Satellite Tagging of Belugas in Anadyr Bay, Russia
Figure 1. Satellite-determined locations of belugas tagged in
July 2001 in Anadyr Bay, Russia. Map by Kristin Laidre (NMML):
data provided by Lloyd Lowry (Alaska Department of Fish and Game, retired);
Robert Suydam (North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management);
and Pierre Richard (Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans).
The National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML) hosted a workshop in November
2000 to facilitate discussion among native hunters, researchers, and wildlife
managers interested in understanding the movements and relatedness of beluga
whales (Delphinapterus leucas) endemic to western Arctic waters. Participants
included representatives from Russia, Canada, the United States, Denmark,
and Greenland. The workshop was initiated and coordinated by Canadian
researchers, who had successfully tagged belugas in the Canadian Beaufort
Sea and tracked them across the Alaskan Beaufort and into the Chukchi Sea.
There the whales tracks converged near Wrangel Island and along Russias
Chukotka coast. Based upon these tracks, reviews of current knowledge
of genetic relatedness among belugas in the western Arctic and discussions
regarding the summering of belugas in Anadyr Bay, two central questions
emerged from the workshop: Where do belugas that summer in the Canadian
Beaufort Sea spend the winter? How are beluga stocks that summer in Anadyr
Bay related to the five recognized stocks that summer in the waters off
Alaska and northwest Canada? While field work to address the first question
is still in the planning stages, the second question was addressed during
a 10-day tagging and biopsy field program during July 2001.
North American scientists were invited to participate in a beluga capture
and tagging project in Anadyr Bay, Russia, by the Russian Ministry of Environment
and Endangered Species, Moscow, and the Chukotka branch of the Pacific
Scientific Research Fisheries Center (TINRO). The research gave two North
American scientists, Jack Orr from the Canadian Department of Fisheries
and Oceans and Greg OCorry-Crowe from the NMFS, the opportunity to: 1)
catch and tag whales in Anadyr Bay and monitor their movements and habitat
use; 2) collect biopsy samples for genetic comparisons with whales throughout
Chukotka and the entire Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort region; 3) share beluga
capture and tagging methods and technology with Russian scientists in the
field; and 4) gain logistical experience in collaborative research studies
in Russia.
Between 15 and 24 July 2001, the two North American scientists worked with
a team of Russian scientists to tag and biopsy beluga whales in Anadyr
Bay, in the Chukotka region of Russia. A 500-m seine net was used to corral
a group of whales in a small, sheltered cove (Calm Bay). Captured whales
were carefully towed to shore, where they were measured, skin samples collected
for genetic analysis, and six animals (two adult females, one adult male,
one sub-adult female, and two sub-adult males) tagged with satellite transmitters
attached to their dorsal ridge with nylon pins (Table 1 below). Four North American
transmitters and two Russian transmitters were used in the tagging operations.
Table 1. Belugas captured or
sampled in July 2001 in Anadyr Bay, Russia. |
Beluga ID No. |
Date |
Tag No. |
Length
(cm) |
Sex |
Color |
Location |
DL-ANR-01-01 |
7/18/01 |
2285 |
395 |
F |
white |
Calm Bay |
DL-ANR-01-02 |
7/18/01 |
10970 |
379 |
F |
white |
Calm Bay |
DL-ANR-01-031 |
7/18/01 |
|
160-180 |
M |
dark
gray |
Calm Bay |
DL-ANR-01-04 |
7/18/01 |
|
349 |
F |
light
gray |
Calm Bay |
DL-ANR-01-05 |
7/18/01 |
|
327 |
M |
gray |
Calm Bay |
DL-ANR-01-06 |
7/20/01 |
25850 |
304 |
M |
gray |
Calm Bay |
DL-ANR-01-07 |
7/20/01 |
30719 |
320 |
M |
light
gray |
Calm Bay |
DL-ANR-01-08 |
7/20/01 |
Moscow-#2 |
385 |
M |
white |
Calm Bay |
DL-ANR-01-09 |
7/20/01 |
Moscow-#1 |
|
F |
gray |
Calm Bay |
DL-ANR-01-10 |
7/20/01 |
|
318 |
M |
gray |
Calm Bay |
DL-ANR-01-11 |
7/20/01 |
|
302 |
F |
gray |
Calm Bay |
DL-ANR-01-12 |
7/21/01 |
|
292 |
M |
gray |
Calm Bay |
DL-ANR-01-132 |
7/22/01 |
|
|
|
light
gray |
Ferry Dock |
DL-ANR-01-142 |
7/22/01 |
|
|
|
white |
Ferry Dock |
1Probable calf of
DL-ANR-01-02.
2Skin samples were collected from free-swimming whales
with a crossbow. |
After tagging was completed, crossbows were used to collect additional
skin samples from belugas close to shore. Although some difficulties (which
have since been resolved) were experienced while deploying and retrieving
the biopsy darts, skin samples were collected from two belugas swimming
near the Anadyr ferry dock (Table 1 above). Use of this biopsy technique in
future studies should enable the collection of large numbers of skin samples
from belugas throughout Chukotka.
All four of the North American satellite tags transmitted data through
August 2001, and three tags continued to transmit location data as of December
2001. Satellite-determined positions of these three tags showed that the
whales remained in Anadyr Bay until the end of September, moved into the
Gulf of Anadyr in October, traveled northward to Kresta Bay in November,
then back out to the central Gulf of Anadyr in December
(Figure 1 above). The
movement patterns of the two whales with Russian tags were similar to those
of the other tagged whales during the same time period; the Russian tags
transmitted data for 1 week and 1 month, respectively.
Collaboration between Russian and North American scientists continues as
the telemetry and genetics data are analyzed. This project was the first
collaborative effort of its kind, and it is hoped that this work will set
the stage for more long-term studies of Arctic cetaceans. The work could
not have been accomplished without the support and integration of effort
from the Alaska Beluga Whale Committee (ABWC), Alaskas North Slope Borough
Department of Wildlife Management, the Inuvialuit Fisheries Joint Management
Committee, the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), the Russian
Ministry of Environment and Endangered Species, and Russias Pacific Scientific
Research Fisheries Center (TINRO)
By Sue Moore, Greg OCorry-Crowe, and Rod Hobbs.
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