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 BELUGAS IN
SVALBARD
Found in the Arctic and sub-arctic regions of Russia, Svalbard, Greenland,
and North America, the Beluga Whale or White Whale is the most common
specie of cetacean in the Svalbard archipelago.
Scientists estimate the population of belugas in Svalbard at 5,000
to 10,000. This whale can be up to 5m long. Males can weigh 1.5 tons
and females about one ton.
Belugas are extremely sociable mammals that live, hunt and migrate
together in close-knit pods, ranging from a few individuals to hundreds
of whales.
In Svalbard, one observes small groups of 10 to 30 belugas swimming
close to the coasts. The first photo shows a female bear and its bear
cub attracted by the presence of a carcass of beluga near Danskøya
(Island of the Danes). The other photos show a group of 200 belugas
met in Isfjorden in september 2005, near Diabasodden at the entry
of Sassenfjorden.
It is not rare in Spitsbergen to see small rorquals, (whales long
from 7 to 10 m), to come to feed in the fjords.
In Svalbard, narwhals, very rare, concentrate in the north-west area
of Spitzbergen.
The Greenland Whale (also known as Greenland Right Whale, Bowhead
Whale or Arctic Whale), most current specie in Svalbard in the 17th
century, almost disappeared from Svalbard since the period of intensive
hunting, during the 17th and 18th centuries.
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Click
on the pictures to enlarge - Pictures taken in Spitsbergen |
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BELUGAS
IN SPITSBERGEN  |
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Beluga
range map
Beluga
on Wikipedia
Rare
whale visits Svalbard - July 21, 2006
In July 2006, a Greenland Whale (Bowhead Whale) has been seen in Longyearyen,
near the pier Bykaia. The whale, which measured 15 meters long stayed
in the Adventfjorden Bay for around 12 hours and was also seen by
passengers of a tourist vessel.
The Greenland Whale is believed to be nearly extinct in Salbard. In
2006, researchers from the the Norwegian Polar Institute and the University
of Oslo searched for Greenland whales in the area between Greenland
and Svalbard, and they counted only 20. The population of these Whales
numbered as many as 25,000 in Svalbard before intensive hunting since
the 1600s.
This observation was reported by Aftenposten.
Aftenposten
- News from Norway
Greenland
Whale on Wikipedia
Spitsbergen
West and Sassenfjorden
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