Beluga health

Beluga health Cook Inlet beluga whales, Delphinapterus leucas, are presently indexed as `Endangered` below the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) started out tracking this populace all through the Nineties after it became introduced to the ESA Candidate Species listing in.

Monitoring efforts blanketed aerial surveys, and in , the primary tries to seize and satellite tv for pc-tag whales. Working with Canadian scientists and Alaska Native subsistence hunters in  and , tagging strategies had been tailored to situations in Cook Inlet (muddy water, intense tides, and sizeable mudflats).

culminating in a success seize and monitoring of a whale all through the summer time season of 1999. This became accompanied with the aid of using 3 extra years of seize and tagging research all through past due summer time season. Tags had been connected to 18 whales among  and

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A satellite tv for pc tagging undertaking became performed from 1999 via 2003, as a part of a multi-12 months take a look at of summer time season, fall, winter, and spring moves of beluga whales in Cook Inlet.

This undertaking became a cooperative attempt led with the aid of using the Alaska Fisheries Science Center`s Marine Mammal Laboratory and the Alaska Regional Office, taking part with Alaska Native subsistence hunters, the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Dynacare Laboratories Consumer`s Medical Lab, SeaWorld San Antonio, Alaska Veterinary Pathology Services, Joint-Base Elmendorf-Richardson, University of Alaska-Fairbanks, and the Alaska SeaLife Center.

Each beluga became tagged with a satellite tv for pc-related transmitter that recorded area statistics. Most tags additionally blanketed a time and intensity recorder which facts common dive depths, dive intervals, and time at intensity, even as different tags recorded temperature.

These statistics had been mentioned to a System ARGOS receiver on a NOAA earth commentary satellite tv for pc passing overhead numerous instances a day. Location of the whale is calculated from the Doppler shift withinside the uplink signal. The unique function facts from this take a look at allowed biologists to observe the moves of tagged whales from their summer time season feeding regions to habitats occupied all through fall, winter, and spring.

What we found out from those whales will assist the National Beluga health

Marine Fisheries Service and numerous Alaska Native corporations withinside the Cook Inlet place recognize the motion styles of those animals, in addition to their surfacing and diving behavior. These statistics had been crucial to figuring out the essential habitat regions that those endangered whales depend upon given all tagged whales remained inside Cook Inlet.

Health exams performed all through this take a look at blanketed Beluga health

series of blood serum, pores and skin and blubber, and mucus. Skin samples supplied genetic facts and are used to become aware of man or woman whales and the inventory that they got here from.

The blubber became analyzed to decide the whale’s eating regimen and contaminant loads. The blood yielded facts on the overall fitness and circumstance of the takedietplan whale, in addition to particular facts on hormone levels. Beluga health