Numbers and distribution of beluga whales, Delphinapterus leucas, in James Bay, eastern Hudson Bay, and Ungava Bay in Canada during the summer of 1993

James, Hudson and Ungava bays are summering areas for stocks of beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) (Sergeant and Brodie, 1975; Finley et al., 1982; Smith and Hammill, 1986; Richard et al., 1990). There are several apparently separate summer groups, which include a summer group of ~23,000 individuals in western Hudson Bay, a group of 1500 individuals in the eastern Hudson Bay arc, and a few individuals in Ungava Bay (Smith and Hammill, 1986; Richard et al., 1990). Beluga whales, probably composing other separate groups, also summer in southern Hudson Bay (Richard, 1993) and James Bay (Smith and Hammill, 1986). A land claim agreement was signed between the Inuit of the central and eastern Canadian Arctic and the Gov ernment of Canada in 1990 (Anonymous, 1993). In eastern Hudson Bay, this land agreement defi ned a marine area around the Belcher Islands (the “Nunavut Settlement Area”) for the use of the benefi ciaries of that agreement (Figs. 1 and 2). It also defi ned an area north and east of the settlement area (the “Equal Use and Occupancy Area”) to be shared by the Inuit of Nunavut and those of northern Quebec. Other provisions of the agreement, and of the earlier James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, assured the aboriginal people of a right to hunt beluga whales in these waters. The hunting of beluga whales is valued by Inuit in northern Canada as a means of procuring food, as a tradition helping to defi ne their culture, and as a recreation. Maintaining beluga whale hunting, and stocks adequate to support it, are important objectives for the Inuits. Commercial hunting in the 19th century severely reduced numbers of beluga whales on the eastern coast of Hudson Bay and in Ungava Bay and they have not yet recovered (Reeves and Mitchell, 1987a; 1987b; 1989). These stocks were listed as “threatened” and “endangered,” respectively, by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (Campbell, 1993), and exploitation still occurs (DFO, 1996; NAMMCO, 1999) A low reproductive rate limits the species’s potential for increase (Sergeant, 1981; Kingsley, 1989); therefore careful monitoring and management of stocks are appropriate. Population management requires periodic evaluations of stock size, as a basis for setting harvest levels and for estimating the effect of harvest on the population trend. Beluga whale stocks are evaluated by aerial survey in their summering areas. The previous, and fi rst, offshore aerial survey of James Bay, eastern Hudson Bay, and Ungava Bay was fl own in summer 1985 (Smith and Hammill, 1986), and the development in the early 1990s of a beluga whale management plan for northern Quebec rendered it timely to update information on the population. This article reports the results of aerial surveys fl own in summer 1993. A Numbers and distribution of beluga whales, Delphinapterus leucas, in James Bay, eastern Hudson Bay, and Ungava Bay in Canada during the summer of 1993