Beluga Whale Body Condition: Evaluating environmental variables on beluga body condition indicators in the Tarium Niryutait MPA, Beaufort Sea.

Bowhead whale body condition and links to summer sea ice and upwelling in the Beaufort Sea

We examined the response of bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) body condition to summer sea ice conditions and upwelling-favorable winds. We used a long-term dataset collected from whales of the Bering–Chukchi–Beaufort Seas (BCB) stock to estimate various body condition indices (BCI’s) for individual whales that were harvested by Alaskan Eskimos. A series of offshore regions frequented by bowhe...

Beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) vocalizations and call classification from the eastern Beaufort Sea population.

Beluga whales, Delphinapterus leucas, have a graded call system; call types exist on a continuum making classification challenging. A description of vocalizations from the eastern Beaufort Sea beluga population during its spring migration are presented here, using both a non-parametric classification tree analysis (CART), and a Random Forest analysis. Twelve frequency and duration measurements ...

Environmental Adaptations of the Beluga Whale (Delphinapterus leucas)

This paper aims to analyze the physiological, perceptual, and behavioral adaptations in the Beluga Whale (Delphinapterus leucas) as a result of its arctic niche. The social implications of these adaptations will be examined by looking at each part as influential elements of each other. Lastly, the idea of defining culture in cetaceans will be addressed, including a proposal for examining cultur...

Habitat selection by two beluga whale populations in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas

There has been extensive sea ice loss in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas where two beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) populations occur between July-November. Our goal was to develop population-specific beluga habitat selection models that quantify relative use of sea ice and bathymetric features related to oceanographic processes, which can provide context to the importance of changing sea ice...

The electrocardiogram of a Beluga whale.