General information
Thanks to the Alaska Beluga Whale Committee, North Slope Borough, National Marine Mammal Lab, and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for sharing data and collaborating. Tagging conducted under ADF&G Permit #18890. Maps and text below provided by John Citta (ADF&G).
2018
January 2, 2018
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound during November of 2016 is still transmitting. The whale is currently located west of Hooper Bay and has moved north and south along the marginal ice zone during the last 14 days.
2017
December 18, 2017
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound during November of 2016 is still transmitting. The whale is currently located west of Kotlik, near the mouth of the Yukon River, generally along the edge of the marginal ice zone.
December 4, 2017
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound during November of 2016 is still transmitting. The whale is currently located south of Nome, in central Norton Sound, generally along the edge of the marginal ice zone.
November 20, 2017
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound is still transmitting. The whale is currently located south of Nome in central Norton Sound.
November 6, 2017
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound is still transmitting. The whale is currently located south of Nome in central Norton Sound.
October 16, 2017
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound in November of 2016 is still transmitting. The whale is currently located west of Stuart Island in Norton Sound.
September 29, 2017
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound is still transmitting. The whale is currently located southwest of Stuart Island.
September 15, 2017
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound is still transmitting! The whale is currently located 32 km (~20 miles) southeast of Unalakleet.
August 12, 2017
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound is still transmitting. The whale is currently located 55 km (~32 miles) northwest of Kotlik, near the Yukon Delta.
August 1, 2017
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound is still transmitting. The whale is currently located 50 km (~30 miles) northeast of Kotlik.
July 5, 2017
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound is still transmitting. The whale is currently located 30 km (~19 miles) northeast of Kotlik. Over the last ten days, the whale left the Yukon Delta and looped out into the middle of Norton Sound (between 25 and 28 June), and then moved to the area near Kotlik on 3 July.
June 25, 2017
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound is still transmitting. The whale is currently located north of the Yukon Delta. NOAA is currently flying aerial surveys to get an estimate of how many belugas are in Norton Sound. They are using this data, along with past information from aerial surveys, to help verify that they are flying over the correct areas.
June 2, 2017
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound is still transmitting. The whale is currently 50 km (~31 miles) south of Golovin and 120 km (75 miles) east-southeast of Nome. The MODIS ice image was taken on 1 June and you can see there is virtually no sea ice left in Norton Sound. You can also see the mud plume where the Yukon River discharges into Norton Sound.
May 22, 2017
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound is still transmitting. The whale is currently 40 km (~25 miles) southeast of Nome. There is little sea ice remaining in Norton Sound.
May 4, 2017
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound is still transmitting. Over the last 20 days, it has moved north and then returned south. The beluga is currently located approximately 117 km (72 miles) west of the Yukon Delta.
April 17, 2017
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound is still transmitting. Over the last 20 days, has moved north and is now located approximately 112 km (70 miles) southwest of Nome.
April 3, 2017
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound is still transmitting. Over the last 20 days, the whale travelled 260 km southeast of St. Matthew Island but has returned over the last few days. The whale is currently 40 km (~25 miles) southeast of the island.
March 20, 2017
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound is still transmitting. Over the last 20 days, the beluga has remained in the general vicinity of St. Matthew Island. The whale is currently 55 km (~34 miles) east of St. Matthew Island.
March 8, 2017
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound is still transmitting. Over the last 20 days, the beluga has remained in the general vicinity of St. Matthew Island. The whale is currently 75 km (~50 miles) northwest of St. Matthew Island.
February 24, 2017
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound is still transmitting. The beluga has moved southeast along the ice edge and is currently located 66 km (~40 miles) east of St. Matthew Island. There are some clouds in the image, however, the ice edge is visible. Gray areas south of St. Lawrence and Nunivak Islands are areas with new ice. As the ice is blown south, new ice forms on the leeward side of the islands.
February 10, 2017
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound is still transmitting. Sea ice has not advanced much (if at all) over the last week. The beluga has moved west along the ice edge and is currently located 150 km (~90 miles) south of St. Lawrence Island. The beluga is located farther west than we observed belugas from this stock in 2013.
January 30, 2017
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound is still transmitting. Sea ice is slowly advancing in the Bering Sea and the beluga has moved southward. At the moment, the beluga is approximately 130 km (80 miles) south of St. Lawrence Island.
January 18, 2017
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound is still transmitting. Sea ice is finally advancing in the Bering Sea and the beluga has moved southward with the ice advance. At the moment, the beluga is approximately 180 km (110 miles) northwest of Hooper Bay, Alaska.
January 11, 2017
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound is still transmitting. Extensive sea ice in the Bering Sea has yet to form this year and the beluga is traversing back and forth along the ice edge, mostly between Hooper Bay in the south and Nome in the north. At the moment, the beluga is approximately 100 km (60 miles) west-northwest of Nome, Alaska.
2016
December 27, 2016
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag deployed in Norton Sound is still transmitting. The beluga is approximately 100 km (60 miles) southeast of St. Lawrence Island, halfway between St. Lawrence Island and the Yukon Delta.
December 19, 2016
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag in Norton Sound is still transmitting. The beluga has remained near the ice edge at the entrance to Norton Sound. The whale is approximately 50 km (30 miles) southwest of Nome.
December 8, 2016
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag in Norton Sound is still transmitting. The beluga is currently near the ice edge, approximately 120 km (75 miles) southwest of Nome, and is southbound.
December 1, 2016
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag in Norton Sound is still transmitting. The beluga is currently near the ice edge, approximately 15 miles southwest of Nome.
November 23, 2016
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag in Norton Sound is still transmitting. The beluga moved from Cape Nome, where it was tagged, south towards Stuart Island, and is now offshore of Nome.
November 18, 2016
Beluga whale movements. The beluga tag in Norton Sound is still transmitting. The beluga moved from Cape Nome, where it was tagged, south towards Stuart Island, and is now approaching Cape Nome once again.
November 11, 2016
Beluga whale movements. Tom Gray and his crew tagged an adult (white) female beluga at 3:00 PM on 9 November 2016, near Cape Nome, Alaska. The tag is operating normally and we hope that it will transmit all winter. For those of you that are interested, the tag was manufactured by Wildlife Computers in Seattle and is a “Splash10” model; this type of tag collects both location (latitude and longitude) and dive data, such as the depth of dives. Tom is Vice Chairman of the Alaska Beluga Whale Committee. Tom was trained by the committee to tag beluga whales and has tagged belugas in previous years.
