. The Canadian field-naturalist. 1978 Harrison and Hall: Beluga Whale Distribution, Alaska 237 Beaufort Sea. Bering Sea Gulf of Alaska .•^^^- 168 164° 160 156° 152° 148* Figure 2. Beluga Whale sightings, November-April 1975-1977. waters in migration from the Bering Sea each spring en route to feeding grounds near Banks Island and calving grounds in the Mackenzie Delta (Sergeant and Hoek 1974). They arrive in Canadian waters between May and July(Fraker 1977) and have been recorded at Point Barrow in early May (McVay 1973). We had two sightings each month in July and August for a total of 35 ani
. The Canadian field-naturalist. 1978 Harrison and Hall: Beluga Whale Distribution, Alaska 237 Beaufort Sea. Bering Sea Gulf of Alaska .•^^^- 168 164° 160 156° 152° 148* Figure 2. Beluga Whale sightings, November-April 1975-1977. waters in migration from the Bering Sea each spring en route to feeding grounds near Banks Island and calving grounds in the Mackenzie Delta (Sergeant and Hoek 1974). They arrive in Canadian waters between May and July(Fraker 1977) and have been recorded at Point Barrow in early May (McVay 1973). We had two sightings each month in July and August for a total of 35 animals. All sightings occurred approximately 100 km offshore, in water depths of 1800 m, and in polynya. Distance offshore and water depths of Beluga in the Beaufort Sea contrast sharply with sightings from the remainder of Alaska in which Beluga are found a mean 15 km offshore and at a mean water depth of 26 m. Therefore our data indicate that summer Beluga in the western Beaufort Sea are found in offshore leads in contrast to the more general situation in which Alaskan Beluga utilize estuaries, shallow coastal bays, and sounds. The cow and calf (calf 40% length of adult) that were sighted in late August may indicate an early movement away from calving grounds in the Mackenzie Delta and possible offshore nursing for young-of-the-year. Chukchi Sea Surveys of 7000 km of trackline in the Chukchi Sea were completed in June, August, and October. Beluga have been observed in the Bering Strait area during February and March (Kleinenberg et al. 1964) and northward migration has been documented at Point Hope in April (Johnson et al. 1966). Animals have been sighted in an estuary north of Cape Lisburne in June (Childs 1969) and southward migration has been noted at Point Barrow in. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the
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