Center of Expertise in Marine Mammalogy:
Scientific Research Report, 2006-2008

Table of Contents

• Acknowlegements
• Message from the Director of CEMAM
  1.0 Overview
• 2.0 Population Dynamics
  • 2.1 Abundance
    • 2.1.1 SPLASH: International Study on Humpback Whales of the North Pacific (John Ford)
    • 2.1.2 Abundance of Western Hudson Bay Beluga (Pierre Richard)
    • 2.1.3 Abundance of St. Lawrence Estuary Beluga (Jean-François Gosselin)
    • 2.1.4 Age Structure, Growth, Mortality, and Density of Beluga in the Canadian Arctic (Steve Ferguson)
    • 2.1.5 Continued Reduction in Population Growth of Grey Seals at Sable Island (Don Bowen and Mike Hammill)
    • 2.1.6 Timing of Pupping and Abundance of Northwest Atlantic Hooded Seals (Garry Stenson and Mike Hammill)
    • 2.1.7 Abundance of Stellar Sea Lions in British Columbia (Peter Olesiuk)
    • 2.1.8 Abundance of Eastern Arctic Bowhead Whales (Larry Dueck)
  • 2.2 Identifying Population Structure Using Molecular Genetics
    • 2.2.1 Distinguishing East Hudson Bay vs. West Hudson Bay Belugas Using Molecular Markers (Lianne Postma)
    •  2.2.2 Molecular Genetics for the Identification of Stocks of Narwhal in Nunavut (Lianne Postma)
    • 2.2.3 Patterns of Genetic Differentiation in Bowhead Whales from the Eastern Canadian Arctic and Western Greenland (Lianne Postma)
  • 2.3 Reproduction and Mortality
    • 2.3.1 Condition-Dependent Male Mating Tactics in the Grey Seal: The Importance of Body Size (Don Bowen)
    • 2.3.2 An Evaluation of Steller Sea Lion Pup Counts from 35mm Oblique Images (Peter Olesiuk)
    • 2.3.3 Life History and Population Dynamics of Northern Resident Killer Whales in British Columbia (Peter Olesiuk, Graeme Ellis and John Ford)
  • 2.4 Role of Disease in Marine Mammal Populations
    • 2.4.1 Diseases of Importance to Wild Marine Mammal Populations (Lena Measures)
    • 2.4.2 Zoonotic Diseases of Marine Mammals (Lena Measures)
    • 2.4.3 Marine Mammal Strandings and Mortality Events – Monitoring and Investigations (Lena Measures)
• 3.0 How Marine Mammals Fit Into the Ecosystem
  • 3.1 Distribution
    • 3.1.1 Arctic Killer Whale Information from Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Sighting Networks (Steve Ferguson)
    • 3.1.2 Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Western Science (Mike Hammill)
  • 3.2 Habits
    • 3.2.1 Diving Characteristics and Sightability Estimates of Eastern Arctic Bowhead Whales Based on Satellite-Linked Telemetry (Larry Dueck)
    • 3.2.2 Ringed Seal Ecology (Steve Ferguson)
    • 3.2.3 Development of PAM Methodology to Non-Intrusively Monitor Whales in their Environment with Examples from the St. Lawrence Seaway and Arctic (Yvan Simard)
  • 3.3 Foraging Ecology and Diet
    • 3.3.1 Sex Differences in Habitat Use, Feeding Frequency and Diet in Grey Seals (Don Bowen)
    • 3.3.2 Diet of Harp and Hooded Seals (Garry Stenson)
  • 3.4 Predator-Prey Interactions
    • 3.4.1 Report from National Workshop on the Impacts of Seals on Fish Populations in Eastern Canada (Don Bowen)
    • 3.4.2 The Importance of Grey Seal Predation on Cod (Don Bowen)
    • 3.4.3 Antipredator Strategies of Baleen Whales (John Ford)
  • 3.5 Marine Mammal Habitat
    • 3.5.1 Harbour Seals in Newfoundland and Labrador: New Data (Becky Sjare)
    • 3.5.2 Gender-based Characteristics of Sea Otter Raft Sites (Linda Nichol)
    • 3.5.3 From Physics to Whales: The Example of the Baleen Whale Feeding Ground of the St. Lawrence Estuary (Yvan Simard)
• 4.0 Human Impacts on Marine Mammals
  • 4.1 Commercial and Subsistence Hunts
    • 4.1.1 Bowhead Whales in the Eastern Canadian Arctic and West Greenland (Jeff Higdon)
  • 4.2 Providing Scientific Advice on TACs
    • 4.2.1 The Management of Harp, Hooded and Grey Seals in Canada (Garry Stenson)
    • 4.2.2 Hunt Induced Mortality of Northwest Atlantic Hooded Seals (Garry Stenson)
    • 4.2.3 Determining Total Allowable Catch Levels for Nunavut Beluga and Narwhal (Pierre Richard)
  • 4.3 Marine Mammal By-Catch
    • 4.3.1 By Catch of Harp Seals in the Newfoundland Lumpfish Fishery (Becky Sjare)
    • 4.3.2 Modified Fishing Gear to Reduce Incidental Cetacean Mortalities (Edward Trippel)
  • 4.4 Seismic Surveys and Navy Sonar
    • 4.4.1 Bowhead Whale Feeding Aggregations in the Canadian Beaufort Sea and their Role in the Mitigation of Effects of Seismic Underwater Noise (Lois Harwood)
    • 4.4.2 Acoustic Monitoring of Killer Whales off Canada's West Coast (John Ford)
  • 4.5 Marine Mammals as Sentinels of Environmental Contamination
    • 4.5.1 Assessing the Potential Effects of Near Shore Hydrocarbon Exploration on Ringed Seals in the Beaufort Sea Region (Lois Harwood)
    • 4.5.2 Killer Whales as Sentinels for Ocean Pollution (Peter Ross)
  • 4.6 Strandings and Mortality Events
    • 4.6.1 Hunt Induced Mortality of Northwest Atlantic Harp Seals (Garry Stenson)
    • 4.6.2 St. Lawrence Estuary Beluga – Review of Carcass Program (Lena Measures)
    • 4.6.3 Reducing the Risk of Vessel and Right Whale Collision in the Roseway Basin Region of the Southwestern Scotian Shelf (Heath Stone)
  • 4.7 Climate Change
    • 4.7.1 Ringed Seals as Indicators of Change (Lois Harwood)
    • 4.7.2 Killer Whales and Climate Change (Steve Ferguson)
• 5.0 Publications 2006-2008