Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-5lx2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-29T23:20:25.244Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Observations of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the Canadian Beaufort Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 September 2012

Jeff W. Higdon ,
Tim Byers ,
Leah Brown (née Hartwig)  and
Steven H. Ferguson
Jeff W. Higdon
Affiliation:
Higdon Wildlife Consulting, 45 Pilgrim Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, CanadaR2M 0L3
Tim Byers
Affiliation:
Byers Environmental Studies, P.O. Box 1049, Teulon, Manitoba, Canada, R0C 3B0
Leah Brown (née Hartwig)
Affiliation:
Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 501 University Crescent, Winnipeg, MB, CanadaR3T 2N6 (steve.ferguson@dfo-mpo.gc.ca)
Steven H. Ferguson
Affiliation:
Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 501 University Crescent, Winnipeg, MB, CanadaR3T 2N6 (steve.ferguson@dfo-mpo.gc.ca)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Sightings of killer whales (Orcinus orca) are increasing in the eastern Canadian Arctic, but trends in the western Arctic have not been thoroughly examined. We summarise killer whale observations from the Canadian Beaufort Sea, primarily from traditional ecological knowledge interviews and group workshops conducted in 1993 and 2006–2007. After correcting for duplicative reports, we documented 31 observations occurring from the 1940s to 2000s (18 of the 31 observations could be attributed to a particular decade whereas others could not). Killer whales are rare in the Canadian Beaufort Sea, with only 1–5 reported sightings per decade since the 1940s (median = 3). In 1993 only 15% of Inuvialuit hunters in three communities had observed them, including some sightings in Alaska. Recent mapping workshops (2006–2007) collected only eight sightings from 128 participants in all six regional communities. Local observations indicate no apparent increase in killer whale presence in the western Canadian Arctic. Sightings were widely distributed across the region, although concentrated in the Mackenzie Delta area with few to the east. Killer whales are annually observed as far north as Barrow, Alaska, but do not appear to make regular eastward movements and are rare in Canadian waters.

Type
Research Article
Information
Polar Record , Volume 49 , Issue 3: THEMED SECTION: POLAR WORLDS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2011 , July 2013 , pp. 307 - 314
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, B.M., and Angliss, R.P.. 2011. Alaska marine mammal stock assessments, 2010. Seattle, WA: Alaska Fisheries Science Center (NOAA technical memorandum NMFS-AFSC-223).Google Scholar
Asselin, N.C., Barber, D.G., Stirling, I., Ferguson, S.H., and Richard, P.R.. 2011. Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) habitat selection in the Eastern Beaufort Sea in spring, 1975 to 1979. Polar Biology DOI 10.1007/s00300-011-0990-5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailey, A.M., and Hendee, R.W.. 1926. Notes on the mammals of northwestern Alaska. Journal of Mammalogy 7 (1): 9–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baird, R.W. 2001. Status of killer whales, Orcinus orca, in Canada. Canadian Field-Naturalist 115 (4): 676–701.Google Scholar
Banfield, A.W.F. 1974. The mammals of Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Barry, T.W. 1967. Geese of the Anderson River Delta, N.W.T. Ph.D. dissertation. Edmonton, AB, University of Alberta, Department of Zoology.Google Scholar
Bee, J.W., and Hall, E.R.. 1956. Mammals of northern Alaska on the Arctic slope. Lawrence: University of Kansas Museum of Natural History (Miscellaneous publication 8).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byers, T., and Roberts, L.W. 1995. Harpoons and ulus: collective wisdom and traditions of Inuvialuit regarding the beluga (‘qilalugaq’) in the Mackenzie River estuary. Inuvik: Byers Environmental Studies and Sociometrix Inc. (Available from Fisheries Joint Management Committee, Box 2120, Inuvik, Northwest Territories X0E 0T0, Canada).Google Scholar
Carmack, E.C., and MacDonald, R.W.. 2002. Oceanography of the Canadian Shelf of the Beaufort Sea: a setting for marine life. Arctic 55 (Suppl. 1): 29–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CIS (Canadian Ice Service). 2002. Sea ice climatic atlas, northern Canadian waters, 1971–2000. Ottawa: Environment Canada, Canadian Ice Service.Google Scholar
CIS (Canadian Ice Service). 2011. Sea Ice climatic atlas for northern Canadian waters 1981–2010. Ottawa: Environment Canada, Canadian Ice Service.Google Scholar
Cobb, D., Fast, H., Papst, M.H., Rosenberg, D., Rutherford, R., and Sareault, J.E. (editors). 2008. Beaufort Sea large ocean management area: ecosystem overview and assessment report. Ottawa: Government of Canada, Department of Fisheries and Oceans (Canadian Technical Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Science 2780).Google Scholar
Community of Inuvik, Wildlife Management Advisory Council (NWT) and Joint Secretariat. 2008. Inuvik Inuvialuit community conservation plan: a plan to provide guidance regarding the conservation and management of renewable resources and lands within the Inuvialuit Settlement Region in the vicinity of Inuvik, Northwest Territories. Inuvik, NWT: Inuvialuit Joint Secretariat, Inuvik, NWT. URL: http://www.jointsecretariat.ca/documents.html.Google Scholar
COSEWIC. 2008. COSEWIC assessment and update status report on the Killer Whale Orcinus orca, southern resident population, northern resident population, west coast transient population, offshore population and northwest Atlantic/eastern Arctic population, in Canada. Ottawa: Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. URL: www.sararegistry.gc.ca/status/status_e.cfm.Google Scholar
Dahlheim, M.E. 1997. A photographic catalog of killer whales, Orcinus orca, from the central Gulf of Alaska to the southeastern Bering Sea. PUBLISHER? PLACE OF PUBL? (NOAA technical report NMFS 131).Google Scholar
Dahlheim, M.E. and Heyning, J.E.. 1998. Killer whale Orcinus orca (Linnaeus, 1758). In: Ridgway, S., and Harrison, R. (editors). Handbook of marine mammals, Vol. 6. San Diego: Academic Press: 281–322.Google Scholar
Dahlheim, M.E. and White, P.A.. 2010. Ecological aspects of transient killer whales Orcinus orca as predators in southeastern Alaska. Wildlife Biology 16: 308–322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DFO (Department of Fisheries and Oceans). 2000. Eastern Beaufort Sea beluga. Ottawa: Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO Science Stock Status Report E5–38).Google Scholar
Ferguson, S.H., Higdon, J.W., and Chmelnitsky, E.G.. 2010. The rise of killer whales as a major Arctic predator. In: Ferguson, S.H., Losetto, L.L., and Mallory, M.L. (editors). A little less Arctic: top predators in the world's largest northern inland sea, Hudson Bay. New York: Springer Publishing Company. doi: 10.1007/978-90-481-9121-5_6: 117–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferguson, S.H., Kingsley, M.C.S., and Higdon, J.W.. 2011. Killer whale predation in a multi-prey system. Population Ecology 3: 31–41.Google Scholar
Ferguson, S.H., Higdon, J.W., and Westdal, K.H.. 2012 a. Prey items and predation behavior of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Nunavut, Canada based on Inuit hunter interviews. Aquatic Biosystems 2012, 8:3. doi:10.1186/2046-9063-8-3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ferguson, S.H., Asselin, N.C., Loseto, L.L., and Higdon, J.W.. 2012b. Team 5: marine mammals. In: Barber, D.G., Tjaden, T., Leitch, D., Barber, L., and Chan, W. (editors), On the edge: from knowledge to action during the Fourth International Polar Year Circumpolar Flaw Lead System Study (2007–2008). Winnipeg: University of Manitoba:96–109.Google Scholar
FJMC (Fisheries Joint Management Committee). 2008. Minutes of the Husky Lakes beluga whale entrapment workshop, Tuktoyaktuk, NT, June 16–18 2008. Inuvik: Fisheries Joint Management Committee.Google Scholar
Forney, K.A., and Wade, P.. 2006. Worldwide distribution and abundance of killer whales. In: Estes, J.A., Brownell, R.L., DeMaster, D.P Jr., Doak, D.F., and Williams, T.M. (editors). Whales, whaling and ocean ecosystems. San Diego: University of California Press: 145–162.Google Scholar
Frost, K.J., Lowry, L.F., and Burns, J.J.. 1983. Distribution of marine mammals in the coastal zone of the eastern Chukchi Sea during summer and autumn. Juneau: Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program (Environmental assessment of the Alaskan continental shelf, final reports of principal investigators, Vol. 20): 563–650.Google Scholar
George, J.C., and Suydam, R.. 1998. Observations of killer whale (Orcinus orca) predation in the northeastern Chukchi and western Beaufort Seas. Marine Mammal Science 14 (2): 330–332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
George, J.C., Philo, L.M., Hazard, K., Withrow, D., Carroll, G.M., and Suydam, R.S.. 1994. Frequency of killer whale (Orcinus orca) attacks and ship collisions based on scarring on bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) of the Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas stock. Arctic 47 (3):247–255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hartwig, L. 2009. Mapping traditional knowledge related to the identification of ecologically and biologically significant areas in the Beaufort Sea. Ottawa: Government of Canada, Department of Fisheries and Oceans (Canadian manuscript report of fisheries and aquatic sciences 2895).Google Scholar
Harwood, L.A., and Smith, T.G.. 2002. Whales of the Inuvialuit settlement region in Canada's western Arctic: an overview and outlook. Arctic 55 (Suppl. 1): 77–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Higdon, J.W. 2007. Status of knowledge on killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the Canadian Arctic. Ottawa: Fisheries and Oceans Canada (Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat research document 2007/048). URL: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/csas/Csas/Home-Accueil_e.htm.Google Scholar
Higdon, J.W., and Ferguson, S.H.. 2009. Loss of Arctic sea ice causing punctuated change in sightings of killer whales (Orcinus orca) over the past century. Ecological Applications 19:1365–1375.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Higdon, J.W., Hauser, D.D.W., and Ferguson, S.H.. 2011. Killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the Canadian Arctic: distribution, prey items, group sizes, and seasonality. Marine Mammal Science DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-7692.2011.00489.xGoogle Scholar
Jefferson, T.A., Stacey, P.J., and Baird, R.W.. 1991. A review of killer whale interactions with other marine mammals: predation to co-existence. Mammal Review 21: 151–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leatherwood, S., Bowlens, A.E., and Reeves, R.. 1986. Aerial surveys of marine mammals in the southeastern Bering Sea. Anchorage AK: U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA, Alaska Office (OCSEAP final report 42):147–490.Google Scholar
Leatherwood, S., Reeves, R.R., Perrin, W.F., and Evans, W.E.. 1988. Whales, dolphins, and porpoises of the eastern North Pacific and adjacent Arctic waters, a guide to their identification, revised ed. New York: Dover Publications Inc.Google Scholar
Lowry, L.F., Nelson, R.R., and Frost, K.J.. 1987. Observations of killer whales, Orcinus orca, in western Alaska: sighting, strandings and predation on other marine mammals. Canadian Field-Naturalist 101: 6–12.Google Scholar
Matthews, C.J. D., Luque, S.P., Petersen, S.D., Andrews, R.D., and Ferguson, S.H.. 2011. Satellite tracking of a killer whale (Orcinus orca) in the eastern Canadian Arctic documents ice avoidance and rapid, long-distance movement into the North Atlantic. Polar Biology DOI: 10.1007/s00300-010-0958-x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Melnikov, V.V., Zagrebin, I.A., Zelensky, G.M., and Ainana, L.I.. 2007. Killer whales (Orcinus orca) in waters adjacent to the Chukotka Peninsula, Russia. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 9: 53–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reeves, R.R., and Mitchell, E.. 1988. Distribution and seasonality of killer whales in the eastern Canadian Arctic. Rit Fiskedeildar 11:136–160.Google Scholar
Regehr, E., Hunter, C.M., Caswell, H., Amstrup, S.C, and Stirling, I.. 2010. Survival and breeding of polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea in relation to sea ice. Journal of Animal Ecology 79 (1): 117–127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Richard, P.R., Martin, A.R., and Orr, J.R.. 2001. Summer and autumn movements of belugas of the eastern Beaufort Sea Stock. Arctic 54 (3): 223–236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scammon, C.M. 1874. The marine mammals of the northwestern coast of North America. New York: Putnam.Google Scholar
Sleptov, M.M. 1961. O kolebanii chislennotski kitov v Chukotsov more v raznyye gody [Fluctuations in the numbers of whales of the Chukchi Sea in various years]. Tudyr Instituta Morfologii Zhivotnykh: 54–64 [In Russian]. (Translation by U.S. Navy Oceanographic Office, Washington, D.C., 1970, translation 478).Google Scholar
Springer, A.M., Estes, J.A., Van Vliet, G.B., Williams, T.M., Doak, D.F., Danner, E.M., Forney, K.A., and Pfister, B.. 2003. Sequential megafaunal collapse in the north Pacific Ocean: an ongoing legacy of industrial whaling? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 100: 12223–12228.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed