IPY Activity #780
Pan-Arctic Tracking of Beluga Whales (PATOB)
Activity leaders
Mads-Peter Heide-Jørgensen, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources
Rod Hobbs, National Marine Mammal Laboratory, NOAA
Project goals
Free-ranging belugas outfitted with satellite transmitters undergoing their annual migration relay data that will allow for longitudinal comparisons between beluga populations occupying different regions and sea ice or production conditions and elucidate temporal and spatial differences in habitat use and the susceptibility of each population to changing Arctic habitats. The project will provide a circumpolar baseline for understanding regional resilience of a high Arctic predator to the impacts of climate change.
Geographic focus
Pan-Arctic: Svalbard, Hudson Bay, the Canadian high Arctic archipelago, the Beaufort Sea, the White Sea, and in Chukotka
Taxonomic focus
Beluga whales
Countries involved in activity
All Arctic Ocean-bordering nations including Russian participation at all levels
Expedition dates and vessels
no large vessels, 07/07-11/07, 07/08-11/08, 07/09-11/09