Alaskan distribution of the Beluga Whale, Delphinapterus leucas

Abstract

Results of observations of Beluga Whales from 80,000 km of aerial survey trackline in Alaska indicate an apparent absence of this species in many coastal and most offshore waters. Important populations are located in the Gulf of Alaska, especially the Cook Inlet, northern Bristol Bay, Norton Sound, and a northern migratory one which winters in the Bering Sea and summers in the eastern Beaufort Sea. Beluga occur regularly in deep water offshore during summer in the Beaufort Sea and can occur offshore elsewhere, but are predominantly coastal in the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska. We suspect that there are no major populations of this species unreported in Alaskan waters. (Au)