Research Document - 2006/050

Update on investigations of bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) movements in the eastern Arctic, 2003-2005, based on satellite-linked telemetry

By Dueck, L.P., M.P. Hiede-Jørgensen, M.V. Jensen, and L.D. Postma

Abstract

Using satellite-linked telemetry, studies of bowhead whale movements in Canada were conducted in northern Foxe Basin from 2001 to 2003 and in Cumberland Sound in 2004 and 2005. Four whales were tagged in 2001, but all provided data for <1 wk. Over the next four years, 28 bowhead whales were tagged in northern Foxe Basin (n=16) and Cumberland Sound (n=12), of which 9 provided no data, 6 tags transmitted for periods of up to one month, 8 for one to two months, 3 for two to three months, one for 3.5 months and one for about seven months. Of 13 tags deployed in northern Foxe Basin that provided data for ≥18 days, eight moved through Fury and Hecla Strait and ranged throughout Gulf of Boothia and Prince Regent Inlet. The remaining five whales made mostly local movements. Of 4 whales tagged in Cumberland Sound that provided data for ≥26 days, all moved out of Cumberland Sound. Three of these whales traveled to Prince Regent Inlet, one of which made a nearly complete circumnavigation of Baffin Island. The latter took up winter residency in Hudson Strait. Six females accompanied by calves were among those whales tagged in Foxe Basin, and two moved into Prince Regent Inlet. Both adult males and juveniles were among those tagged in Cumberland Sound and that moved to Prince Regent Inlet. Combined with tracking results of Greenland whales, the findings indicate that bowhead whales are wide ranging and whales from both Foxe Basin and Baffin Bay regions share common ranges in summer as well as winter. Whales tagged in all localities exhibited varying travel routes. Common use of wintering ranges suggests that there is potential for significant genetic exchange between the various components of the eastern Arctic population.

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