Skip Navigation

ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil 1996 53(1):61-72; doi:10.1006/jmsc.1996.0006
© 1996 by ICES/CIEM International Council for the Exploration of the Sea/Conseil International pour l'Exploration de la Mer
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Heide-Jørgensen, M. P.
Right arrow Articles by Reeves, R. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Heide-Jørgensen, M. P.
Right arrow Articles by Reeves, R. R.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Evidence of a decline in beluga, Delphinapterus leucas, abundance off West Greenland

M. P. Heide-Jørgensen and Randall R. Reeves

Marine Mammal Section, Greenland Fisheries Research Institute Tagensvej 135, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark
Okapi Wildlife Associates 27 Chandler Lane, Hudson, Quebec, J0P 1H0, Canada

Aerial surveys of belugas, or white whales,Delphinapterus leucas, were conducted off West Greenland in March 1993 and 1994. These surveys were designed to permit comparisons with similar surveys in 1981, 1982, and 1991. Differences in methods between the surveys in the early 1980s and those in the 1990s should mean that the 1990s surveys were, if anything, more efficient than the 1980s surveys. Weighted linear regressions of strip-census estimates of the relative abundance of belugas showed a significant decline from 1981 to 1994. While annual variability in ice conditions and other unknown factors may have had some local or small-scale effects on the movements and distribution of belugas off West Greenland, it is unlikely that these effects would account for the apparent decline in relative abundance. The most reasonable conclusion is that the stock size has declined considerably during the past 13 years, perhaps by as much as 62%.

Keywords: beluga, Delphinapterus cas, aerial survey, West Greenland

Received 11 July 1994; accepted 16 May 1995.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 ICES J. Mar. Sci.Home page
C. M. Alvarez-Flores and M. P. Heide-Jorgensen
A risk assessment of the sustainability of the harvest of beluga (Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas 1776)) in West Greenland
ICES J. Mar. Sci., January 1, 2004; 61(2): 274 - 286.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.