ACCESS NUMBER: TO-15179

STUDY TITLE: Satellite tracking of eastern Chukchi Sea beluga whales in the Beaufort Sea and

Arctic Ocean

REPORT TITLE: Distribution and movements of beluga whales from the eastern Chukchi Sea

stock during summer and early autumn

CONTRACT NUMBER: 1435-01-98-CA-30909; TASK ORDER (TO): 15179

SPONSORING OCS REGION: Alaska

APPLICABLE PLANNING AREA: Beaufort and Chukchi Seas and Hope Basin

FISCAL YEAR OF PROJECT FUNDING: 2000

COMPLETION DATE OF REPORT: November 2004

COST: FY 2000: $34,708; CUMULATIVE PROJECT COST: $105,496

PROJECT MANAGER: Robert Suydam

AFFILIATION: North Slope Borough

ADDRESS: Department of Wildlife Management, Box 69, Barrow, AK 99723

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS*: Robert Suydam, Kathy Frost, and Lloyd Lowry

KEY WORDS: beluga whale, Deiphinapterus leucas, Arctic Ocean, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea,

movements, oil and gas development, satellite telemetry

BACKGROUND:

Beluga whales are an important subsistence resource for Alaska Natives; approximately 300 are

harvested annually. Studies funded by OCSEAP/MMS in the early 1980's provided information

about harvest, reproduction, food habits and distribution and abundance of belugas in summer.

More recent studies by the Alaska Beluga Whale Committee (ABWC), the North Slope Borough

(NSB), the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG), and the National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS) have provided additional information about harvest levels, genetic stock identity

and abundance in summering areas. Information is lacking about the distribution of eastern

Chukchi Sea belugas in summer and autumn. Satellite telemetry provides a tool for determining

movements of whales. Initial results from satellite tracking of eastern Chukchi Sea belugas

indicated these whales used more of the Beaufort Sea than anticipated. Offshore oil exploration

and production facilities on the inner shelf of the Beaufort Sea might impact belugas using the

Beaufort Sea. This project was undertaken to better determine the summer and autumn

distribution and movements of eastern Chukchi Sea belugas.

OBJECTIVES:

Our primary objective was to use satellite-linked transmitters to track movements of

belugas of the eastern Chukchi Sea stock once they leave the area of Kasegaluk

Lagoon.

DESCRIPTION:

This project was collaborative among the village of Point Lay and its beluga hunters, the ABWC,

the NSB, the ADFG and NMFS. In 1998 and 1999, satellite transmitters were attached to 10

belugas near Point Lay. MMS (through the Coastal Marine Institute) provided additional funds to

expand the study during two additional years. Working together, hunters and scientists captured

and attached satellite transmitters to a total 23 beluga whales, 12 adult males, 5 immature males,
ACCESS NUMBER: TO-15179

2 adult females and 4 immature females. These whales were captured in Kasegaluk Lagoon

following the annual drive hunt at Point Lay over four years: 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2002.

Transmitters were attached to the dorsal ridges of the animals and the tags recorded dive

information as well as location data. We tracked the tagged whales over a period of 5-154 days,

from late June/early July to December.

SIGNIFICANT CONCLUSIONS:

Tagged belugas used a much greater extent of the Beaufort Sea and portions of the Arctic Ocean

than anticipated. Some animals move much farther north (to approximately 800) than expected

into deep, ice-covered waters. Most of the Beaufort Sea and the northeastern Chukchi Sea was

used over the summer, although we found very little use of the nearshore Beaufort Sea. The

shelf break of the Beaufort Sea was used consistently by tagged belugas throughout the summer.

Tags of several animals lasted into the autumn. These animals moved south through the

Chukchi Sea and Bering Strait; their tags stopped functioning just north of St. Lawrence Island.

Ice cover did not seem to limit movements of belugas during the summer.

STUDY RESULTS:

This study represents the first to document the movements of the eastern Chukchi Sea stock of

belugas during the summer and autumn. Belugas initially moved from the Kasegaluk Lagoon

area, in the northeastern Chukchi Sea, to the north and northeast towards Barrow. Adult males

continued to move far to the north into the very deep, ice-covered waters of the northern Beaufort

Sea and Arctic Ocean. Females and young tended to remain near the shelf break. Our results

document that eastern Chukchi Sea belugas use much of the Beaufort Sea during the summer.

Therefore, they may be susceptible to effects from oil and gas exploration and development.

STUDY PRODUCTS:

Frost, K. J., L. F. Lowry and R. Suydam. Satellite tracking of eastern Chukchi Sea beluga whales

in the Beaufort Sea and Arctic Ocean. In University of Alaska Coastal Marine Institute.

Annual Reports. Fairbanks, AK, University of Alaska, Coastal Marine Institute and USD01,

MMS, Alaska OCS Region. 2000.

Frost, K. J., L. F. Lowry and R. Suydam. Satellite tracking of eastern Chukchi Sea beluga whales

in the Beaufort Sea and Arctic Ocean. In University of Alaska Coastal Marine Institute.

Annual Reports. Fairbanks, AK, University of Alaska, Coastal Marine Institute and USD01,

MMS, Alaska OCS Region. 2001.

Frost, K. J., L. F. Lowry and R. Suydam. Satellite tracking of eastern Chukchi Sea beluga whales

in the Beaufort Sea and Arctic Ocean. Univ. Alaska Coastal Marine Institute Annual

Research Review, Fairbanks, AK, Feb. 2001 (abstr.)

Suydam, R., L. F. Lowry and K. J. Frost. Satellite tracking of beluga whales in the central Arctic

Ocean. In Alaska OCS Region Information Transfer Meeting Proceedings, Preparer

MBC Applied Environmental Sciences Anchorage: USD01, MMS, Alaska OCS Region.

2001.

Frost, K. J., L. F. Lowry and R. Suydam. Satellite tracking of eastern Chukchi Sea beluga whales

in the Beaufort Sea and Arctic Ocean. In University of Alaska Coastal Marine Institute.

Annual Reports. Fairbanks, AK, University of Alaska, Coastal Marine Institute and USD01,

MMS, Alaska OCS Region. 2002.

Suydam, R., K. J. Frost and L. F. Lowry. Satellite tracking of eastern Chukchi Sea beluga whales

in the Beaufort Sea and Arctic Ocean. Univ. Alaska Coastal Marine Institute Annual

Research Review, Fairbanks, AK, Feb. 2002 (abstr.)

Suydam, R., K. J. Frost and L. F. Lowry. Satellite tracking of eastern Chukchi Sea beluga whales

in the Beaufort Sea and Arctic Ocean. Univ. Alaska Coastal Marine Institute Annual

Research Review, Fairbanks, AK, 19 Feb. 2003 (abstr.)

Suydam, R. Satellite tracking of eastern Chukchi Sea beluga whales in the Beaufort Sea and

Arctic Ocean. In Alaska OCS Region 9th Information Transfer Meeting Proceedings,

Preparer MBC Applied Environmental Sciences Anchorage: USD01, MMS, Alaska OCS

Region. 2002.
ACCESS NUMBER: TO-15179

Suydam, R., L. Lowry, K. Frost, G. OCorry-Crowe and G. VanBlaricom. Satellite tracking of

eastern Chukchi Sea beluga whales in the Beaufort Sea and Arctic Ocean, 1998-2002.

15th Conf. Biology of Marine Mammals, 14-19 December 2003 (abstr. and presented

paper).

*pIs affiliation may be different than that listed for Project Manager(s).