What Do Baby Beluga Whales Eat What Types of Fish Eat Shellfish
Beluga Whale
Beluga whale swimming with calf. Credit: Chris Garner, Joint Base of operations Elmendorf–Richardson
Beluga whale swimming with calf. Credit: Chris Garner, Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson
About the Species
Beluga whales are known for their white colour and range of song sounds, earning them the championship of "canary of the sea." They are very social animals, forming groups to hunt, migrate, and interact with each other.
Beluga whales are found globally throughout the Arctic and sub-Chill waters, in the United states, in the land of Alaska. They are at home forth coastal bays and inlets and tin move between salt and freshwater. A thick layer of fatty, chosen blubber, and thick skin helps them live in the freezing waters of the arctic and subarctic environs. Belugas also lack a dorsal fin and then that they can swim with ice.
Beluga whales are vulnerable to many stressors and threats, including pollution, habitat degradation, harassment, interactions with commercial and recreational fisheries, oil and gas exploration, affliction, predation from killer whales, and other types of human disturbance.
Commercial and sport hunting once threatened beluga whale populations. These activities are now banned, though some Alaska Natives notwithstanding hunt beluga whales for subsistence—the practice of hunting marine mammals for food, clothing, and handicrafts are necessary for preserving the livelihood of Native communities. In 2005, a harvest direction plan was approved to regulate the Cook Inlet beluga harvest. Alaska Native hunters terminal harvested Cook Inlet beluga whales in 2005.
All beluga whale populations are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). NOAA Fisheries has designated the Cook Inlet beluga whale population in Alaska and the Sakhalin Bay-Nikolaya Bay-Amur River stock in Russia equally depleted nether the MMPA (i.due east., they take fallen below their optimum sustainable population levels).
In addition, the Cook Inlet distinct population segment has been listed as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. Melt Inlet belugas are one of NOAA Fisheries' Species in the Spotlight—an initiative that includes animals considered most at take a chance for extinction and prioritizes their recovery efforts.
NOAA Fisheries is committed to conserving beluga whales, and protecting and rebuilding depleted and endangered populations. Our scientists and partners apply a multifariousness of innovative techniques to study and protect beluga whales. We also work with our partners to protect disquisitional habitat for Cook Inlet belugas and engage the public in conservation efforts.
Population Condition
In the United States, NOAA Fisheries identified five stocks of beluga whales in Alaskan waters. The five stocks of beluga whales are:
- Beaufort Sea
- Bristol Bay
- Cook Inlet
- Eastern Bering Ocean
- Eastern Chukchi Body of water
Each stock is unique, isolated from one another genetically and geographically past migration routes and preferred habitats. NOAA Fisheries' stock assessment reports estimate population size for marine mammal stocks inside U.S. waters.
Worldwide, belugas may number in the hundreds of thousands; however, some stocks are pocket-sized, numbering in the low hundreds. The endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale population has declined by nearly 80 percentage since 1979, from about 1,300 whales to an estimated 279 whales in 2018. The rapid decline and dire condition of the Melt Inlet beluga whale population makes it a priority for NOAA Fisheries and its partners to promote recovery to preclude extinction.
The population of Sakhalin Bay-Nikolaya Bay-Amur River beluga whales, a stock in the eastern North Pacific off the declension of Russia, is estimated to be around iii,961 whales. In response to a petition, NOAA Fisheries conducted a status review of the stock and designated information technology every bit depleted under the MMPA in 2016.
Protected Status
ESA Endangered
1 distinct population segment
- Cook Inlet DPS
CITES Appendix II
- Throughout Its Range
MMPA Protected
- Throughout Its Range
MMPA Depleted
one stock
- Cook Inlet stock
MMPA Depleted
i stock
- Sakhalin Bay-Nikolaya Bay-Amur River stock
Advent
Beluga whales are dark grey as calves. Their skin lightens as they age, becoming white every bit they reach physical maturity. They lack a pronounced rostrum, or beak, and the acme of their head is characterized by a circular, flexible "melon" that focuses and modulates their vocalizations, including echolocation "clicks." They are a toothed whale, possessing 18 to twenty teeth in both the upper and lower jawbones, for a total of 36 to 40 teeth.
The genus name Delphinapterus translates to "dolphin without a fin." Instead of a dorsal fin, belugas have a tough dorsal ridge, which allows them to swim easily nether ice floes (sheets of floating ice). Unlike other whales and dolphins, their neck vertebrae are not fused, so belugas can nod and move their heads from side to side.
Beluga whales are covered with a thick layer of blab that accounts for upward to forty percent of their weight. The blubber keeps them warm in the arctic waters and stores energy. Some beluga populations shed their outer layer of skin each summer during an almanac molt. They rub against coarse gravel in shallow waters to help remove the layer of quondam, yellowed skin.
Behavior and Nutrition
Belugas are social animals. They return to their birth areas each summer to feed and calve. Groups may range from one or ii whales to several hundred whales. Individuals motion between groups within these populations, unlike some killer whales, which appear to accept potent ties within their maternal-led pods.
Belugas are known as the "canaries of the sea" considering they produce many dissimilar sounds, including whistles, squeals, moos, chirps, and clicks. They rely on their hearing and ability to echolocate, using sound to navigate and chase for casualty. Belugas also have abrupt vision in and out of water.
Beluga whales have a varied diet consisting of octopus, squid, venereal, shrimp, clams, snails, and sandworms. They also eat a variety of fish, including salmon, eulachon, cod, herring, smelt, and flatfish.
Where They Live
Beluga whales live in the Arctic Sea and its nearby seas in the Northern Hemisphere. They are common to many regions of Alaska, every bit well as Russian federation, Canada, and Greenland. Belugas are usually found in shallow coastal waters during the summertime months, often in shallow water. During other seasons, they may be establish in deeper waters, diving to 1,000-meter depths for periods of upwards to 25 minutes. They swim among water ice floes in chill and subarctic waters, where temperatures may be as low as 32°F. Belugas also seasonally inhabit estuaries and large river deltas to feed on fish runs, and are thus well-adapted to both cold ocean habitats and relatively warmer freshwater habitats.
World map providing judge representation of the beluga whale'due south range.
Lifespan & Reproduction
Similar to tree rings that tin can be used to age a tree, beluga teeth learn a "growth layer group" (GLG) for each yr they historic period. The oldest beluga on record had 80 GLGs, though this may exist an underestimate of the whale's true age due to the habiliment on their teeth. The oldest Melt Inlet beluga whale had 49 GLGs.
Beluga whales are believed to mate in tardily winter and spring. Depending on the population, this may occur during migration or in their wintering grounds. Females reach sexual maturity when they are nearly six to 14 years old, and males when they are slightly older. Pregnancy lasts approximately xv months, and calves nurse for at least 2 years. Females tin can give birth every 2 to iii years. Pregnancy rates showed signs of decline afterward historic period 46 years old in northwest Alaska. Information technology is notable, nonetheless, that the oldest female in the northwest Alaska sample, at historic period 70, was carrying a near-term fetus. The oldest female beluga whale from Cook Inlet was 47 years old and appeared to have recently given birth.
Belugas generally give birth during summer in areas where the water is relatively warm, as newborn calves lack a thick blab layer to protect them from cold h2o. Calves benefit from the warmer waters found in shallow tidal flats and estuaries.
Threats
Beluga whale populations are exposed to a multifariousness of stressors and threats, including pollution (east.g., chemicals, trash), aircraft, energy exploration and evolution, commercial fishing, farthermost weather events, strandings, predation from killer whales and polar bears, underwater dissonance, subsistence harvesting, and other types of homo disturbance. The Cook Inlet population has boosted threats because of its proximity to the most densely populated surface area of Alaska (Anchorage).
Habitat Deposition
Beluga whales are susceptible to habitat destruction and degradation. This can range from barriers that limit their access to of import migration, breeding, feeding, and calving areas, to activities that destroy or degrade their habitats. Barriers that could prevent beluga movements may include shoreline and offshore development (oil and gas exploration and evolution, harbors and ports, dredging, pile driving) and increased boat traffic. Contaminant releases may also degrade habitat.
Contaminants
Contaminants enter sea waters from many sources, including point source and nonpoint source, such as oil and gas evolution, wastewater discharges, urban runoff, and other industrial processes. Once in the environment, these substances move upward the nutrient chain and accumulate in predators at the meridian of the food chain such as beluga whales. Because contaminants have long lifespans and blubber stores, belugas accumulate these contaminants in their bodies, threatening their immune and reproductive systems.
Prey Limitations
Overfishing, habitat changes, development, and the impacts of climate change can decrease the amount of nutrient available to beluga whales. Without enough prey, belugas might experience decreased reproductive rates and increased mortality rates. Understanding the potential for nutrient limitations to hinder population recovery is especially important for Cook Inlet beluga whales because they live in an area with high man activeness.
Strandings
Alive strandings occur when marine mammals go "beached" or stuck in shallow water. The exact cause of most stranding cases is unknown. Belugas may strand when molting avoiding predators; or avoiding other threats, such equally dissonance and vessel traffic; when chasing prey, or when suffering from injuries or disease. Unlike other whales and dolphins, good for you belugas that live-strand expect for the high tide to refloat and swim to deeper h2o. Unfortunately, belugas accept died after live strandings. Belugas with compromised immune systems may non survive a live stranding through a tide cycle.
Ocean Noise
Underwater noise pollution interrupts the normal behavior of beluga whales, which rely on sound to communicate and echolocate. If loud enough, noise can cause permanent or temporary hearing loss. This is of detail business concern for the Cook Inlet population, which inhabits an area with high vessel traffic, oil and gas exploration and development, dredging and pile-driving, airports, military operations, and other noise-making anthropogenic (homo-acquired) activities.
Climate change
The impacts of climate change on whales are unknown, but it is considered one of the largest threats facing high latitude regions where many gray whales forage. Most notably, the timing and distribution of sea ice coverage is changing dramatically with altered oceanographic conditions. Whatever resulting changes in prey distribution could lead to changes in foraging behavior, nutritional stress, and diminished reproduction for beluga whales. Additionally, changing h2o temperature and currents could bear on the timing of ecology cues important for navigation and migration.
Scientific Classification
| Kingdom | Animalia |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Mammalia |
| Order | Cetacea |
| Family | Monodontidae |
| Genus | Delphinapterus |
| Species | leucas |
Last updated past NOAA Fisheries on 03/03/2022
What We Do
Conservation & Management
All Beluga whales are protected under the MMPA. Our conservation efforts are focused on rebuilding the depleted and endangered Melt Inlet population, and nosotros monitor the other populations in Alaskan waters (Beaufort Body of water, Bristol Bay, eastern Bering Bounding main, and eastern Chukchi Sea stocks). Our direction actions to protect beluga whales include:
- Protecting beluga habitat
- Minimizing effects of noise disturbance
- Responding to stranded beluga whales
- Developing disaster response plans in the event of disaster
- Reviewing projects that could damage beluga whales and/or its habitat
- Monitoring subsistence harvests
- Educating the public about belugas and the threats they confront
Larn more near our conservation efforts
Science
Our research projects have discovered new aspects of beluga whale biology, behavior, and ecology and help united states better understand the challenges that all beluga whales face. This inquiry is especially important in recovering depleted and endangered populations. Our work includes:
- Stock assessments of beluga population size and trends
- Aeriform surveys of beluga populations and distribution
- Measurements of belugas' response to sounds using passive acoustic recorders and audio-visual recording tags on belugas
- Satellite tagging and tracking beluga movement, range, and distribution
- Photogrammetry of belugas to measure growth and place newborn calves
- Photo-identification of belugas to approximate affluence and appraise reproductive condition
- Promotion of citizen science to certificate beluga distribution and behavior
Larn more nearly our research
How You lot Can Aid
Study Marine Life in Distress
Report a sick, injured, entangled, stranded, or dead animate being to brand certain professional person responders and scientists know about it and tin can take advisable activity. Numerous organizations around the country are trained and ready to answer. Never approach or endeavor to save an injured or entangled animal yourself—it can exist dangerous to both the animate being and you.
Learn who you should contact when yous encounter a stranded or injured marine animal
Keep Your Distance
Report a Violation
Call the NOAA Fisheries Enforcement Hotline at(800) 853-1964 to report a federal marine resource violation. This hotline is available 24 hours a mean solar day, vii days a week for anyone in the United States.
You may too contact your closest NOAA Office of Police force Enforcement field office during regular concern hours.
-
Featured News
Credit: Earth Vets under MMHSRP 18786-05
The Pacific leatherback sea turtles accept existed in their current form without scales and a hard trounce since the historic period of the dinosaurs, but threats from bycatch, egg harvesting, and degradation of nesting addiction have made this species endangered. Photo credit Jason Isley, Scubazoo.
Blue whale. Credit: Christian Miller
In the Spotlight
Melt Inlet Beluga Whale
The Cook Inlet beluga whale is one of NOAA Fisheries' Species in the Spotlight. This initiative is a concerted, bureau-wide try launched in 2015 to spotlight and salve the almost highly at-risk marine species.
Beluga whales are highly social, gregarious animals. They squeal, squeak, and chirp, which is why sailors long ago called them "sea canaries." Of the 5 Alaskan beluga stocks, the Cook Inlet beluga stock is the smallest and is geographically isolated from the other stocks.
Melt Inlet belugas are a valuable office of the regional Alaska Native subsistence diet, however, the harvest has been regulated when the population declined rapidly—well-nigh likely because of unregulated subsistence harvest at a level this small population could non sustain. Although the hunt has been suspended since 2007, the whale population has non recovered as expected.
In 2000, NOAA Fisheries designated the Cook Inlet beluga whale population every bit a Candidate Species nether the Endangered Species Human action and equally depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. In 2008, the Cook Inlet beluga Distinct Population Segment (DPS) was listed as endangered nether the Endangered Species Human action. The Melt Inlet beluga whale population's rapid refuse, dire status, and the fact the population is not recovering makes it a priority for NOAA Fisheries and its partners to recover and forestall extinction of this iconic species.
Where Cook Inlet Beluga Whales Live
Cook Inlet beluga whales predominately share the upper and eye portions of Cook Inlet with Alaska's human population middle (Anchorage), transportation hub, and largest concentration of industrial activity.
More often than not, belugas spend the ice-complimentary months in upper Cook Inlet, gathering in discrete river mouths, in loftier-use areas with plenty of fish. Breeding and then calving typically occur during this gathering period. Later the anadromous fish runs end in late autumn and ice begins to grade in the upper inlet, belugas begin to disperse into smaller groups, and some head south to the deeper waters of the mid and lower portions of Cook Inlet during winter.
Population Status
The population has declined by nearly fourscore percentage since 1979—from almost 1,300 whales to around 279 today.
Habitat
Beluga whales exhibit seasonal shifts in distribution and habitat use within Cook Inlet, but they stay in the inlet throughout their lives. The whales' seasonal shifts appear to be related to respective changes in their physical environs (e.g., ice formation in winter) and nutrient sources, specifically the timing of fish runs.
Threats
The summer range of Cook Inlet belugas has changed significantly since the 1970s, contracting north and east toward Anchorage in upper Cook Inlet. This range contraction coincided with the population'southward rapid refuse. This puts a larger portion of the endangered population near the well-nigh densely populated area of the state during the busy summer flavour, when boating, structure, and other human activities all increase.
The reason for the Cook Inlet beluga'south distribution alter is unknown, but the quieter Susitna River delta appears to exist an important feeding area that continues to exist occupied by big groups of belugas during the ice-free flow. The whales' summer range is extremely silty due to the glaciers that feed into upper Melt Inlet, limiting their visibility in the water. Their adept use of audio is thus essential to communicate, locate prey, avoid predators, and navigate. Cook Inlet is a naturally noisy environment considering of its extreme tides and heavy silt load. Adding human sounds from ship traffic, structure projects, oil and gas activities, airports and other sources tin make it more difficult for belugas to thrive.
Specially loud underwater sounds tin kill marine mammals, only sublethal furnishings are more than common, including injury or behavioral changes that range from mild (due east.yard., increased vocalizations) to severe (e.g., abandonment of vital habitat). Thus, assessing and managing the effects of human-caused racket is a major consequence for the conservation and recovery of Melt Inlet beluga whales.
Species Recovery
NOAA Fisheries formed a recovery team of scientists and stakeholders, including Alaska Native partners, the oil and gas industry, fishing group, environmental organizations, the state of Alaska, and other federal agencies to help develop a Cook Inlet beluga whale recovery plan. Nosotros finalized the recovery plan (PDF, 284 pages) in December 2016. The plan builds upon scientific studies, traditional knowledge, and other observations and information sources to identify gaps in our knowledge and the research needed to fill those gaps. The recovery plan also identifies specific criteria that volition point the recovery of these animals.
Nosotros developed a Species in the Spotlight 2021–2025 Priority Action Plan for the Melt Inlet beluga whale that builds on the recovery programme and the 2016–2020 activeness plan and details the focused efforts that are needed over the next v years.
The priority actions for Melt Inlet Belugas are:
- Continue to amend our agreement of why Cook Inlet beluga whales are non recovering by enhancing the Stranding Response Plan;
- Reduce anthropogenic dissonance that may disrupt feeding or breeding for Cook Inlet beluga whales;
- Protect habitats that support foraging or reproduction of Cook Inlet beluga whales from other anthropogenic and natural threats;
- Gain a better agreement of population characteristics of Melt Inlet beluga whales to ensure effective direction actions result in recovery; and
- Ensure good for you and plentiful prey are available.
In the first five years of Species in the Spotlight, we have taken important steps toward finding out more than about what we can practise to stabilize this species and prevent its further decline. Our accomplishments include:
- Supported photo ID study of population, which is used to appraise private survival and
- reproductive history also as grouping size, distribution, age-classes, habitat utilise, and other key data;
- Conducted biennial summer aerial surveys to appraise affluence and population trends;
- Worked with the Agency of Ocean Energy Management on wintertime distribution aeriform surveys to meliorate empathize beluga habitat and distribution during not-summertime months;
- Connected biopsy sampling study for genetics, sex, reproductive condition, and contaminant loads;
- Started Belugas Count! , a one-twenty-four hour period celebration and count each September with numerous partners;
- Started the Alaska Beluga Monitoring Partnership, a collaboration supporting citizen scientist monitoring of belugas along Melt Inlet; and
- Carried out unmanned aircraft flights to identify individuals and their health.
2017 Species in the Spotlight Hero Honor
The Articulation Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Environmental Element, Natural Resources Department's Melt Inlet Beluga conservation plan epitomizes the cooperative spirit of the Species in the Spotlight initiative. The program proactively conducts beluga inquiry and conservation activities (many of which address priority actions identified in the 5-yr action program). The program partners, collaborates, and assists with other programs towards the goal of recovering the endangered Cook Inlet Beluga whale.
Learn more than about Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson'south work
2019 Partner in the Spotlight Award
Over the previous two years, Sue Goodglick of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has become a crucial fellow member of the multi-partner Cook Inlet beluga whale team. Sue is a wild fauna biologist with Alaska'due south Marine Mammals Plan. She had been assisting with pinniped research and coordination until spring 2017 when a telephone call went out for someone from the state to partner with united states for the inaugural Belugas Count! result.
Larn more than almost Sue'due south piece of work
2021 Partner in the Spotlight Award
Barbara Švarný Carlson has been a passionate and dedicated advocate for Cook Inlet beluga whales for two decades, both in her professional and personal life. The President and Executive Director of Friends of the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge (FAR), in 2007, Barbara spearheaded the cosmos of the Anchorage Coastal Beluga Survey, the beginning collaborative citizen science effort with NOAA Fisheries and partners to collect data on the distribution and behavior of Melt Inlet belugas. She was likewise one of the commencement planning members of the almanac Belugas Count! result and she and FAR volunteers continue to play a vital role in organizing and co-hosting what has become the largest ane-24-hour interval pedagogy and outreach effort for Cook Inlet belugas. More broadly, Barbara is known for her conviction and dedication to supporting and conserving the coastal ecosystems that support Cook Inlet beluga whales.
Learn more most Barbara'southward piece of work
Last updated by NOAA Fisheries on 03/03/2022
Management Overview
All beluga whales are protected nether the Marine Mammal Protection Act, with the Sakhalin Bay-Nikolaya Bay-Amur River stock and the Melt Inlet stock designated as depleted. The Melt Inlet beluga whale population is listed as endangered nether the Endangered Species Act.
In the United states, NOAA Fisheries works to protect all beluga whale populations living off the coastlines, trophy, and rivers of Alaska. This includes monitoring subsistence harvests and conducting affluence and distribution surveys. Additional management strategies and oversight are required for the endangered Melt Inlet population.
Recovery Planning and Implementation
Recovery Action
NOAA Fisheries is required to develop and implement recovery plans for the conservation and survival of ESA-listed species. The Cook Inlet beluga whale recovery program builds upon both scientific studies and traditional knowledge from Alaska Natives. The plan's ultimate goal is to recover the species, with an interim goal of downward-listing its status from endangered to threatened.
The plan recommends the post-obit major deportment:
- Protect habitat and designate critical habitat
- Minimize the effects of dissonance disturbance
- Answer to stranded beluga whales
- Implement oil spill response plans in the event of a spill
- Review projects that could damage beluga whales
- Manage subsistence harvests
- Educate the public about belugas and the threats they face
Read the recovery plan for Cook Inlet beluga whales
Implementation
The ESA authorizes NOAA Fisheries to engage recovery teams to assist develop and implement recovery plans. In 2010, we convened a recovery squad to help in the development of a draft recovery program for Cook Inlet beluga whales. The recovery team was composed of two voluntary advisory groups: a science console and a stakeholder panel. In 2013, the recovery team provided a first draft of the recovery plan and the team disbanded. NOAA Fisheries solicited review and public comment on the typhoon recovery plan and released a final plan in December 2016.
Some efforts to conserve the Cook Inlet beluga whale include:
- Connected monitoring of the status of the Cook Inlet population and developing a greater agreement of their biology
- Improve our understanding of the effects of threats to Melt Inlet belugas
- Improve the management of threats to reduce or eliminate the outcome of those threats
- Integrate research findings into current and future management actions
- Keep the public informed and educated about the status of Cook Inlet belugas, the threats limiting their recovery, and how the public can help achieve recovery of these whales
NOAA Fisheries will go along to involve stakeholders in this priority species initiative equally the plan'due south primal strategies for preventing extinction are implemented over the coming years.
Recovery Implementation Task Force
NOAA Fisheries and the State of Alaska, Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) recognize that successful recovery of Melt Inlet belugas volition require a multifaceted approach, including: understanding and monitoring the Cook Inlet beluga population (i.east., research); assessing, preventing, mitigating or abating threats to the population's recovery (i.e., habitat and threats management); and garnering public support through improved outreach and education. In an effort to promote recovery, the Cook Inlet Beluga Recovery Implementation Task Force includes three distinct committees which will focus on each of these full general topics:
a) Research Committee;
b) Habitat and Threats Direction Committee; and
c) Outreach Commission.
The primary role of the Committees is to engage the expertise of researchers, managers, communicators, and diverse other stakeholders to advise NOAA Fisheries and ADF&G on specific topics or problems relating to Cook Inlet beluga recovery. The Committees provide guidance and recommendations for most effective recovery action implementation based on existing and new data and commercial data, as it becomes available, and help prioritize express resources to make the about deviation in achieving recovery. The focus is on short-term deportment that can be completed in the next two to 5 years without losing sight of the importance of long-term projects and research.
- Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Recovery Implementation Chore Forcefulness Committees and Members
- Terms of Reference (PDF, x pages)
- Cook Inlet Belugas: A Population in Decline (affiche)
Disquisitional Habitat
One time a species is listed nether the ESA, NOAA Fisheries evaluates and identifies whether whatever areas meet the definition of critical habitat. Those areas may be designated as disquisitional habitat through a rulemaking procedure. The designation of an area as critical habitat does not create a airtight area, marine protected area, refuge, wilderness reserve, preservation, or other conservation area; nor does the designation affect land ownership. Federal agencies that undertake, fund, or allow activities that may affect these designated critical habitat areas are required to consult with NOAA Fisheries to ensure that their actions practice non adversely alter or destroy designated critical habitat.
In 2011, we designated ii areas of Cook Inlet as critical habitat because they are essential for the beluga whales' survival. These areas provide of import feeding habitats and places where belugas can hide from their predators, killer whales.
View the Cook Inlet beluga whale critical habitat designation
View the Cook Inlet beluga critical habitat map
Aerial view of beluga whales in the Chukchi Sea . Credit: NOAA Fisheries
Conservation Efforts
Addressing Body of water Noise
Underwater dissonance threatens beluga whale populations, interrupting their normal behavior and driving them away from areas important to their survival. Increasing evidence suggests that exposure to intense underwater sound in some settings may cause some whales to strand and ultimately dice. NOAA Fisheries is investigating all aspects of audio-visual communication and hearing in marine animals, as well equally the effects of sound on whale behavior and hearing. In 2016, nosotros issued technical guidance for assessing the effects of anthropogenic (man-caused) sound on marine mammal hearing.
In Cook Inlet, Alaska, we review permits for anthropogenic activities and advise ways to decrease the amount of dissonance they create. We also prepare in-water construction guidelines that outline which noise levels are harmful to beluga whales. We aim to develop a database to store information about underwater sound in Cook Inlet.
Learn more about sea noise
Overseeing Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response
Nosotros work with volunteer networks in all coastal states to respond to marine mammal strandings including all whales. When stranded animals are found alive, NOAA Fisheries and our partners assess the animal's health and determine the all-time course of activity. When stranded animals are found expressionless, our scientists work to understand and investigate the crusade of death. Although the crusade oftentimes remains unknown, scientists tin can sometimes attribute strandings to disease, harmful algal blooms, vessel strikes, angling gear entanglements, pollution exposure, and underwater noise. Some strandings can serve equally indicators of ocean wellness, giving insight into larger environmental bug that may also accept implications for human being health and welfare.
After the Cook Inlet beluga whale was listed as endangered in 2008, nosotros developed a Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Stranding Response Program to accost strandings of these critically endangered animals.
Acquire more about the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program
Marine Mammal Unusual Mortality Events
Beluga whales have never been function of a declared unusual mortality event. Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, an unusual mortality event is divers as "a stranding that is unexpected; involves a pregnant die-off of any marine mammal population; and demands immediate response." To understand the health of marine mammal populations, scientists study unusual bloodshed events.
Get information on active and past UMEs
Get an overview of marine mammal UMEs
Reducing Effects from Oil and Gas Activities
Cook Inlet beluga whales live almost oil and gas exploration and product activities. Impacts from these activities include increased ship traffic, oil spills, pollution, seismic inquiry, in-h2o noise, and habitat deposition. To reduce the hazard of oil spills, Alaska's Division of Spill Prevention and Response created an oil and hazardous substance spill program chosen the "Unified Plan". NOAA Fisheries helped write the programme's Wild fauna Protection Guidelines (PDF, 220 pages) to ensure they protect belugas and marine mammals, likewise as other wildlife in Cook Inlet.
Managing Subsistence Harvest
The MMPA allows NOAA Fisheries to enter cooperative agreements with Alaska Native organizations to conserve marine mammals and co-manage subsistence activities, including beluga whale hunts. Alaska Natives hunt beluga whales for subsistence and traditional handicrafts. Belugas are both a food source and a significant part of the cultural and spiritual basis of Native communities.
Notably, past harvest practices accept significantly impacted the Cook Inlet beluga whale population. NOAA Fisheries worked with Cook Inlet Native communities to create a long term harvest program to implement regulations on belugas harvested in Cook Inlet. Between 1999 and 2005, Alaska Native hunters harvested five Cook Inlet beluga whales before it was suspended entirely.
Educating the Public
NOAA Fisheries aims to increase public sensation and support for beluga conservation programs through didactics, outreach, and public participation. We regularly share information with the public about the status of belugas, as well as our research and efforts to promote their recovery.
Regulatory History
All marine mammals, including beluga whales, are protected in the United States under the MMPA. One population of beluga whales—Cook Inlet—is listed as endangered under the ESA.
Beluga Populations Managed under the MMPA
In 2000, NOAA Fisheries designated the Cook Inlet stock as depleted nether the MMPA in response to a pregnant population decline. We as well took steps to restrict subsistence harvest of Cook Inlet belugas. Only five whales were harvested between 2000and 2005, and no subsistence harvest of this population has been allowed since 2007. In 2008, we published a conservation program for the Melt Inlet beluga whale.
The Saghalien Bay-Nikolaya Bay-Amur River stock off the coast of Russia was also designated every bit depleted under the MMPA in 2016.
Beluga Population Managed under the ESA
In 2008, the Cook Inlet population was listed as endangered under the ESA. We designated critical habitat for this population in 2011 and released a final recovery plan in December 2016.
In Feb 2017, nosotros completed a 5-twelvemonth status review of the Cook Inlet beluga population.
Key Actions and Documents
Permit Application to Import 5 Beluga Whales for Scientific Inquiry (File No. 22629, Mystic Aquarium)
Chronology On Baronial 27, 2020, NOAA Fisheries issued Permit No. 22629 to Mystic Aquarium (Responsible Political party: Stephen M. Coan, Ph.D.) to import five captive-built-in beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) for scientific research. The whales may be imported…
- Notice of Issuance: let
- Notice of Public Hearing
- Observe of Receipt: Allow Awarding
- Havok Death: Final MMDS (PDF, 1 page)
- Havok Expiry: Histopathology Report (PDF, 5 pages)
- Havok Death: Preliminary MMDS (PDF, 2 pages)
- Havok Death: Incident Report (PDF, three pages)
- Havok Death: Preliminary Necropsy Study (PDF, two pages)
- Import Verification MMDS (PDF, five pages)
- Permit No. 22629-01 Modest Amendment (PDF, vi pages)
- NOAA Fisheries Approval of the Breeding Prevention Program (PDF, 3 pages)
- Permit No. 22629-01 and Programme Recommendation Memo (PDF, 7 pages)
- Mystic's submitted Plan and Minor Amendment Request (PDF, 40 pages)
- Permit No. 22629 with Appendices (PDF, 29 pages)
- Recommendation Memorandum (PDF, 48 pages)
- Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact (PDF, 64 pages)
- Mystic Responses – Acoustic Study (PDF, xviii pages)
- Mystic Responses –Objectives, Justification, and Methods (PDF, 22 pages)
- Mystic Responses – Take Numbers and Additional Questions (PDF, 8 pages)
- Mystic Responses – Issuance Criteria (PDF, 45 pages)
- Mystic Responses – Terminal Questions (PDF, two pages)
- Mystic Acoustic Technical Guidance User Spreadsheet (PDF, 9 pages)
- 22629 Revised Final Application (PDF, 80 pages)
- Appendix 1 Addendum: Memorandum of Understanding between Georgia and Mystic, Up…
- Appendix 8 Annex: Mystic IACUC Minutes (PDF, 7 pages)
- Appendix 11 Addendum: USDA Research Registration, Updated (PDF, i folio)
- 22629 Public Hearing Transcript (PDF, 141 pages)
- 22629 Application (PDF, 78 pages)
- 22629 Awarding Signature Page (PDF, 1 page)
- 22629 Application Take Tables (PDF, 5 pages)
- Appendix 1: Memorandum of Understanding betwixt Georgia and Mystic (PDF, iii page…
- Appendix two: Mystic Beluga Workshop Program (PDF, 95 pages)
- Appendix 3: Mystic Publications (PDF, 21 pages)
- Appendix 4: Beluga Genetic Test Report (PDF, two pages)
- Appendix 5: Mystic IACUC Canonical Protocols (PDF, 119 pages)
- Appendix 6: References (PDF, 9 pages)
- Appendix seven: Mystic Scientists in Residence 2019 (PDF, 4 pages)
- Appendix 8: Mystic IACUC Overview (PDF, 2 pages)
- Appendix 9: Mystic Grants & Funding History (PDF, 3 pages)
- Appendix 10: Mystic Aquarium Resources (PDF, 2 pages)
- Appendix 11: USDA Licenses & Inspections (PDF, 7 pages)
- Appendix 12: Mystic Veterinarian Argument (PDF, i folio)
- Appendix xiii: Georgia Aquarium Facility Description (PDF, three pages)
- Appendix xiv: Transport Map and Georgia Aquarium Facility Map (PDF, two pages)
- Appendix 15: Georgia Aquarium Transport Plan (PDF, 3 pages)
- Appendix 16: Marineland of Canada Assurance (PDF, 2 pages)
Published
Last updated by NOAA Fisheries on 03/03/2022
Science Overview
NOAA Fisheries scientists are leading the endeavour to answer key questions well-nigh beluga whales, with a special focus on the Cook Inlet population. Electric current enquiry includes studies of beluga whale behavior, environmental, health, distribution, and population trends.
Satellite Tagging
NOAA Fisheries scientists and their collaborators track location data from satellite tags deployed on whales to determine their movements, distribution, diving behavior, and range. In Alaska, scientists and Native subsistence hunters work together to identify satellite tags on belugas.
From 1999 to 2002, nosotros attached satellite tags to belugas in Cook Inlet and observed their twelvemonth-round distribution for the commencement time. Tag information showed seasonal changes in beluga behavior. During the ice-covered period (Dec to March), tagged whales did not completely abandon upper Melt Inlet and remained within the water ice floes. Whales with dive-monitoring tags identified deeper dives and for longer periods. Long-term abundance survey studies show that seasonal range of the beluga whales in Cook Inlet contracted since the early 1990s as the size of the population has decreased.
Acquire more about the move and swoop behavior of beluga whales in Cook Inlet (PDF, 48 pages)
From 2007 to 2009, scientists from the United States, Canada, Greenland, Kingdom of norway, and Russia worked together to track beluga movements and habits throughout chill and subarctic waters using satellite tags. This international project helped united states learn more than near the beliefs, distribution and life history of belugas.
Acquire more than about beluga whale tagging studies
Scientists in Alaska brand certain to inquiry and runway all beluga whale populations and their movements. ABWC tagged belugas in:
- Bristol Bay (2002, 2003, 2006–2008, 2011, 2012, 2014)
- Eastern Bering Sea (2012, 2014, 2016, 2019)
- Eastern Chukchi Sea (1998–2014, 2016–2017, 2019)
Belugas in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas migrate south to the Bering Sea in the winter to avoid water ice in the Arctic. This migration is chosen wintering. From satellite tagged belugas, we learned the iii Bering Body of water wintering beluga whale populations (Beaufort, Chukchi, and Bering Bounding main) do no collaborate or overlap at any time or space.
Observational Studies
NOAA Fisheries conducts observational studies using photo-identification and other techniques to understand the behavior and population dynamics of Cook Inlet beluga whales, besides every bit threats against them.
The Melt Inlet Beluga Whale (CIBW) Photo-ID Projection began in 2005 and continues to the present day, conducting surveys of Cook Inlet belugas and developing a photograph-identification catalog of individuals. The data collected help united states of america acquire more about individual movement patterns, preferred habitat, interactions with human activities, social structure, how often private mothers give nativity, and how long calves remain with their mothers. The CIBW Photograph-ID Project was established and developed through funding from a combination of NGOs, industry, agencies, research foundations and Tribes, including from NOAA Fisheries showtime in 2012. Data from the project are shared with the public and with project partners, including NOAA Fisheries who is currently using them in population models. NOAA Fisheries is also contributing photos to the itemize from their recent biopsy and hexacopter studies, and in exchange, receiving information on the long-term sighting histories of these individuals.
Learn more about the Cook Inlet beluga whale photo-identification project
In 2017, scientists began using hexacopters (aeriform drones) to collect photographs of the endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale to estimate the length of private animals and learn more well-nigh why they take been ho-hum to recover despite many efforts to assistance them. Knowing the length of the whales helps scientists determine whether they are adults, juveniles, or calves, and allows them to distinguish calves of the year (neonates) from ane twelvemonth erstwhile calves. Beluga whales give birth from late July to September. By conducting hexacopter photography surveys each year in late August or early September, we promise to monitor calf production and compare that to environmental factors, such equally the strength of salmon runs in a given year—an important food source for belugas.
Learn more about how we measure whales from the air using hexacopters
Beluga whale photographed during the 2017 hexacopter photogrammetry study of the Cook Inlet population. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Paul Wade
Measuring Pollutants and Spills
NOAA Fisheries scientists and their collaborators collect tissue samples to study the chemicals that belugas are exposed to in Melt Inlet. Our scientists also test whether pollutants and oil spills affect the fish that belugas swallow. This research helps united states of america understand the threats that belugas and their prey face when harmful substances are spilled in Melt Inlet.
Audio-visual Science
Other research focuses on the acoustic environment of cetaceans, including beluga whales. Acoustics is the science of how sound is transmitted. This research involves increasing our understanding of the bones audio-visual behavior of whales, dolphins, and fish; mapping the audio-visual surround; and developing amend methods to locate cetaceans using autonomous gliders and passive acoustic arrays.
We use audio-visual science to monitor beluga hearing levels and feeding behavior. We also study how underwater noise in Cook Inlet affects the manner belugas behave, eat, interact, and motion within their habitat.
Learn more near acoustic science
Aerial Surveys
Scientists utilize small aircraft to observe beluga whales in Cook Inlet and other regions in Alaska to record their numbers and distribution. Surveys typically occur during the summer months when whales are concentrated in bays and estuaries within their respective stock areas. By comparing numbers collected over multiple years, scientists can look for trends—i.eastward., whether the population is increasing, decreasing, or remaining stable during a given period.
Aerial surveys, along with satellite tagging studies, have documented that Cook Inlet beluga whales have contracted their distribution into a much smaller area in the upper inlet during summertime months than had been previously observed in the tardily 1970s—of import information for wildlife managers.
Learn more about aerial surveys in Cook Inlet
Stock Assessments
Determining the number of beluga whales in each population—and whether a stock is increasing or decreasing over time—helps resource managers appraise the success of enacted conservation measures. Our scientists collect information and present these data in an annual stock assessment written report.
Find beluga whale stock cess reports
Alaska Fisheries Science Center Beluga Research
Find out more about what our scientists are learning about the Cook Inlet beluga whale
Last updated by NOAA Fisheries on 03/03/2022
Source: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/beluga-whale
0 Response to "What Do Baby Beluga Whales Eat What Types of Fish Eat Shellfish"
Post a Comment