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Stomach contents of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) from four locations in the Canadian Arctic

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Abstract

The stomach contents of four bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) harvested between 1994 and 2008 from the Canadian Arctic were examined to assess diet composition. Three samples were collected from bowhead whales of the Eastern Canada–West Greenland (EC–WG) population and represent, according to our knowledge, the first diet analysis from this bowhead whale stock. We also examined the stomach content of one bowhead whale from the Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort (BCB) population hunted in 1996. All four whales had food in their stomachs and their diet varied from exclusively pelagic (BCB whale), with Limnocalanus macrurus being the main prey, to epibenthic and benthic (EC–WG) with Mysis oculata playing an important role. These results indicate broad foraging spectrum of the bowhead whales and add to a basic knowledge of their diet.

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Acknowledgments

This work would not have been possible without the help of the Inuit hunters and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) staff, in particular Blair Dunn, working in Igloolik, Kugaaruk, Kangiqsujuaq and Shingle Point who provided stomach samples from harvested bowhead whales. Funding was provided by the Nunavut Implementation Fund (DFO), Species At Risk Coordination des espèces en péril (SARCEP), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC to SHF) and the International Polar Year (IPY) Canadian Federal Program Office.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université du Québec à Rimouski, 310 Allée des Ursulines, Rimouski, QC, G5L 3A1, Canada

    Corinne Pomerleau

  2. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Institut Maurice Lamontagne, 850 Route de la Mer, Mont-Joli, QC, G5H 3Z4, Canada

    Corinne Pomerleau

  3. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Freshwater Institute, 501 University Crescent, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N6, Canada

    Steven H. Ferguson & Wojciech Walkusz

  4. Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Powstancow Warszawy 55, 81-712, Sopot, Poland

    Wojciech Walkusz

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  1. Corinne Pomerleau
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  2. Steven H. Ferguson
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  3. Wojciech Walkusz
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Correspondence to Corinne Pomerleau.

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Pomerleau, C., Ferguson, S.H. & Walkusz, W. Stomach contents of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) from four locations in the Canadian Arctic. Polar Biol 34, 615–620 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-010-0914-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-010-0914-9

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