Secrets of the whales

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This article was published 21/08/2016 (2809 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The head of research and conservation at Assiniboine Park Zoo is enlisting the help of people across the globe in an effort to better understand beluga whales.

Stephen Petersen, who has been leading the zoo’s conservation efforts since 2011, is hoping to study belugas’ social structures, population and use of the environment by collecting thousands of underwater photos of the marine mammals in the Churchill River estuary.

Using a camera mounted to a boat captained by Hayley Shephard, a live feed of belugas trailing the watercraft is broadcast worldwide on explore.org — a multimedia platform broadcasting primarily from remote locations in North America — and viewers are encouraged to take snapshots of the whales at specific moments.

“With a little bit of additional information, we can work together to collect a lot of great data,” Petersen said. “The boat is collecting a GPS track line and then we can pair the time from the GPS and the time from snapshots that people take, to see where they’re seeing males, females, calves, and all the different groups.”

“On a broad scale, it gives us a chance to look at patterns of use within the estuary, and be able to say certain areas are more or less important to different groups of beluga.”

While the video feed of the belugas swimming along in the turquoise waters near Hudson Bay is mesmerizing and a portal into a seldom seen environment, it is also serving an important purpose for Petersen and his research partner and biologist Meagan Hainstock.

By the end of the season, Petersen expects to have a data set of 20,000 photos of the belugas, which they will use to identify the endangered whales, their sex, behaviour, health, and the effects of climate change, and human contact, among other variables. Useful photos will capture the underbelly of the whale and distinct markings such as scars and rakes.

According to Petersen, researchers don’t yet have a complete understanding of how belugas behave and what happens within the group structure.  

By comparison, orcas and dolphins are easier to track and study because of the darker coloration, dorsal fins and other physical characteristics. Belugas, meanwhile, are white making scars harder to see, coupled with the fact the animals molt their skin each year.

Even though Assiniboine Park Zoo does not exhibit beluga whales, the research supports the organization’s conservation efforts in relation to polar bears and other Arctic species, Petersen said.

“We have a strong interest in polar bears but you can never study one species in isolation from its environment,” Petersen said. “I get a better picture of the entire environment and then will be able to say this is how it’s changing with climate change and why we should be concerned.

“We’re hoping the things that we learn we can communicate to other people who manage beluga in the north or try to protect beluga in the St. Lawrence River estuary.”

By engaging the community at large in the research, the hope is that people will also gain a better understanding and respect for Arctic species and the environment that hosts them.

“Just going and checking out the beluga cam is amazing and will make (you) want to go to Churchill and get people interested in that ecosystem,” Petersen said. “But it’s also a chance to help out with research in a fun way and give us some meaningful data that is always at a premium.”

For more information go to explore.org