned, the time lapse ranged from 7 to 143 h other estuaries frequented by two of those three animals (Table 4). were those of Batty and Elwin bays in Prince Regent Inlet. The highest frequency of transmissions was received from Utilization of Estuaries and Offshore Areas by Belugas the locations of Cunningham Inlet and Elwin Bay in July We have identified six principal estuarine areas used by and the small estuary north of Wadworth Island and belugas on the coasts of Somerset and Prince of Wdes islands Cunningham Inlet in August. Coningham Bay was most (Fig. 1). In the three years of study at Cunningham Inlet, important as an aggregation area in August 1991, when ice when transmitters functioned for sufficient periods of time, conditions allowed belugas to penetrate into the area as none of the tagged whales moved east toward Prince Regent early as 6 August. In 1992 when the ice was much heavier, Inlet. The 1990 tag information, which ended by 16 August, the small river estuary north of Wadworth Island became indicated a movement into Peel Sound, while the 1991, the most important area of aggregation in Peel Sound. One 1992, and 1993 studies reinforced this picture with more whale tagged at Elwin Bay on 23 July reached this area on details on the use of two estuarine habitats, the small 6 August. In 1993, ice blocked access to this estuary, but unnamed river emptying into Peel Sound at Birmingham allowed belugas to pass south along the west side of Peel Bay and the river emptying into Coningham Bay on the Sound. By September, all belugas had ceased using estuaries. coast of Prince of Wales Island. The proportion of time spent in estuaries by belugas in

Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Depository Services Program on 08/31/13 In 1992, when the belugas were all caught at Elwin Bay July and August varied from 0.005 to 0.12. Of the five tags and transmissions lasted into late September, we gained a which were applied in mid-July and transmitted until the more detailed picture of large-scale movements and use of end of August, the mean proportion of time spent in estuaries estbaries. Whales released from Elwin Bay used Batty Bay, was 0.082 (Table 5). It is obvious that belugas tagged late in but did not travel south to join the large numbers of belugas the season, as in 1993, frequent estuaries much less. in Creswell Bay. Instead the general movement was to the Belugas also used the waters close to estuaries more fre- west into BmwStrait, with thee of the five belugas ventur- quently than other locations. Of the five whales whose trans- ing briefly into Cunningham Inlet. The movement appears to missions were received from July to at least the end of have been mainly directed toward Peel Sound, where all August the total proportion of their time spent in the estuary four belugas with still-functioning transmitters congregated or in the offshore area of the grid rectangle which included in the small estuary north of Wadworth Island (73"30rN, the estuary varied from 0.29 to 0.38 (Table 6).

1658 Con. J. Fish. Aqua?. Sci., Vol. 51, 1994 TABLE5. Estuarine utilization by individual beluga whales tagged at Cunningham Inlet, EBwin Bay, and Greswell Bay. Other estuaries occupied include Batty Bay, north of Wadworth Island, and Coningham Bay (see Fig. 1).

Estuaries occupied Total hours tagged, Proportion of total hours Date tagged Date ended Tag No. (see Table 1) (Fig. 1) July and Aug. (July-Aug.) in estuaries Cunningham, 1990 15 July 26 July 16 July 27 July 23 July 21 Aug. 15 July 16 Aug. 15 July 6 Aug. Cunningham, 1991 21 July 18 Aug. 29 July 22 Aug. 31 July 13 Sept. 1 Aug. 4 Aug. EBwin, 1992 27 July 17 Sept. 24 July 4 oct. 24 July 26 Sept. 27 July 28 Sept. Creswel1, 1993 13 Aug. I I act. 15 Aug. 5 Sept. 14 Aug. 28 Sept.

Of the five belugas tagged in July and which transmitted are available (N 2 38) lie in the range of 1.1-1.85 kmbh data into at least mid-September, one was tagged at Cunning- (Table 9). ham Inlet and the rest at Elwin Bay. Peel Sound was by far During the period of eastern migration from Peel Sound the most heavily used of the major areas around Somerset through Barrow Strait and into Eancaster Sound, there is Island by all those animals, ranging in total proportion of an apparent fast directed movement which brings belugas time tagged from 0.19 to 0.33 in the offshore areas not along the southern coast of Devon Island and eventually including time in the estuaries. into the area of Philpots Island (74"55'N, 79"4BB'W) and The offshore waters of Barrow Strait and Prince Regent southern Jones Sound in late September. In 1998, whale Inlet were little used by the whales during the whole period. No. 8'750 moved through Barrow Strait covering 298 km For personal use only. Eancaster Sound became important again during autumnal in 85 h (1.6 kmbh). Om 7 and 8 September, it apparently eastward migrations (Table '7). increased its speed to move 132 km in 22 h (5.99 km/h) to longitude 80"W. In 1992, speeds of 2.11, 3.54, and 3.8- 4.9 Timing of Major Movements km/h were estimated during similar movements for three All of the belugas tagged at either Cunningham Inlet or whales over distances of 167-522 km. Caution should be Elwin Bay from 1990 to 1992 (a = 15) moved west into Peel used in evaluating all these estimates because of the poten- Sound. Only one of three tagged in Creswell Bay in 1993 tial error from poor location qualities and the small num- moved into Peel Sound. In 8990, when animals were tagged ber of samples. More accurate speed estimates can only be as early as 15 July, the earliest mival in Peel Sound was on made in the future from direct measurements taken with 24 July. The latest mival in Peel Sound was a whale tagged onbsard velocity meters. in Elwin Bay on 26 July arriving on '7 August (Table 8). In 1990, four of the five belugas tagged at Cunningham Once in Peel Sound, belugas congregated at the floe edge, Inlet were released on 15 or 16 July; one other was released which crossed to Prince of Wales Island at the latitude of on 23 July. All of the early tagged whales moved into Bmow the river estuary north of Wadworth Island. Of 81 belugas Strait and three returned one or more times to Cunningham with tags transmitting into at least mid-August, eight even- Inlet. All animals moved into Peel Sound by 26 July. There tually moved south into the Coningham Bay area, arriving as appeared to be a general movement of Cunningham Inlet early as 29 July in 1991 and as late as 28 August in 1993. belugas joined by some of the tagged whales starting around Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Depository Services Program on 08/31/13 Of the six whales transmitting data into September, depar- 23 July. ture dates from Peel Sound occurred between 28 August All seven belugas whose transmitters lasted for 3 wk or and 7 September. The animals spent little time in Barrow more in 1992 or 1993 moved to the eastern coast of Bevon Strait, moving directly east into Eancaster Sound between Island and three moved north into Jones Sound. The most 30 August and 15 September (Table $1. easterly recorded location was at 72"10'W.

Speed of Travel and Individual Long-range Movements Discussion Travel speed calculated indirectly from location data can- not yield much detail about maximum or minimum swimming The timing of breakup of sea ice in the coastal areas of capabilities. Our conservative estimates of average travel Somerset Island is variable and dependent on many differ- speed over large time intervals where sufficient sample sizes ent factors (finsenberg and Bennett 1987). The arrival of k1-

Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sei., VoI. 54, 1994 TABLE6. Time spent in major estuaries, their adjacent waters, and in major geographical areas around Somerset

Time in grid Total Time Time in Time Time in offshore time, in grid offshore estuary north of estuary north of Time in Tag July- Cunningham offshore Barrow Wadworth Wadworth Coningham No. Aug. Inlet Cunningham Strait Island Island Bay

ugas at their traditional summer areas of aggregation is previously visiting Cunningham Inlet, a short distance to largely dependent on ice conditions (Smith et al. 1992), but the east. The use of estuaries is related to a synchronous was predictable within a range of about 14 d over a docu- moult which is promoted by contact with warm freshwater mented span of 12 yr. (St. Aubin and Geraci 1989; St. Aubin et al. 1990; Smith The coast of Somerset Island and southern Prince of Wales et al. 1992). Island in Peel Sound are the main areas of beluga aggrega- Animals from Cunningham Inlet often proceed into Peel tion during July and August, with some minor and transient Sound by way of the estuaries north of Wadworth Island use of the southern coast of Bevon Island. Animals in Prince and Coningham Bay. Belugas tagged at Elwin Bay followed Regent Inlet appear to follow belugas from Cunningham the same pattern without spending any substantial time at Inlet into Peel Sound, as the ice melts and breaks up there in Cunningham Inlet. The actual use of the specified estuaries early to mid-August. The large numbers of belugas occu- during July and August accounts for only about 8% of the For personal use only. pying the Creswell Bay area persist there into the first weeks total time, but belugas spend from 29 to 35% sf their time of August. One of the three tagged belugas in 1993 moved in the areas adjacent to estuaries. into Peel Sound; the other two occupied Barrow Strait and kt appears that belugas move in and out of estuaries to moved directly to Lancaster Sound. The late tagging of bel- exploit feeding opportunities offshore. Persistent deep diving ugas in Creswell in 1993 perhaps has not given us as clear by belugas in areas of Barrow Strait outside Cunningham a picture of their summer distribution as we might have Inlet in the Franklin Trench outside of Csningham Bay prob- obtained if animals had been captured in July. ably indicates the exploitation of deepwater prey (Martin There has been no indication that belugas from Creswell and Smith 1992; Martin et al. 1993). Bay ever use Bellot Strait to join the concentrations seen The movement into Peel Sound by most of the belugas in southern Peel Sound. Finley and Johnson (1977) main- tagged during this study might be directly related to feeding. tained a watch in this area and also failed to detect belugas The persistence of a floe edge could provide feeding oppor- using the Strait. This is surprising, since we have often seen tunities on ice-associated fauna (Bunbar 8 98 1 ). The presence narwhals and harp seals moving through this narrow channel. of large numbers of harp seals and narwhals along these There are six principal sites of aggregation for belugas, all ice edges also leads us to believe that feeding is occurring of them the mouths of river estuaries. On the east coast of and that it is an area of high food availability. Somerset Island are Elwin Bay, Batty Bay, and, further We do not know what triggers the apparent quick and south, the Creswelll River estuaries. On the north coast is directed movement of belugas northwards out of Peel Sound Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Depository Services Program on 08/31/13 Cunningham Inlet in Barrow Strait. To the west in Peel and eastward through Barrow Strait (Finley and Johnson in Strait, is the small estuary north of Wadworth 1977) and Laamcaster Sound (LGL 1983). This appears to Island and the Coningham Bay estuary. Additionally, a few occur regularly in late August - early September. Belugas smaller streams and rivers are important, especially in the make transient use of certain bays as feeding areas along early part of summer while access to the main areas is the south Bevon coast. In late August - early September, blocked by ice. The small stream at Fellfoot Point near large schools sf Arctic cod have been sighted in the bays Maxwell Bay on Devon Island (74"3QrN, 88O35'W) and along the southwestern coast (Welch et al. 19921, where several small rivers on the Brodeur Peninsula, BafGin Island, belugas and seabirds feed heavily on them. During their are frequented by belugas. During the summer, belugas rapid migrations to the east, belugas regularly frequent briefly frequent the small river at Gape Anne (74"05W, Crsker Bay (74"30WN,83'20'W) and eventually stop in the 94O44'W) on the north coast of Somerset Island, often after area around PhiHpots Island. In October, some whales move

Can. J. Fish. Aquar. Sci., Vol. 51, 1994 Island and in Barry Channel.

Time in Time in Time grid Time grid offshore Time in grid Time Timing offshore offshore Time in offshore Prince Time in offshore offshore between Coningham Peel Elwin Elwin Regent Batty Batty Lancaster distant Bay Sound Bay Bay Inlet Bay Bay Sound quadrats

TABLE7. Proportion of time spent in major geographical areas or moving between locations by UHF-tagged belugas between 24 July and 4 October 1991 and 1992.

Offshore Offshore Offshore Offshore Tag Total time Estuaries or Barrow Peel Prince Lancaster No. tagged (h) adjacent waters Strait Sound Regent Inlet Sound Moving 31 July - 13 Sept. 8750 1044 Q.245 0.024 0.336 0 Q 0.402 27 July - 19 Sept. 8752 1381 0.2 15 0.01 0.265 0 0 0.3 18 24 July - 4 Oct. 8753 1741 0.463 0.015 0.315 0.856 0.03 1 0.174 24 July - 26 Sept. 8754 1549 0.3663 0.048 0.199 0.037 8.138 0.250 27 July - 28 Sept. 8755 1539 8.2127 0.030 0.293 0.059 0.278 0.107 For personal use only.

TABLE8. Dates of major movements sf UHF-tagged belugas.

Move to Tag Arrived Peel Arrived Move to Laneaster Date tagged No. Sound Coningham Bay Barrow Strait Sound

Cunningham Inlet, 1990 15-20 July 5801 16 July 5803 24 July 23 July 5806 24 July 15 July $750 27 July 15 July $485 1 248 July Cunningham Inlet, 1991 21 July 5801 25 July 29 July 29 July 5805 31 July 3 Aug. 31 July 8750 2 Aug. 5 Aug. Lost in Peel Sound 7 Sept. 1 Aug. 8757 2 Aug. 30 Aug. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Depository Services Program on 08/31/13 Elwin Bay, 1992 26 July 8752 5 Aug. 18 Aug. 5 Sept. 15 Sept. 28 July 875 3 4 Aug. 17 Aug. 26 Aug. 30 Aug. 23 July 8754 5 Aug. (Only to Lost in Peel Sound 72"53'N) Sept. 26 July 8755 7 Aug. 18 Aug. 5 Sept. 7 Sept. Creswell Bay, 1993 13 Aug. 8750 22 Aug. 28 Aug. 7 Sept, 12 Sept. 15 Aug. 8753 22 Aug. 24 Aug. 15 Aug. 8755 2%Aug. 31 Aug.

Can. J. Fish. Aquert. Sci., Val. 51, 1994 1661 TABLE9. Summary of travel speeds (km/h) from UHF-tagged belugas calculated from Argos- derived locations of quality 22 and time intervals between locations of 25 h.

Tag No. Avg. speed No. of measuremens No. of hours SD Maw. speed

north into Jones Sound and eventually some move west into Bay, N.W.T. We also thank the Natural Environment Research Greenlandic territory where our last transmissions have been Council U.K. and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans for received. More information is required about the behaviour continuing financial support. We acknowledge the great help of of belugas in this late autumn period, since no aerial surveys Gilly Banks, Charlie Chambers, Ollie Cox, Mike Fedak, Russell were conducted at that time. Gadbury, Colin Hunter, Bernie McConnell, and Kevin Nicholas of the Sea Mammal Research Unit for their dedicated and tireless One of the striking results of our study is the demon- efforts on behalf of this project. Peter Blesiuk, Pacific Biological stration that belugas in the Canadian High Arctic maintain Station, aided with the data analysis. a well-defined pattern of movement from year to year. Furthermore, the consistency of the behaviour sf the animals tracked by radio telemetry indicates that the pattern is References adhered to by the great majority of the individuals in the

stock. This picture became clearer and was reinforced when- BURNS,I.I., AND G.A. SEAMAN.1988. Investigations of belukha whales in ever aircraft were used to search the area in which one or coastal waters of western and northern Alaska. Part II. Biology and For personal use only. more of the radio-tagged animals had been located via satel- ecology. U.S. Dep. Comer. NOAA, OCSEAP. Final Rep. 56: 221-357. lite. In every case, hundreds or thousands of belugas were CLS~~RVICEARGOS. 1989. Guide to the Argos system. CLSiService Argos, Toulouse, France. found in the vicinity. We are confident that even this small DOIDGE,D.W. 1990. Age and stage based analysis sf the population sample of tagged animals (in relation to the population size) dynamics of beluga whales, Debpkinaptrrus leucas, with particular has been adequate to describe in broad terms the behavirsur reference to the northern Quebec popuIatisn, Ph.D. thesis, McGill sf the population as a whole. University, Montreal, Que. 190 p. There is an urgent need to reassess the size of this beluga DUNBAR,M.J. 198%.Physical causes and biological significance of polynyas and other open water in sea ice, p. 29-40. In 1. Stirling and H. Cleator stock which is, in all probability, shared by Canada and [ed. 1 Polynyas in the Canadian arctic. Can. Wildl. Serv. Bccas. Pap. Greenland. Recent winter surveys (Heide-Jorgensen 1994) No. 45. indicate significant declines since our latest estimates of FANCY,S.G., L.F. PANK,D.C. DOUGL~ZS,C.H. CURBY,G.W. GARNER,S.C. stock size in 1981 (Smith et a%.198%) because sf the high AMSTRUP.AND W.L. REGEI.IN.1988. Satellite telemetry: a new tool for wildlife research and management. U.S. Dep. Interior, U.S. Fish continuing harvests. Belugas are difficult to count because Wildl. Serv. Resour. PubB. 172 p. sf their clumped distribution, their ability to move long dis- PINLEY,K.S. 1983. The estuarine habit of the beluga or white whale tances in a short time, and because they can spend a signifi- (Delphinapterus lerlcas). Cetus 4: 4-5. cant proportion of their time under water. The consistent FINI-EY.K.J., AND W.G. JOHNSON.1977. An investigation of the distribution patterns of movement and the inventory of all areas sf sea- of marine mammals in the vicinity of Somerset Island with emphasis on Bellot Strait, August-September 1976 by LGL Limited, Environ- sonal aggregation documented in our study provide the mentaH Research Associates. Unpublished Report for Polar Gas Project,

Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Depository Services Program on 08/31/13 detailed background needed to plan future surveys for pop- King City, Ont. 37 p. (Available from Department sf Fisheries and ulation size estimates. Oceans, Freshwater Institute, 581 University Crescent, Winnipeg, ME R3-r 2~6) FINLEY,K.J., AND W. RENAUD.1980. Marine mamnmals inhabiting the Acknowledgements Baffin Bay North Water in winter. Arctic 33: 724-738. FREEMAN,M.M.R. 1968. Winter observations on beluga, Dr1pkas'naprep.u~ We thank Hillary Adams, Kathy Frost, Haakon Hop, George leucas in Jones Sound, Northwest Territories, Canada. Can. Field- Nat. 82: 276-284. Horonowitsch, Jack Orr, and Gary Sleno for their assistance GORMAN.R.W. 1988. Sea ice characteristics sf the Parry channel. M.A. with the field logistics and capture of the belugas. None of the thesis, Department of Geography, Carleaon University, Ottawa, Bnt. work could have been done without the considerable aircraft 197 p. support and logistic help provided by the Polar Continental Shelf HEIDE-JORGENSEN,M.P. 1994. Distribution, exploitation and population Project, Department sf Energy, Mines and Resources, Resolute status of white whales (Delphirrapterus leucas) and narwhals (Monodon

Can. Je Fish. Aqetat. Sci., Vol. 51, 1984 monoceros) in West Greenland. Medd. Groenl. Biosci. 39: 135-149. Barrow Strait, the central part of the Northwest Passage. Continental HEIDE-JORGENSEN,M.P., H. LASSEN,AND J. TIEI.MAN.1992. An index of Shelf Res. 7: 913-935. relative abundance of wintering belugas, Delphinapterus Eeucas, off west SAS INSTITUTEINC. 1989. SASIStat user's guide, version 6, edition 4. Greenland. Working Paper 92-1. Scientific Working Group of the VoI. 1. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, N.C. 943 p. Joint Commission on Conservation and Management of Narwhal and SERGEANT,D.E. 1981. On exploitation rates sf Monodontidae. Rep. Int. Beluga. Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Ottawa, Ont. 24 p + Whaling Comm. 31: 583-588. 7 figs. SMITH,T.G., M.O. HAMMILL,D.J. BURRAGE,AND G.A. SI.ENO.1985. Dis- IWC. 2992. Annex G. Report of the sub-committee on small cetaceans. tribution and abundance of belugas, Delphi~aapbcruslecrcas, and nar- Rep. Int. Whaling Comm. 42: 178-234. whals, Monodon tnonoceros, in the Canadian High Arctic. Can. J. KAPEE,F.O. 1977. Catch sf belugas, narwhals, and harbour porpoises in Fish. Aquae. Sci. 42: 676-684. Greenland, 1954-75, by year, month and region. Rep. Ine. Whaling SMITH,T.G., D.J. ST. AURIN,AND M.O. HAMMILE.1992. Rubbing behaviour Comm. 27: 507-522. of belugas, DefpAinapterus leucas, in a high arctic estuary. Can. J. LGL. 1983. Biological environment of eastern Lancaskr Sound and western ZOO^. 70: 2405-2489. Baffin Bay: components and important processes. Dep. of Indian ST. AUBIN,D.J., AND J.R. GERACI.1989. Seasonal variation in thyroid mor- Northern Affairs, Ottawa, Environ. Stud. No. 38: 288 p. phology and secretion in the white whale. Can. J. Zool. 67: 263-267. MARKO,J.R. 1982. The ice environments of eastern Lancaster Sound and ST. AUBIN,D.J., T.G. SMITH,AND J.R. GERACI.1990. Seasonal epidermal northern Baffin Bay. Indian Northern Affairs Program Environ. Stud. molt in beluga whales, Dehphinapterus feucas. Can. J. Zool. 68: No. 26: 215 p. 359-367. MARTIN,A.R., AND T.G. SMITH.1992. Deep diving in wild, free-ranging VIBE,C. 1950. The marine mammals and the marine fauna in the Thule beluga whales. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 49: 442-466. district (Northwest Greenland) with observations on ice conditions in MARTIN,A.R., T.G. SMITH,AND D.P. COX. 1993. Studying the behaviour and 1939-41. Medd. Gronl. 150(6): 1-1 15. movements of high arctic belugas with satellite telemetry. Symp. Zool. WELCH,H.E., M.A. BERGMANN,T.O. SIFEWD,K.A. MARTIN-BERGMANN, Soc. Lond. 46: 195-210. M.F. CURTIS,R.E. CRAWFORD,R.J. CONOVER,AND H. HOP. 1992. PORSILD,M.P. 1918. On "Suvsatts": a crowding of arctic whales in the Energy flow through the ecosystem of the Lancaster Sound Region, sea ice. Geogr, Rev. 6: 215-228. Arctic Canada. Arctic 45: 343-357. PRBNSENBERG,S.J., AND E.B. BENNETT.1987. Mixing and transports in For personal use only. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Depository Services Program on 08/31/13

Can. .I.Fish. Aqreat. Sci., Vol. 51, 1994