RECAPTURE OF BELUGAS, DELPHINAPTERUS LEUCAS, TAGGED IN THE CANADIAN ARCTIC

• Published in: Marine mammal science Vol. 14; no. 4; pp. 829 - 834
• Main Authors: Orr, J. R., St. Aubin, D. J., Richard, P. R., Heide-Jørgensen, M. P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.10.1998; Blackwell
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Delphinapterus leucas; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects. Techniques; Methods and techniques (sampling, tagging, trapping, modelling...); Canada; Arctic Region; North America; America; Vertebrata; Population survey; Mammalia; Radiotelemetry; Capture recapture method; Radiotransmitter; Animal tagging; Satellite; Cetacea; Animal migration; Delphinapterus leucas
• ISSN: 0824-0469; 1748-7692
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-7692.1998.tb00766.x

Since 1992 most of the belugas fitted with satellite tags were also marked with a polyurethane identification band, placed around the pectoral flipper. In tests on belugas in three aquaria these bands were found to be durable and innocuous to the animals (Orr and Hiatt-Saif 1992). Some flipper bands were worn by captive belugas for over a year, and properly fitted bands were usually removed because of the band material deteriorating in the chemically treated water, not because they irritated the whales. The flipper bands were applied in the field so that an animal that had lost its transmitter could be later identified in the event of recapture by scientists or Inuit hunters. The additional information derived from such a return would augment our understanding of animal distribution and provide insight into the impact of satellite transmitters on individuals. Here, we report the recapture of two such individuals, along with the sighting of another that appeared to show marks left by an instrument package that had been cast off.