Extralimital records of White Whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in eastern North American waters

Abstract

Published "extralimital" records of white whales in the Canadian Maritimes and the northeastern USA were reviewed, and new unpublished observations were considered. The species now definitely can be reporterd from as far south as coastal waters of New Jersey. White Whales mya have had a wider, somewhat more southerly distribution in the northwest Atlantic prior ot European settlement,but we suspect that factors such as thermoregulatory stress, predation, cmpetitive exclusion, and possibly aboriginal hunting discouraged establishment of viable breeding stocks south of Cabot Strait. White Whales seen in the waters of the Canadian Maritimes and New England states are probably emigrants from the St. Lawrence population, which consists of several hundred individuals.