Seasonal patterns in acoustic detections of marine mammals near Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories
The Arctic is changing rapidly, leading to changes in habitat availability and increased anthropogenic disturbance. Information on the distribution of animals is needed as these changes occur. We examine seasonal presence of marine mammals in the western Canadian Arctic near Sachs Harbour, Northwest...
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2018-09-01
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0021 |
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doaj-68354c21ffc442e394e0126d5002b4d72021-10-02T17:37:02ZengCanadian Science PublishingArctic Science2368-74602018-09-014325927810.1139/as-2017-0021Seasonal patterns in acoustic detections of marine mammals near Sachs Harbour, Northwest TerritoriesWilliam D. Halliday0Stephen J. Insley1Tyler de Jong2Xavier Mouy3Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, 169 Titanium Way, Whitehorse, YT Y1A 0E9, Canada. Department of Biology, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada.Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, 169 Titanium Way, Whitehorse, YT Y1A 0E9, Canada. Department of Biology, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada.Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, 169 Titanium Way, Whitehorse, YT Y1A 0E9, Canada.School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada. JASCO Applied Science Ltd, 2305-4464 Markham Street, Victoria, BC V8Z 7X8, Canada.The Arctic is changing rapidly, leading to changes in habitat availability and increased anthropogenic disturbance. Information on the distribution of animals is needed as these changes occur. We examine seasonal presence of marine mammals in the western Canadian Arctic near Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories, using passive acoustic monitoring between 2015 and 2016. We also examined the influence of environmental variables (ice concentration and distance, wind speed) on the presence of these species. Both bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) and beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) arrived in late April, and belugas departed in mid-August, while bowheads departed in late October. Bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus) vocalizations began in October, peaked from April through June, and stopped in early July. Ringed seals (Pusa hispida) vocalized occasionally in all months, but were generally quiet. Whales migrated in as the ice broke up and migrated out before ice formed in the autumn. Bearded seals started vocalizing as ice formed and stopped once ice was almost gone. Given the importance of sea ice to the timing of migration of whales and vocalization by bearded seals, the trends that we present here may change in the future due to the increasing ice-free season caused by climate change. Our study therefore serves as a baseline with which to monitor future change.https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0021climate changeconservationpassive acoustic monitoringsea ice |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
William D. Halliday Stephen J. Insley Tyler de Jong Xavier Mouy |
spellingShingle |
William D. Halliday Stephen J. Insley Tyler de Jong Xavier Mouy Seasonal patterns in acoustic detections of marine mammals near Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories Arctic Science climate change conservation passive acoustic monitoring sea ice |
author_facet |
William D. Halliday Stephen J. Insley Tyler de Jong Xavier Mouy |
author_sort |
William D. Halliday |
title |
Seasonal patterns in acoustic detections of marine mammals near Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories |
title_short |
Seasonal patterns in acoustic detections of marine mammals near Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories |
title_full |
Seasonal patterns in acoustic detections of marine mammals near Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories |
title_fullStr |
Seasonal patterns in acoustic detections of marine mammals near Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seasonal patterns in acoustic detections of marine mammals near Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories |
title_sort |
seasonal patterns in acoustic detections of marine mammals near sachs harbour, northwest territories |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
series |
Arctic Science |
issn |
2368-7460 |
publishDate |
2018-09-01 |
description |
The Arctic is changing rapidly, leading to changes in habitat availability and increased anthropogenic disturbance. Information on the distribution of animals is needed as these changes occur. We examine seasonal presence of marine mammals in the western Canadian Arctic near Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories, using passive acoustic monitoring between 2015 and 2016. We also examined the influence of environmental variables (ice concentration and distance, wind speed) on the presence of these species. Both bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) and beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) arrived in late April, and belugas departed in mid-August, while bowheads departed in late October. Bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus) vocalizations began in October, peaked from April through June, and stopped in early July. Ringed seals (Pusa hispida) vocalized occasionally in all months, but were generally quiet. Whales migrated in as the ice broke up and migrated out before ice formed in the autumn. Bearded seals started vocalizing as ice formed and stopped once ice was almost gone. Given the importance of sea ice to the timing of migration of whales and vocalization by bearded seals, the trends that we present here may change in the future due to the increasing ice-free season caused by climate change. Our study therefore serves as a baseline with which to monitor future change. |
topic |
climate change conservation passive acoustic monitoring sea ice |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0021 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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