The effect of sea-ice loss on beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in West Greenland

Polar research

D. Borchers¹  K.L. Laidre²  M.P. Heide-Jørgensen³  H. Stern⁴  M. Simon⁴  T.A. Marques⁴ 

[1] Polar Science Center, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Box 355640, Seattle, WA 98105, USA;Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Box 570, DK-3900 Nuuk, Greenland;Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Box 570, DK-3900 Nuuk, GreenlandCorrespondence;Research Unit for Wildlife Population Assessment, Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Fife KY16 9LZ, UK

关键词: Beluga;    climate change;    line transect;    sea ice;    West Greenland.;   

DOI  :  10.1111/j.1751-8369.2009.00142.x

学科分类：自然科学（综合）

来源: Co-Action Publishing

【 摘 要 】

An aerial survey was conducted to estimate the abundance of belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) on their wintering ground in West Greenland in March–April 2006 and 2008. The survey was conducted as a double platform aerial line transect survey, and sampled approximately 17% of the total survey area of ca. 125 000 km2. The abundance of belugas was 10 595 (95% confidence interval 4904–24 650). The largest abundance was found at the northern part of Store Hellefiske Bank, at the eastern edge of the Baffin Bay pack ice, a pattern similar to that found in eight systematic surveys conducted since 1981. A clear relationship between decreasing sea-ice cover and increasing offshore distance of beluga sightings was established from all previous surveys, suggesting that belugas expand their distribution westward as new areas on the banks of West Greenland open up earlier in spring with reduced sea-ice coverage or early annual ice recession. This is in contrast to the relatively confined distribution of belugas near the ...

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC