Abstract
Research on a southern herd of white (beluga) whales conducted during the summer seasons of 2003–2006 in the southeastern part of the Onega Bay revealed the specific behavioral features that allow white whales to sustain their habitation in the local hydrological conditions. It has been shown that once the white whales occur in some areas of habitation with complicated hydrological conditions, the animals develop an entire complex of behavioral adaptations that provide their comfort and their successful reproduction in the habitat.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andrianov, V.V., Shore observations of beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in the region of Cape Kerets in July 2007, Trudy pyatoi mezhdunarodnoi konferentsii “Morskie mlekopitayushchie Golarktiki” (Proc. Fifth Int. Conf. “Marine Mammals of the Holarctic”), Odessa, 2008, pp. 45–49.
Andrianov, V.V. and Lebedev, A.A., “Sentinel behavior” of belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) in the local water area off Cape Gluboky of Onega Bay of the White Sea, Trudy chetvertoi mezhdunarodnoi konferentsii “Morskie mlekopitayushchie Golarktiki” (Proc. Fourth Int. Conf. “Marine Mammals of the Holarctic”), St. Petersburg, 2006, pp. 43–46.
Andrianov, V.V. and Lukin, L.R., Peculiarities of the distribution of the beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) in the southern part of the Onega Bay of the White Sea in the summer, Materialy X mezhdunarodnoi konferentsii “Problemy izucheniya, ratsional’nogo ispol’zovaniya i okhrany prirodnykh resursov Belogo morya” (Proc. X Int. Conf. “Problems of Studying, Rational Use and Protection of the Natural Resources of the White Sea”), Arkhangelsk, 2007, pp. 279–285.
Andrianov, V.V., Lebedev A.A., Neverova N.V., et al., Long-term environmental impact of an oil spill in the southern part of Onega Bay, the White Sea, Russ. J. Mar. Biol., 2016, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 205–215.
Baranov, V.S., Belikov, R.A., and Bel’kovich, V.M., Behavior of adult beluga males (Delphinapterus leucas) in the summer reproductive cluster, Trudy chetvertoi mezhdunarodnoi konferentsii “Morskie mlekopitayushchie Golarktiki” (Proc. Fourth Int. Conf. “Marine Mammals of the Holarctic”), St. Petersburg, 2006, pp. 54–57.
Bel’kovich, V.M., Beluga whale of the European North: The latest research, Ryb. Khoz., 2004, no. 2, pp. 32–34.
Gidrologiya i gidrokhimiya morei SSSR, Tom 2: Beloe more, vyp. 1: Gidrometeorologicheskie usloviya (Hydrology and Hydrochemistry of the USSR Seas, Vol. 2: The White Sea, No. 1: Hydrometeorological Conditions), Leningrad: Gidrometeoizdat, 1991.
Kleinenberg, S.E., Yablokov, A.V., Bel’kovich, V.M., and Tarasevich, M.N., Belukha: Opyt monograficheskogo opisaniya vida (Beluga Whale: Monographic Study of a Species), Moscow: Nauka, 1964.
Lukin, L.R., Structure and number of the grouping of the beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas), that inhabit the White Sea of Mezensky Bay of the White Sea, in Geographiya evropeiskogo severa (Geography of the European North), Arkhangelsk: Pomor Gos. Univ., 2002, pp. 150–157.
Matishov, G.G. and Ognetov, G.N., Belukha (Delphinapterus leucas) arkticheskikh morei Rossii: biologiya, ekologiya, okhrana iispol’zovanie resursov (Beluga Whale (Delphinapterus leucas) of the Arctic Seas of Russia: Biology, Ecology, Protection and Resource Management), Apatity: Kol’sk. Nauch. Tsentr, Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2006.
Tomilin, A.G., Kitoobraznye morei SSSR, Opredelitel po faune SSSR (Cetaceans of the Seas of the USSR, Key for Identification of Fauna of the USSR), Moscow: Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1962.
Hernetsky, A.D., Belkovich, V.M., and Krasnova, V.V., New data on the structure of beluga population in the White Sea, Trudy vtoroi mezhdunarodnoi konferentsii “Morskie mlekopitayushchie Golarktiki” (Proc. Second Int. Conf. “Marine Mammals of the Holarctic”), Moscow, 2002, pp. 279–282.
Agafonov, A.V., Alekseeva, Y.O., and Bel’kovich, V.M., Ethologo-acoustic research of the reproductive aggregation of beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) near the Myagostrov Island (White Sea), 21st Ann. Conf. of the European Cetacean Society, San-Sebastian, 2007.
Ognetov, G.N., Studies on the ecology and the taxonomy of the white whale (Delphinapterus leucas Pall., 1776) inhabiting the Soviet Arctic, Rep. Int. Whale. Comm., 1981, vol. 31, pp. 515–520.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © V.V. Andrianov, L.R. Lukin, A.A. Lebedev, T.Yu. Lisitsina, 2018, published in Biologiya Morya.
† Deceased.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Andrianov, V.V., Lukin, L.R., Lebedev, A.A. et al. The Adaptive Behavior of the White Whales Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas, 1776) in the Southern Herd of the White Sea under Conditions of the Local Habitat During the Breeding Season. Russ J Mar Biol 44, 58–67 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063074018010029
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063074018010029